Get To Know Kansas Progressive Democrat Jim Thompson A Little Better-- The Reddit AMA

Earlier this week Kansas Berniecrat James Thompson, the progressive candidate running for the Wichita-based congressional seat (KS-04) did an Ask Me Anything on the Sanders For President reddit page. If you were unable to participate, the archive is available at the link just above. Thompson has been endorsed by Blue America and we enthusiastically vouch for his character and his positions. He's our kind of candidate. Here are some of the questions and responses that I hope will help you get a better understanding of who James Thompson is and why he deserves your support.

Q: In a state that historically votes Republican, what do you plan on doing differently as a democrat to capture some of the moderate vote or even some of the Republican vote?

JT: We only had 60 days during the special election to get out to 16 and a half counties-- talking to people and hearing their concerns is the key. This time, we have 15 more months to go out and listen. I believe that people will follow their convictions and choose me over my opponent if they're just given the chance to meet me. With all the success we had in just two months in our April election, imagine what we're going to do with a full election cycle!... I'm going to get out to the whole district more, talk to as many folks as possible, and help build infrastructure across the district. Specifically, we're working to register voters and continue the progress we made in Sedgwick County, and building out across the district. We believe this will help up and down the ballot. We're identifying and supporting local candidates. We're doing weekly training with volunteers working with these local campaigns... I know a lot of Republicans who respected Bernie Sanders because they always knew where he stood in regard to the general public. I will also never waver in my fight for the people of Kansas. While we may not always see eye to eye, people from all parties respect me because they know I care about them and the issues impacting their lives. That's something that's important regardless of party. In the end, people want leaders who are real."

Q: 5 months ago in an AMA, you wrote: "I like the idea of single payer, I don't see it getting accomplished in our current political environment. The main goal is to make sure that everyone gets covered, and we have to keep pushing towards that goal in whatever steps we can take to get there." I have some follow ups and want to know your current opinion of Medicare For All.

1- Most importantly, would you co-sign HR 676 if elected?
2- What steps do you think we should take to get to universal coverage?
3- Shouldn't the main goal instead be to get everyone healthcare without a financial burden, not just "covered"? Many people are "covered" by the ACA but have such high premiums and deductibles that they are too discouraged by costs to go to the doctor. Also, medical debt is the #1 cause by far of personal bankruptcy.

JT: 1- I would absolutely be a co-signer for HR 676 because that's where I want us to go, eventually. Rep. Conyers' bill has a lot of good pieces to it. However, I think that this bill as it stands now faces a hard uphill battle to pass in the current political environment.
2- I plan to push for a Medicare public option, similar to what was in the original Affordable Care Act before it was removed in the Senate. If you want to learn more about where I stand on healthcare, please check out our healthcare town hall coming up on this Sunday, August 20th. We'll be livestreaming the Q&A from 4:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. CST on our Facebook and Twitter pages!
3- There's always going to be a financial burden for healthcare. The goal is to make it affordable for everyone; so yes, I agree with you. This public option will decrease costs for everyone because the program will also have the power to negotiate medical costs and drug costs. There will be some, namely the very poor, who would be unable to pay for coverage with a premium. The public option will have a large enough risk pool, however, that we can cover the unemployed and very poor.

NOBODY should ever be forced into bankruptcy because of a medical crisis. We have a moral obligation to ensure that everyone in our country receives healthcare.

Q: What was the most surprising and/or difficult thing you learned about running for office? What advice do you have for anyone who might be thinking about running for office, especially if they might not have institutional support?

JT: Great question. The most surprising thing? Some of our worst enemies are within our own party. That was pretty disappointing, and the most difficult thing to come to terms with. But that's OK. You just have to build up your campaign, your vision and your movement on your own terms. My advice? Be true to yourself, no matter what. Stay authentic. Don't talk at people, listen to them and discuss issues. If you want to help on a grassroots level, that's amazing, because that's exactly what we're going to need: click here.

Q:: As a civil rights lawyer, what's your take on tearing down the confederate statues?

JT: As a civil rights lawyer, and as a human being, I believe they should be taken off of public lands. I believe they belong in a museum, and not in places of honor like public squares or schools. They should serve as reminders of a history we need to remember but not memorialize.



Q: You ran in the special election, and for that race, you were considered the sign that midwest progressivism was a real thing.

What have you learned, other than you need to get more people in rural areas?

JT: We learned many important lessons, the need for rural outreach being central among them. We also learned that there's not a great deal of difference between what urban and rural voters want. We all want a good job to support ourselves and their families, a good education for our kids, and affordable healthcare.

Most importantly, though, is that people respond to authenticity. I never said anything on the trail that I didn't believe and refused to hedge on my convictions. Voters can smell bullshit from a mile away. More Democrats need to stand up for their progressive beliefs and stop running away from them!

Q: What are your foreign policy views? Specifically, in what circumstances would you advocate military intervention?

Thanks for doing this!

JT: I believe we should always seek diplomatic solutions before using force. If diplomacy fails, we should seek to create multinational alliances as we did during the first Gulf War. Unilateral actions should only be used when American lives or land is at stake. I believe in the Powell Doctrine that says if you use force, you should use overwhelming force.

Q: Stand up for progressive values (like Bernie) and you might win. If you try to be "conservative lite," you don't deserve to win.

JT: I agree! We can't pretend to be Republicans running under a different banner anymore. It's time for us to stand up and make our voices heard and run as proud progressives.

Q: What policies would you support to strengthen the union movement; i.e. increase union membership and make it easier to form/join a union, etc. Also, what do you think of a federal jobs program, similar to the WPA, that would be devoted to the transition to green energy.

JT: The best thing we can do is ensure if employees have an election petition, that they hold that election within a short timeframe, say 21 days. If you give longer than 21 days, companies often wage a misinformation campaign. During the Bush administration, many stretched out campaigns over years. If we're to be a democracy, we need to honor the right to organize. We need to give teeth back to the NLRA. It's been watered down continually since the Wagner Act, making it harder and harder to organize. Right now, the NLRB is rolling back more and more rules that help workers make their voice heard in the workplace. W/r/t a federal green jobs program, I think the idea is good in theory, but I'd be curious to see legislation dedicated to this before proceeding. Green energy is an economic engine in Kansas, and it's the right thing to do, so of course I like that idea.

Q: Should there be a "litmus test" on abortion for Democrat candidates?

JT: I am a pro-woman candidate and I support our Constitution and the Democratic platform, which are both pro-choice. I believe we should be seeking other pro-woman candidates whenever we can find them. I trust women to make decisions about their own healthcare. I also support a woman's right to accessible and affordable birth control. In the end, being pro-woman is not solely about access to abortion. We need to close the wage gap, make health care affordable, ensure families have access to affordable and excellent childcare, encourage our school girls to be involved in the hard sciences and mathematics... among other things. This is just a start. Women's rights are human rights and none of us make progress until we on equal footing. As far as a "litmus test," I will leave that up to voters to decide.

Q: Hey James-- I live in Olathe (KS for you non-Kansans, which isn't in his district). Thanks for doing this AMA.

How do you see the race between Democrats shaping up in your area? I know Lawrence would have a lot of further left supporters, but I'm not as familiar with Wichita. But outside that, it seems like you'd be trying to attract more center left rural Dems, who maybe wouldn't have supported Bernie.

What's your take on how segmented Dems are between center and further left, and what your approach is to attracting each group?

Edit: Another follow-up question-- I think we're familiar with the type of talking points you're running on, but if you're elected, what are the things you'll work on where you expect to actually get something done in a currently GOP-dominated Congress?

JT: Great questions. I believe progressive values are much more prevalent in rural areas than many people believe. Rather than try to shift my positions with the various political winds out there, I give my opinion on what I believe to be right. People respond to authenticity and honesty and want their elected representatives to listen, even if they disagree. I think Bernie winning the Democratic caucus, and then our special election showed that the Democrats as a collective group respond to the progressive platform. I do believe there is some segmentation in the party but that people will hopefully come together for the greater good. It often plays itself out in a Hillary vs Bernie model, which is counterproductive. 2016 is over and we need to move on together.

When I am elected, I will go to Washington to get things accomplished regardless of who holds the majority. That means looking for common ground. For example, infrastructure is a great area where both sides can come together and accomplish great things for the good of this country. Kansas is in desperate need of infrastrure repair and improvements, especially in the rural areas and green energy. This will create good jobs with fair wages. I also see opportunity in Agriculture with the upcoming farm bill to provide certainty for our producers. Education is also ripe for reform to better fund our schools and protect our teachers. Finally, healthcare is an area where I think we can make improvements and get somethings accomplished to reduce the burden on Americans, particularly in regards to closing loopholes in the ACA that cause hardship on poor people in states like Kansas because of the Republicans refusal to expand Medicaid.

If you happen to be in Wichita on Sunday... James' campaign is hosting a healthcare town hall tomorrow to hear from the people of Kansas about their concerns and ideas for America's healthcare system. It's planned for 4pm at Aero Plains Brewing, 117 N Handley St in Wichita. If you can't make it and want to support Jim's campaign, please consider clicking on the Blue America ActBlue thermometer just above and contributing what you can. Just because the DCCC persists on writing off huge swathes of America, it doesn't mean progressives have to.

Reddit: A Good Way For Candidates To Get Out Their Message

Hillary didn't win any districts in Oklahoma, so the dependably backward-looking DCCC announced they are ignoring the state again this cycle. That's fine; they're a detriment anyway. OK-05 (Oklahoma City and environs) is the most likely district to flip red to blue and the candidate, Tom Guild, is building a grassroots operation meant to do just that. He's usually busy canvassing. In fact, he plans to knock on every door in the district and talk too as many voters-- one on one-- as he can. This week he also talked to the over 200,000 fellow Berniecrats on the Sanders For President reddit page. They invited him to do his first ever AMA, something I hope all the Blue America candidates will do. I asked Tom to do a guest post about his experience. I suggest you might want to read the archived AMA itself first.

Guest Post
-by Tom Guild

Howie Klein asked if I would like to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit. He introduced me to David Fredrick and David walked me through the process.  David set up the post on Reddit for me and gave me patient advice on how to proceed. Since I was a newbie on Reddit, I was apprehensive and nervous about what I needed to do and how. Jacqueline Propps offered her help, too. Austin Miller from Tulsa, who was active in setting up the subreddit hosting my post, contacted me and patiently explained things to me, and was very helpful, too. It was time to jump off of the high tower at Sunset Lake, or the adult equivalent thereof.

That's about the easiest question/answer you'll find

My nerves pushed me to get on the Reddit site about 30 minutes early. There was already a backlog of questions waiting for me to answer.  I posted that I was in favor of a $15 minimum wage, phased in over a period of years, as mandated by the legislation recently filed by Bernie Sanders and Patty Murray. One person insisted that Oklahoma workers didn’t need or deserve a $15 minimum wage, and I held my ground. People asked about the youth employment bill now before the U.S. Senate, and I agreed legislation in this area is needed. A likely troll misled people reading his question and mistakenly suggested I favored right to work. I patiently explained that I not only opposed RTW (for less) when it was up for a statewide vote in Oklahoma, but was the principal speaker at two of the seven press conferences held by the committee opposing RTW in Oklahoma in 2001. He posted again and once again intentionally misrepresented my position and I gently reminded him of my response and position on the issue.

I was asked about protecting the environment, infrastructure spending, LGBT rights, the second amendment, and women’s reproductive freedom. On healthcare, I offered that for the time being we need to mend and not end the Affordable Care Act, and need to mend it by offering Americans a public option. That would cure one of the more serious urgencies needed to shore up the health care law. I continued that I support a gradual move to a Medicare for All single payer system, as promoted by Senator Bernie Sanders. That legislation has been introduced in Congress and has a fairly sizable number of co-sponsors in the U.S. House.

A number of people thanked me for fully and patiently answering their questions, and indicated that they intended to support me and vote for me. The quality of questions asked and answered was high. The vast majority of people weighing in (except two likely trolls) were well read, reasonable, passionate, and at least reasonably progressive. I answered questions for an extra fifteen minutes beyond the two hours scheduled, and went back later that evening and early the next morning to answer questions posted late. All in all it was a learning experience and gently prodded me to use a new medium and forum that initially was outside of my comfort zone.

Without the help of team Howie, David, Jacqueline, and Austin, I would have been a lost lamb. With their expertise, knowledge, encouragement, and help it was a relative piece of cake. As the old saying goes, if you want to go fast…go alone…if you want to go far…go together. Together it was and together it is.

Thanks to all who posted questions, respected me and others, and made it a positive experience. For the trolls who tried to poison the well, all I can say is **&^%$_)((*##@!!

That’s all the news fit to print!  Bernie Peace!!

Ask Me Anything, I Dare You... Oh, No-- That Was Last Week

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: