Just over 10 years ago I started a series of on-line interviews for candidates Blue America was working with and it went for several cycles until I just became too bored with it to continue. But in its heyday it was a blast and an opportunity for Blue America donors to ask questions of the candidates we were asking them to contribute to. A few weeks ago the folks at Digital Left and the Sanders For President reddit asked me to be the guest for an AMA-- Ask Me Anything. At first, I didn't realize it was pretty much the same thing as the interview series we used to with our candidates at FireDogLake. Except the shoe was going too be on the other foot.Here's the completed AMA archive in case you'd like to go through all the questions and my responses. This was the original intro I wrote-- before the hosts laughed and told me it was too verbose and suggested we cut it down rather drastically.
I'm happy to take questions about my blog, DownWithTyranny or about the Blue America PAC... or anything else. A little background: I grew up in the same Flatbush neighborhood as Bernie and we went to the same elementary and high schools, PS-197 and James Madison, although a few years apart. But I believe the environment in that part of FDR-loving Brooklyn helped each of us come to similar conclusions about the roll of government, politics and activism. It was a milieu where equality of opportunity was a cherished value and where things like racism, xenophobia, sexism, authoritarianism, etc were very much not encouraged.I was freshman class president in college and involved myself very viscerally in the liberation politics of the 1960s. After college I decided I couldn't live in a U.S. that was ravaging the technologically backward countries of southeast Asia. So I lived abroad for 7 years. That turned out well for me on many levels including giving me a leg up in my eventual business career and led directly to me becoming a divisional president at the Warner Music Group. When I retired a few years ago I started blogging and upped my game as an activist, founding Blue America to help independent-minded progressive candidates run competitively against well-financed conservatives. Blue America, which you can find here, works primarily to elect congressional candidates. The only presidential candidate we've ever endorsed was Bernie Sanders, the only presidential candidate who has met our standards.In the past Blue America has fought-- while the DCCC has not-- to hold Paul Ryan electorally accountable, something we hope will culminate next year with the victory of @IronStache (Randy Bryce) over him. We have backed long-shot candidates who have won unlikely victories over entrenched incumbents before, like Donna Edwards (MD), Alan Grayson (FL), Beto O'Rourke (TX), Matt Cartwright (PA) and some of the Blue America "alumni" are among the most effective resistance fighters in Congress-- Pramila Jayapal (WA), Judy Chu (CA), Raul Grijalva (AZ), Jamie Raskin (MD), Keith Ellison (MN), Barbara Lee (CA) and Ted Lieu (CA) come immediately to mind.
During the "event" 3 Berniecrat candidates showed up to participate: Wendy Reed (CA), Randy Bryce (WI) and Derrick Crowley (TX). There was at least one crazy person who kept insisting Ted Lieu doesn't support single payer (he does) and that he's not a co-sponsor of John Conyers' Medicare-For-All bill (he is), but it was otherwise a friendly and knowledgeable crowd and I hope they'll have more of the Blue America candidates on to do their own AMAs. A few weeks ago they did one with Katie Hill-- and sent us this video from the session: