DNC Candidate Bob Handy, Region 10 Director of CDP
Progressive E-Board Coalition – DNC Candidate Questionnaire
If you are an incumbent DNC member, what have you done as a DNC member to
promote the progressive agenda on the following issues:
While I am not an incumbent DNC member, I have been working every one of
these issues at the CDP level as Regional Director (Region 10) for seven terms,
and as a long-time (almost 40 years) party activist. Rather than re-list the
issues later in the section for non-incumbents, I will respond to each here
in that context.
A) Ending the US occupation of Iraq
I have met with individual Congresspersons to advocate leaving Iraq as soon
as possible. Additionally I have spent almost full-time working with those
Veterans’ organizations that advocate ending the occupation, including Veterans
for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Viet Nam Veterans Against the War,
Veterans For Common Sense.
I am the Chair of the Veterans Caucus of the CDP, the appointed California
Representative on the Veterans and Military Families Council of the DNC,
Co-Chair of the Santa Barbara Chapter Military Families Speak Out, and am the
National Chair of Veterans United For Truth, Inc., all organizations that
advocate terminating the occupation promptly.
For your information, currently VUFT and Veterans for Common Sense are suing
the Veterans Administration in Federal Court seeking proper and timely
medical care for veterans. The trial phase is completed and a ruling is expected
in early June.
B) Eliminating Poverty,
While I cannot eliminate poverty, I can help those who are in need because
of their poverty. My family owns rental property in Santa Barbara and Ventura
Counties, We rent to low income families at rent considerably lower than the
market would allow, in most cases the average is several hundred dollars
below market. Most of our tenants have been with us for many years, in some cases
over 15 years.
C) Campaigning for Universal Single-Payer Healthcare
I am a long time advocate for Universal, Single-Payer Health Care, both as a
right for all Americans, and as a sound economic policy. I have long
advocated publicly and actively for Sheila Kuehl’s initiatives on universal,
single-payer healthcare, and recently served on a community panel supporting SB 840.
D) Election Integrity (protecting each vote to ensure it is counted as cast
I have advocated personally with Federal, State and County legislators on
ensuring the integrity of the ballot through verified voting. As a member of
the state Platform Committee I was a mover on returning that proposition to the
state party platform in 2004 and strengthening it in 2006 and 2008.
E) Preventing a US attack on Iran
I have lobbied Congress against any attack on Iran by withholding any
funding that the administration could conceivably use for such an irresponsible
act. I have further lobbied for open dialogue with Iran. I have spoken publicly
at protest rallies and meetings against furthering the madness of our current
Middle East/South Asia policy.
F) Preserving a free and open Internet
As one who uses the Internet on a daily basis in support of my charitable
and political interests, I strongly support a free Internet as the last hope
for the public in preserving their 1st Amendment right to free speech and the
free exchange of information. On a practical basis, without the publicly
funded ARPA/DARPA network, there would have been no internet. We paid for it and
it belongs to us.
G) Impeaching or indicting Bush and Cheney
I have long supported the impeachment of both Bush and Cheney (look on the
back of my truck for evidence). I do not believe that the current Congress has
the will to proceed with impeachment, but I strongly believe that he crimes
they have committed must not be allowed to pass unpunished. Therefore,
lacking impeachment, I advocate for the DoJ pressing criminal charges against both
of them when they leave office.
H) Redirecting California's resources to support education, not
incarceration As the former Chair of the Santa Barbara Police Commission, and as an
advisor to both the California Highway Patrol and Santa Barbara County Sheriff, I
have strongly supported both early intervention and education as preventive
measures. Crippling schools merely ensures that the prisons will be filled as
soon as we build them. Our prison system has been used to incarcerate those who should be treated
in mental facilities, and those who use marijuana recreationally. Rebuilding
our mental hospital system and decriminalizing the recreational use of
marijuana (like alcohol) would eliminate any pressure to expand our present prison
system.
I) Protecting LGBT Rights and Promoting Marriage Equality
I have introduced several resolutions to the state party concerning equal
rights, including most recently the rights of all to serve in the military, the
elimination of “Don’t ask don’t tell.”, and the restoration of honorable
discharges to those of the LGBT community who have been unfairly eliminated
from military service with less-than-honorable discharges.
J) Promoting public financing of elections
I support the “Clean Money” idea but there must be concurrent restrictions
on the use of a individual candidate’s own money and on “527s” to level the
playing fields. We must eliminate the idea that “dollars equal free speech”,
and give back to the ordinary candidate the freedom to compete.
K) Abolishing the death penalty
I strongly support abolition of the death penalty. I have attempted to have
abolition as a part of the Criminal Justice Plank (which I co-chair), but
have met with strong opposition from the Committee Chair who cites the
unwillingness of incumbent politicians to support the idea.
Most recently I supported the polling of delegates at the 2008 convention. I
support the release of the report and of the new delegate poll that sits
languishing in the CDP offices in Sacramento.
I am prepared to take this issue to the floor to get it into the CDP
platform and am prepared, if elected to the DNC, to take it to the national level.
A truly democratic state has no business taking the lives of its citizens,
and there is no capital punishment that is not “cruel and unusual” despite
previous court rulings to the contrary.
L) Promoting alternative energy/energy independence
I support finding and promoting alternative energy sources, not just as part
of our obligation to preserve the environment, but also as good national
policy for the economy and for foreign policy.
If you are not an incumbent, what have you done to address the issues
enumerated above?
Please see the responses above
If you had been in Congress, how would you have voted for the most recent
178-billion dollar war package?
I would have opposed the passage of the package unless it included
prohibition on spreading the war and continuing the occupation.
We need to spend that money to: 1) stop the occupation and get our troops
home; 2) rebuild the damage we have done to Iraq and her people; and 3)
reinvigorate national programs at home in education, welfare, health and many others
that have suffered as a result of this fiasco.
How have you used your activism or Party involvement to challenge the
leadership's support for war funding?
The individual citizen, even an activist like me, has very few weapons to
use in today’s political climate. I have constantly opposed the funding of this
war through the limited avenues available to me, which include my ability as
a long-time and well-known Democratic activist to have direct contact with
many Congresspersons. They hear from me on this subject constantly by
telephone, mail, email and on the floor of our party gatherings
Have you ever supported an insurgent primary candidate or someone who is
challenging an incumbent on the issues? Explain.
Rarely, but I supported Marcy Winograd in her campaign to gain the
endorsement of the state party for her candidacy.
What qualifies you, in terms of your organizing work, to represent
progressive values on the E-Board?
If progressive values include believing that the purpose of political
organizations is to advance the cause of the general public against special
interests, then I am a progressive.
If progressive values include believing that the nation is strong and secure
only if individuals are strong and secure in their rights, then I am a
progressive.
If progressive values include spending the taxpayers money on programs such
as health and education that advance the individual and community welfare of
those taxpayers, then I am a progressive.
If progressive values include walking softly on the earth as ecological
caretakers rather than as just users and consumers, then I am a progressive.
If progressive values include the view that going to war must be the last of
all possible choices, and that going to war merely to advance American
influence is an insufficient and flawed rationale, then I am a progressive.
If these values make me a progressive, and my history certifies me as an
activist, then my continuing work will be to protect and promote these values.
Why should progressives on the CDP E-Board vote for you as a DNC delegate?.
Just about all candidates for one of the California DNC positions will claim
to be progressives, or liberals, or at least good party servants. I ask all
delegates to examine my record on the issues that are most dear to Democrats
of all stripes, to compare my record with others, and to make their choice.
Do you think we should have super delegates? Why or why not?
Superdelegates served their purpose as the party transitioned from the old “
smoke-filled back room” type of politics, to the modern party of concerned
activists. They no longer serve any real purpose.
Superdelegates are supposed to represent the “collective wisdom and
experience” of the party, but they often merely represent the entrenched incumbents
of the party and their almost unchanging opinions and policies.
We should not ignore the experience of these people and the insights they
can offer, but elections and nominations should be by the voters, not by
insiders.
Although it is too late now, I would abolish the superdelegate
classification for the 2012 cycle.
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 as an individual, since I believe that “slates” often mix the
good with the not-so-good, and not always in a way that the individual voter
can discern the difference.
What experience has prepared you to run as a DNC member?
Almost 40 years as an active Democrat, the past 14 years as Regional
director. See my answers above.
On which committee(s) would you like to serve and what are your personal
goals for each committee?
My preferred assignments would be on any one or more of the ad hoc
committees on Veteran, disability, LGBT issues, or on youth-related issues.
All three would present goals that I have concerns about.
Many of our young men and women veterans will be disabled, and how we handle
long-term care for the disabled is a high priority.
The military community is underserved due to their don’t ask don’t tell
policy, and the policy perpetuates discrimination in a fundamental area of
government. The policy must be eliminated.
I have grandchildren and children to whom I would like to leave a better
world by ensuring their education, their universal access to healthcare, and
their enjoyment of a healthy environment.
I would also like to retain my seat as California representative on the
Veterans and Military Families Council, to increase awareness of the problems
facing that group, and to take it from its current nearly inactive and
ineffectual state to one of vibrant and effective activism.
