Host our guest is eric conversation on progressives in campaign 2022. How long have you been around . Basically the Political Party for the working class and we started 1998 in new york and since then we have grown to a National Grassroots movement that believes politics should work for the many not for the privileged few so we recruit and train grassroots activists and educators and organizers Everyday Americans so that they can run we leave the people should govern we work very hard every day so in fact very recently over the past primary season we elected a democrats and democratic primaries going to congress if they are successful in the general election and that shows our ideas are very popularac across urban america. Are you traditional thirdparty we have a line that allows the party and there were places like that and then we run on democratic primaries. And a party is a group of people who come together to have a set of issues and use elections as the main intervention to advance that issue so as long as you are doing h that we show up and very different ways to expand or issues. Would you ever show up in a general election against the democratic candidate . You want to be clear because of the rigid nature of our twoparty system it creates a spoiler dilemma where they can send the candidate to the general election we dont believe in spoiler politics there are opportunities where absolutely we will run in the general election if we think there is a path to victory everything thate has happened but we are very clear there are two types of struggle the main is where we are fighting against fascism that is not hyperbolic to capture the Republican Party and we are reunited with everybody from those who believe in democracy but the other side of the struggle taking place of the Democratic Party iss around how we ensure that american set up things like Public Education or a lifesaving drug or could afford childcare sold that main debate that both are important. On the latter front with the impact on theee Democratic Party . We have had a pretty great track record that we have candidates up and down on the municipall level and in congress. Lets just take congress for example. In texas, this is the south not just coastal elite so in the dallas area or the austin area they ran progressive candidacies and were unapologetic about the issues they built broad coalitions and they want in their primaries. Another person in pittsburgh a working class town a stalwart progressive who built the coalition that included Union Workers and activists and many others and Jamie Mcleod Skinner and oregon this is a rural district where he challenged a longtime incumbent that as a democrat aligned with the pharmaceutical companies and defined his own unjustified his own president as they were trying to negotiate for the federal government to negotiate then he got in the waygo of that so then he defeated this longtime incumbent running in a competitive district so what combines all of these candidates isan the fact their issues are pro human the naval side with the workers if theres a fight between pharmaceutical companies the naval side with them state and National Director of working Families Party and joining the conversation. Maurice mitchell will be with us until the bottom of the hour now talking about the midterm elections if biden decides to run for a certain second term would you like to see him challenged . So far there have not been any challengers that emerged. But what im focused on today is building the united front and this is not hyperbole but now you have fascism. I am heartened that President Biden talk about the philadelphia speech because there really is a choice in this country and it is a historical juncture. We are deciding if we want to live in a democracy and we are deciding if we are comfortable taking governing power and people who identify as republicans and progressive democrats have that binary choice and for that whenever we have been in a moment where voices are attempting to take over a democracy the fascist forces threatened to take over a democracy we know the only othing that defeats those forces is a united front with republican or democrats or independents anyone who wants to fight those forces to create an america and we have the ability to have those debates i want to have those debates around how we get to a place to afford childcare and where workers rights are valued with a conservative ideas and independent ideas, i want to live in a country we had that debate that we cant wearhe Political Violence is prevalent in the ideas of anti democracy and to nullify an election. We need to fight on that front and november is the opportunity to do that. Will have a lot of 2024 conversations by cant think of a more important conversation for today then how the majority of people who come together in order to defeat the cold. And listening to mr. Mitchell as an independent. How is the party not a cult when they have instituted socialism effort of fascism we can talk a lot about the democraticr party. And their views. So why is it you want to bring the country together but yet take this extreme side . I want to be really clear when i say that the Republican Party has been captured by a colt i dont use those words but i remember when the former president goes to the middle of fifth avenue and his following would support him. That is a colt like dedication to a leader not to a set of political values i think the Republican Party has been very dangerously you can have a lot of critiques in fact ever probably join you but it simply is not true that there is a personality cult on the left in the Democratic Party so whenever a democracy moves with you and it is advocating for the nullification and the degradation ofhe fundamental Democratic Institutions. All of us need to get together to stop that and the debate i think the caller wants to have come i went to have that debate i believe people that i disagree with they should be able to afford healthcare and they should be invested and then they should be able to organize. And we should be able to struggle and disagree on the issue and live in a society where they cannot lead to Political Violence we saw on january 6 we saw the far right violence political organizations that align with Donald Trumpal and his movement and directly after the search of his home how the law and Order Movement pivoted toward violently with the fbi and Law Enforcement but we know this cultlike behavior want to be very clear that i dont take any issue with people who have conservative views around the issue of fundamental democracy that fundamentally if we dont live in a country where we struggle around those ideas leading to a rupture of our society. Thank you for taking my call but if he wants to bring that that but even with the more recent history with black lives matter or antifa were cities were burned down and people were murdered we have those with pharmaceutical Companies Spending on vaccines from 100 percent efficacy done a 40 percent and now making billions of dollars with free speech taken away and i will give you an example here in massachusetts. I sawe mp a woman time and use o different, ebt cards and then pull out 50 cash from Lottery Tickets thats what the government cannot stand handing many out for the working people that you say the represent, yet they go by Lottery Tickets. It is a double middle finger to the working class and thats what you should talk about not hate. Great day. I do think we could have multiple conversations. We could absolutely discuss and talk about hate not just abstract eight and those that attempt to rip usmp apart. And they are attempting to rip us apart to parcel out all the resources of our government to them and their friends at his political corruption whatever word you want to call it so i will continue to talk about those things and continue to talk about the issues of working families. At the end of the day i will not begrudge any individual for the choices they want to make. If you want to buy a Lottery Ticket or groceries or food, that is your choice. Thats the American People live in and i believe in freedom but also in the wealthiest country on the planet and in the history of countries we should be able to support each other and the government should invest in our communities what i know so that means investing in childcare and yes i want to live in a country that invest in and supports a lot of us are one or two paychecks away to be in a very challenging situation. And in those moments its not just us lacking the initiative or not being hardworking we all fall on hard times and they think its a rule of friends and neighbors and the government to create a safety net for those who fall on hard times and that said deeper way so for a government that supports all of us and i would argue unfortunately when i think has happened from what currently exists in there are those resources but that distribution but that money goes to corporations a what i think is most outrageous is the corporate welfare and with the distribution of resources through tax cuts for those who are already wealthy and we need to take that on in a serious way. So whats actually happening they are sending their money to the politicians so if they invest a few hundred thousand dollars over the next cycle then that is a good deal and so for us investing in people and working people with those resources they trickle in every single direction they stay at the top we want to be in a debate where we can actually devout developer broader economy. Jill biden the democratic line good morning. Caller hellolo mr. Mitchell i am out here in pennsylvania. I am a proud member and i appreciate you being on here. My question is you talk about the party of our dreams. What does that look like to you . Great question. I think working people deserve to govern. We believe that working people should lead and when they do they unlock all of the capacities and those are seeing and we deserve a Political Party most colors woulde agree our politics are serving us in the rigid twoparty system has not served us and has created leading to partisanship and division. And most people deserve the political movements to speak to their values and are unapologetic so if there is a fight and people deserve a party that is an apologetic and consistent. If it is against pharmaceutical companies to be sure we could pay for our lifesaving medication and that is attempting to engage in political corruption it is clear and unapologetic and a pro person agenda we believe the Political Party of our dreams would reflect that we deserve that and i would just say if anybody is interested to build thatin with us you can text us and we are happy to reply. Did you support him in the primary . We supported another candidate we supported 1000 candidates and there was a vigorous debate we are probably supporting democrats up and down the ballot in the general election. Stacy abrams in atlanta and it is really clear about what the fight is. Plymouth Michigan Republican line good morning. Caller mr. Mitchell there known as those that cannot see. I am a 77 yearold 7 white woman and therefore we have nothing in common however we are both human beings who live in this wonderful country, the United States of america. Let me give you a little piece of advice. You will never succeed in your goal by insulting half the country and calling them fascist, racist, ultra mega. You will never win your argument by saying that you want to have a conversation or lets debate because when you start off with the premise i am wrong and i am your enemy and i am violent because i am a republican and a voted for donald trump. Twice. That is t Political Violence. It does not exist. It is a lie. There was Political Violence in our country in the summer of 2020 when antifa and black lives matter burned cities , dozens of people were killed. So this incident on january 6 is a touchstone for people like you to pay every american with a broad brush of violence and it is wrong. Thank you. A few things. A lot of people voted for donald trump. Not all ofum those people i would say are fascist. But if i am going to engage in a real conversation i have to be honest and i would not be honest simply just to maintain nice feelings but the truth is that there is a very active, real, violent, antidemoc movement that has captured the Republican Party and has taken them on a very dangerous direction. Believe every person who voted with donald trump agrees with that appeal to everybody. If you disagree but those to join a united front i cannot think of ath more important thing to do so in saying that the fire a full a few feathers are make folks uncomfortable, then that is true throughout history but theres no way we can have a conversation that based on the truth. Hardrd truths about a party or a movement you could identify. We have to start telling the truth and i understand that some callers might be offended. But it doesnt mean its not the truth. And by the way color, i grew up in a very diverse community. I work with people across race and generation i know a lot of 77 yearold white women who would agree. Good morning. Caller so what you see is the differences between and that maggie republican what are the differences . And if you could go into the differences between the working family party and the democraticor family party do you consider yourself a faction or are there distinct differences people should before . The key difference, the key distinguishing mark of the republican coat is set call like allegiance to an individual of donald trump and at this point it is a willingness to align yourself with Political Violence if it achieves the politicala and. And for those Democratic Institutions and with the antidemocratic authoritarian. With the size of government and in whether or not you pledge allegiance to an individual and if you want to nullify the election. For who they are and then distinction in the Democratic Party. It reunites atod everybody. And then try e to defeat the far right. And then to engage in rigorous debate yearround r d issue for those who identify as democrats. I want to be clear because sometimes the way we talk about this seems very binary like left or right we believe in the politics for the vast majority of us and by the few i mean the people of wall street and corporations who are attempting to capture our government and capturing both parties when the Democratic Party and fortunately we do politicians that have evidence of the corporate capture and as a result when democrats get an opportunity to govern, sometimes they are conflicted because of the wall streetas donors. We are very clear about that. There should be no debate and we need a Political Party. And that is the main differencen between the Democratic Party and the politics of the twoparty system in general but of the working for family party. Jill biden would you describe that is a socialist party . As it includes a lot of people and those like Bernie Sanders and aoc as the democratic socialist as those identify as democrats and as a trade union and the main political identity comes from the work that they do its a very Diverse Party including a lot of folks that a multi tendency populist party. Back to the republican line good morning. Caller. The thing that concerns me with what you are saying is it is labeling groups of people per kind of people that are democrats and republicans and those who voted for donald trump even calling themselves his people but theyre not hateful and dont believe in violence but whenever a group is labeled by another Political Party to make their point, all i can think about is hitler when we demonize that you use that to gain power. So somebody far right or far left coffee start labeling groups of people id find that dangerous. It makes me less likely to Pay Attention to what that group is w saying. Most people think of a variety of things and have Different Reasons say support so i voted democrat many years. The reason i changed is because i look at the inner cities and i see that things have not improved. Why are the cities that have been led by democrats for years and years not gotten better . Why is there still poverty . I would encourage any Political Group not to demonize another group because each person that votes a certain way. To the last point i cannot agree more. We should not demonize each other. People make decisions for all types of reasons. What i really want to be clear about is the characterization and in very real terms there is a resource and dedicated violent right to wean apparatus that has already taken lives and will take more lives that all of us need to challenge and organize against. I do not believe that apparatus includes everybody who voted for one candidate or another. However i would say if you did disagree with Political Violence with White Supremacy is critical in this moment and for all of us to agree. And that characterization of the Democratic Party and the political system i would probably agree and we need to be better as a country with that political system has not necessarily delivered. Jill biden we have to ended there
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