If you are an incumbent DNC member, what have you done as a DNC member to
promote the progressive agenda on the following issues:
a) Ending the US occupation of Iraq – Co-authored the Progressive Caucus position paper entitled “Progressive Policy to Withdraw US Forces from Iraq and to Support the Reconciliation and Reconstruction of the Iraqi Nation;” organized and hosted an “Out of Iraq” forum at the CDP Eboard meeting in 2006; attended multiple war protests including a trip to Crawford, Texas and Washington DC; multiple letters and phone calls to Congressional leaders about immediate withdrawal; attended multiple local protests and vigils; helped craft and support Out of Iraq language for the CDP Platform, and several CDP resolutions
b) Eliminating Poverty – Supported poverty elimination language inclusion in the CDP Platform as a Committee Member; supported the adoption of poverty elimination as one of the Progressive Caucus planks of priority;
c) Universal Single-Payer Healthcare – Authored the Progressive Caucus Position paper on healthcare, crafted language regarding single payer healthcare for inclusion on the CDP Platform, testified on numerous occasions in support of single payer healthcare at the Platform Committee; crafted and got passed a definitive resolution in the CDP in support of single payer healthcare; presented on single payer healthcare at Grand Rounds – Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the American Medical Women’s Association conference; multiple speaking engagements about single payer healthcare at political and social clubs; attendance at healthcare rallies and fairs; active participant in the SB840 campaign, organized and executed a Single Payer Healthcare Forum at the CDP Eboard in 2006. As a physician, I speak every single day about the necessity of a national health service, a publicly financed healthcare system for California, and America. I will continue to fight for adoption of this type of system regardless of whether or not I am privileged enough to become a DNC member.
D) Election Integrity (protecting each vote to ensure it is counted as cast) – Supported language on the CDP Platform about election integrity; supported inclusion of election integrity as a Progressive Caucus plank of priority; poll watcher 2006
E) Preventing a US attack on Iran – Not enough. I have supported the efforts of others by signing petitions, and writing to Congressional leaders; I supported including this discussion in our Out of Iraq Forum with John Ritter, but there is so much work to be done in this arena, and it is so critical.
F) Preserving a free and open Internet – helped craft the language of the CDP resolution co-authored by the Progressive Caucus and the Labor Caucus;
G) Impeaching or indicting Bush and Cheney – I have been in full support of the impeachment of Bush and Cheney for several years, spoken at numerous events about impeachment, participated in signature gathering; crafted language for a resolution calling for impeachment from the CDP that was read at the top of the general session in 2006; built the website for Paul Kortez’ resolution of impeachment; helped write and record the radio commercials with Paul Koretz about AJR39, and continue to support impeachment in any way possible.
H) Redirecting California's resources to support education, not incarceration – Again, not enough. I have supported the efforts of others on the Platform Committee, and in letters of support to Congressional leaders.
I) Protecting LGBT Rights and Promoting Marriage Equality – I have remained an activist for LGBT people mostly in my non-political life. I am a physician in Adolescent Healthcare, and I sub-specialize in youth with HIV, and transgender care. I am constantly advocating for these very underserved young people, helping to find them housing, get proper and thorough healthcare, and helping them stabilize their lives enough to start HIV medications, or in the case of transgender youth, hormone therapy. I have written countless letters to courts on behalf of these young people, and have appeared on 20/20 to increase awareness about gender identity disorder. I also provide healthcare for youth in the GLASS (Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services) group homes who have been largely runaway or throwaway youth. My professional career has included building coalitions with other community groups providing services to LGBT youth. I have the distinct honor and pleasure of being a part of the healthcare community that reaches out to young people without voices to try and improve their lives.
J) Promoting public financing of elections – I was very active in the Clean Money campaign during the time it appeared and was defeated by the CDP in 2006. I spoke out definitively against the “no endorsement” position taken by the CDP, and campaigned for the bill prior to the election. I also supported the adoption of Clean Money as one of the Progressive Caucus priority planks.
K) Abolishing the death penalty – I was one of only six platform committee members who voted to support the inclusion of death penalty abolition on the CDP Platform this year. The Progressive Caucus is hosting a Death Penalty Abolition action meeting at our Caucus meeting in June, 2008.
L) Promoting alternative energy/energy independence – The little amount of work I have done in this arena is indirect, and also related to the Platform. My sister is an environmental lawyer for the State of California (primarily water law, but is currently working on the largest lumber case in California), and has an intimate knowledge of the environmental issues that affect our state most dramatically. I asked her to review the previous CDP Platform on environment, and submit back to me a comprehensive and thoughtful plank. Many of her suggestions were incorporated this year in the plank.
If you are not an incumbent, what have you done to address the issues enumerated above?
If you had been in Congress, how would you have voted for the most recent 178-billion dollar war package? No more money for this occupation. Period.
How have you used your activism or Party involvement to challenge the leadership's support for war funding? Primarily in the context of the platform, resolutions within the CDP, and by having Out of Iraq forums in which we discuss the dramatic cost of the occupation to humanity.
Have you ever supported an insurgent primary candidate or someone who is challenging an incumbent on the issues?
Yes, Marcy Winograd vs. Jane Harmon and Charles Coleman vs. Howard Berman. Both of these incumbents have repeatedly re-committed their support of the Iraq occupation, and needed reminding that many of their constituents were against it. Also, Marcy and Charles represent progressive values across the board, including support of Clean Money, Single Payer Healthcare, and Election Protection.
What qualifies you, in terms of your organizing work, to represent progressive values on the E-Board? Or Why should progressives on the CDP E-Board vote for you as a DNC delegate? It is a high class problem to have when so many people who embody progressive values show up at the table to represent so many of us who have felt powerless for so long. I am truly honored in this DNC election to be competing with so many progressives who not only talk the talk, but really put their blood, sweat and tears in to the hard work of organizing required for success. While it is true that I am relatively new to the political scene and the CDP, I have jumped headfirst into it beginning with the presidential campaign in 2003. During the election cycle, I was immersed in grassroots efforts to elect our Democratic candidate, including campaigning in Arizona, Las Vegas and California. I organized several bus trips for SoCal Grassroots, held positions on the EBoard of Valley Grassroots for Democracy and SoCal Grassroots. After the election, I was elected to be a DSCC Delegate for the 42nd AD, and shortly thereafter became a co-founder of the Progressive Caucus of the CDP. I am currently the co-chair of the Caucus, and have helped to grow the Caucus membership to over 1000 members. Because of my involvement in the grassroots efforts around California and the country on campaigns and issue related matters, I feel I offer grounded perspective, and comprehensive representation for so many grassroots activists within California. I have been appointed to the Platform Committee for four years (two Platform cycles) and feel I have represented progressive minded people well on this Committee. I have advocated for an immediate end to the Iraq occupation, clean money, single payer healthcare, election integrity and abolition of the death penalty consistently on the Platform Committee. But more importantly, I have advocated persistently for these and other progressive issues during my tenure on the Committee, despite the obstacles that arose in getting these issues considered. I have worked on resolutions, meetings, platform planks and forums all within the Democratic Party structure. DNC members must work within the present Party structure, exemplifying good communication skills, integrity of ideas and clarity of expression. I believe I possess all of these qualities, and would represent the values of California progressive Democrats on every occasion.
Are you running on a slate with other candidates? If so, who are the other candidates running on your slate and what was the process for choosing these candidates to run with you? I am running on a slate with Brad Parker, Ahjamu Makalani and Christine Pelosi. I find these people to be great progressives with an incredible breadth of experience, and are reliable hard workers. I also am supporting the slate of Mal Burnstein, Mayme Hubert, Karen Bernal, Ralph Miller and Norman Soloman. These people also are proven progressives and would be tremendous additions to the DNC.
What experience has prepared you to run as a DNC member? My experience as a CDP Caucus Co-chair, as a member of the Platform committee, and as a DSCC delegate, as well as my career as a physician make me uniquely fit for a position on the DNC. I have to negotiate daily with patients, colleagues, and insurance companies. Excellent communication is an absolute necessity for physicians, especially in my line of work. I have also proven that I can simultaneously handle a volunteer political career in addition to a full time job as a physician, a mom, and a publisher.
On which committee(s) would you like to serve and what are your personal goals for each committee? Healthcare. This is the Committee I would have the most input and passion about. It is imperative that we start designing a national health service now to provide Americans with the proper healthcare they deserve. It is the only sensible and humane solution to solving the healthcare crisis.
