From: Norman Solomon
Progressive E-Board Coalition
DNC Candidate Questionnaire
Norman Solomon (received 5/26/08 1:37 PM)
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
B) Eliminating Poverty
C) Promoting Universal Single-Payer Healthcare
D) Ensuring Election Integrity (protecting each vote to ensure it is counted as cast)
E) Preventing a US attack on Iran
F) Preserving a free and open Internet
G) Impeaching or indicting Bush and Cheney
H) Redirecting California's resources to support education, not incarceration
I) Protecting LGBT Rights and Promoting Marriage Equality
J) Promoting public financing of elections
K) Abolishing the death penalty
L) Promoting alternative energy/energy independence
If you are not a DNC incumbent, what have you done to address the issues enumerated above?
A) Ending the US occupation of Iraq
From 2002 to the present, I’ve vocally opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq with actions including:
* organized and went on three pre-invasion peace missions to Baghdad (with former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, D-S.D.; actor/director Sean Penn; former UN Assistant Secretary General Denis Halliday);
* appeared on CNN and other major TV networks as a guest more than a dozen times to argue for diplomacy instead of a U.S. attack;
* wrote the books Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn’t Tell You (2003) and War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death (2005);
* spoke on literally hundreds of radio and TV programs against the occupation and against manipulation of media for the war during the last five years including as an interviewee in Bill Moyers’ recent PBS documentary Buying the War;
* wrote dozens of articles every year against the occupation;
* participated as a speaker in antiwar forums and protests in about 20 states;
* participated in the Congressional Progressive Caucus screening of the film War Made Easy, based on my book of the same name, on Capitol Hill in December 2007;
* have worked as a member of my local chapters of Democracy For America and Progressive Democrats of America to strengthen grassroots activism for ending the war;
* spoke from the floor of the 2007 California Democratic Convention in opposition to preventing a vote on a strong out-of-Iraq resolution;
* have worked as a member of the state party’s Progressive Caucus to strengthen antiwar positions;
* lobbied against the war at the Capitol in Washington.
B) Eliminating Poverty
I’ve consistently advocated for the elimination of poverty in many hundreds of speeches and articles and in active support of many Democratic candidates since 1972.
C) Promoting Universal Single-Payer Healthcare
I’m the founder and coordinator of North Bay Healthcare Not Warfare, which works in support of Sen. Sheila Kuehl’s S.B. 840 and in support of Rep. John Conyers’ H.R. 676. I am also co-chair of the national Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign along with co-chairs Donna Smith (featured in Sicko), Marilyn Clement (national coordinator of Healthcare-NOW) and Rep. Conyers, with the goal of universal single-payer healthcare. I have spoken at events for single-payer healthcare from Santa Rosa and Sacramento to New York City and Washington, D.C.
D) Ensuring Election Integrity (protecting each vote to ensure it is counted as cast)
In my capacity as the executive director of the nonprofit Institute for Public Accuracy, I have worked on dozens of national news releases to expose undemocratic breaches of election integrity and to get progressive advocates for election protection onto TV and radio.
E) Preventing a US attack on Iran
In 2005, I traveled to Tehran and met with a wide range of citizens and officials. For several years I’ve written and spoken widely against any attack on Iran.
F) Preserving a free and open Internet
Beginning in the early 1990s, I’ve spoken out and written many articles warning against commercialization and censorship of the Internet. I have written and spoken often for “net neutrality” as an activist and as a longtime associate of the media watchdog group FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting).
G) Impeaching or indicting Bush and Cheney
I worked for the pro-impeachment resolution at the 2007 California Democratic Convention and have spoken in favor of impeachment at rallies and forums.
H) Redirecting California's resources to support education, not incarceration
I’ve spoken at public events for sharp increases in education funding and sharp decreases in funding for prisons in California, as well as for major new funding to help former prisoners on the outside.
I) Protecting LGBT Rights and Promoting Marriage Equality
I’ve spoken at forums and other events unequivocally in favor of LGBT rights and marriage equality.
J) Promoting public financing of elections
As a member of the national advisory board of Progressive Democrats of America, I work in support of PDA’s core position for public financing and clean elections. I’ve spoken out for those positions on many radio programs over the years.
K) Abolishing the death penalty
At San Quentin, I’ve participated in protests against executions and have written against the death penalty, including in my 2007 book Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters With America’s Warfare State. I have spoken at forums and rallies to abolish the death penalty.
L) Promoting alternative energy/energy independence
As an activist I began working to support solar and wind energy -- in tandem with working on nonviolent direct action campaigns against nuclear power -- during the late 1970s. Since then, I’ve often spoken out in favor of clean renewable energy.
If you had been in Congress, how would you have voted for the most recent 178-billion dollar war package?
I would have voted an emphatic “No.”
How have you used your activism or Party involvement to challenge the leadership's support for war funding?
Please see my response to question “A” above. Also, I’ve strongly supported my antiwar Congressman Lynn Woolsey. In addition, in the process of calling for an end to congressional acquiescence to Iraq war funding, I’ve written countless articles and have often spoken on radio and TV including as a guest several times on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal program.
Have you ever supported an insurgent primary candidate or someone who is challenging an incumbent on the issues? Explain.
I supported Donna Edwards’ successful primary challenge to Rep. Al Wynn in Maryland.
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?
The range and extent of my work outlined in this questionnaire -- and overall my 40 years of activism for the environment, peace, economic justice, civil rights, social justice and civil liberties -- have prepared me to represent progressive values effectively. Online readers of this questionnaire can see a short video interview of me on the subject of “progressive values” at:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_edwin_ru_080523_progressive_values_s.htm
Do you think we should have super delegates? Why or why not?
I think that the role of super delegates should be circumscribed so that the will of primary and caucus voters could not be overturned at a national convention.
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’m running on a slate with Karen Bernal, Mal Burnstein, Mayme Hubert and Ralph Miller. I spoke with those candidates and decided that we have a shared commitment to progressive principles, very complementary skills and a basis for strong working relationships for pursuing progressive goals on the Democratic National Committee.
What experience has prepared you to run as a DNC member?
The aggregate of my 40 years of experience as a political activist and analyst -- including as a member of the State Central Committee and the national advisory board of Progressive Democrats of America as well as dozens of other progressive organizations -- has prepared me to run for the DNC.
On which committee(s) would you like to serve and what are your personal
goals for each committee?
I’d like to serve on the DNC’s Resolutions Committee. My personal goals for the DNC committees are:
--- Rules & Bylaws:
Clarity and equity within all party structures and procedures.
--- Credentials:
High-quality planning and implementation based on fairness that can mitigate against divisive internal conflicts.
--- Resolutions:
Support for viable progressive positions that can draw widening support and contribute to Election Day victories.
--- Budget & Finance:
Solid financial development for a sustained 50-state strategy on the basis of growth and transparency.
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