Searching for Bernie (Sanders)

After months of debates and canvassing and phone calls and strategizing and a seemingly endless tsunami of talking heads & political analysis, it’s finally time to cast our votes here at home in the Maryland Democratic primary. In this episode, Caleb and I chat about Bernie’s campaign thus far... about seeing how the political sausage gets made... about the results in Maryland... and about the road ahead. Plus, an inspiring letter from a loyal listener... and a tiny bit of (fair-use) Springsteen. Show notesPrimary results in Maryland“A movement, not just a campaign,” by Sue Prent in the Green Mountain DailyNPR Politics Podcast: Quick Take: April 26 Primary ResultsMusic beds: Semper Fidelis, by the Heftone Banjo Orchestra (via Free Music Archive); and We Take Care of Our Own, by Bruce SpringsteenTo rate & review this podcast on iTunes, please go HERE — and then click “View in iTunes.” Thanks in advance.

Paul Kirk is almost the definition of The Establishment (Democratic party division). Mr. Kirk is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee (1985-1989). He served as a U.S. Senator from Massachusetts from 2009 to 2010, when he was appointed to fill the vacancy created after the death of Senator Ted Kennedy. Kirk has also served as chairman of the board of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and as co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates. That’s pretty Establishment. Which is why I was blown away that Paul Kirk endorsed Bernie for President. Why is he backing Sanders? Is Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the current DNC in the tank for Hillary Clinton? And is democracy just too much damn work? Here’s my recent conversation with Paul Kirk: Show notesPaul G. Kirk (Wikipedia)Paul Kirk endorses Bernie Sanders [VIDEO]Democratic National CommitteeDemocratic Leadership CouncilAl FromIntro music bed: Kings And Queens (Instrumental) by Alialujah Choir (via Free Music Archive)Outro music: Enough is a Feast, by Bill Harley; ©2008 Round River Music, All rights reserved, used with permission; billharley.com (Special thanks to Diana Woodall for recommending Enough is a Feast, and for securing the official permission from Mr. Harley and Round River Music.) Paul Kirk

Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, anti-war activist, and a world-renowned voice of the very progressive left. For more than half a century, Chomsky taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He’s the author of more than a hundred books, including Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media; Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies; and Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance. Chomsky is now 87 years old, and although he has retired as a full-time professor, he’s still in big demand as a speaker, a writer, and a critic. In recent months he’s also said some nice things Bernie’s campaign for president. So, on a whim last October, I sent him an email to ask for an interview. I figured my message would disappear under the hundreds of other emails he must receive each day. But he wrote back, and after several exchanges, we scheduled an interview for a few months down the road. Fast forward to March 11, when I stopped by MIT to see Prof. Chomsky. I had only 25 minutes on his schedule, and it flew by... Show notesNoam ChomskyAbby Martin interviews Chomsky [VIDEO]Fritz SternGeorge Carlin [VIDEO]Sound bed: “Let’s Make a Pact,” by Josh Spacek via Free Music Archive (Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0)  

When Democrats went to the polls in South Carolina about a week ago, they handed Hillary Clinton a huge victory. She won 74 percent of the vote to Bernie’s 26 percent, mostly because Hillary was the choice of most of South Carolina’s African American voters. And it’s Hillary’s ability to connect with African American voters — and with Latinos too — that’s become a key factor in this campaign, or so the political pundits keeps saying. To win the Democratic nomination, they tell us, requires the support of people of color, and Hillary has that support all locked up. But does she really? Do African American voters choose to support Hillary because she represents their interests? Does she “get” them in a way that Bernie doesn’t? Is Bernie unable to appeal to black voters because he’s a stranger from lily-white Vermont, while the folks in South Carolina know and still admire the Clintons? Wendell Gilliard is an African American member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, where he’s served since 2009. Mr. Gilliard is a former member of the Charleston City Council, and a former president of the United Steel Workers Local Union. Mr. Gilliard has also endorsed Bernie Sanders. I talked to him a few days ago about the campaign, about the racial dynamics of South Carolina politics, and about the demands of what he calls the “cookies and Kool Aid circuit” and the great divide between Democratic grassroots voters and the party’s leadership. Show notesWendell GilliardVICE News video about the African American vote in South CarolinaBarack Obama’s victory speech following the South Carolina primary in 2008 [VIDEO]

On a Thursday night in January 2013, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the home of Erika Andiola in Phoenix, Arizona. Without a warrant, the agents arrested Erika’s mother and brother, put them on a bus, and began the process of deporting them back to Mexico. Hours later, in a panic, Erika posted a plea for help on YouTube.According to Erika, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) maintained dossiers on her whole family, partly because they were all undocumented, and partly because Erika was a high-profile immigration activist. As a founder of the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition, Erika was (and remains) a very public and passionate voice supporting legislation to allow the children of undocumented immigrants to become documented. The good news is Erika’s mother and brother were released the day after they had been arrested. But the whole experience clearly worried Erika. Erika Andiola is now the Latino Outreach Strategist for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. I talked to her the other day about immigration and the Latino vote… about Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who are both Latino. We also talked about Hillary’s so-called “firewall” — the idea that people of color, especially Latinos and African Americans, will prevent all that FeelingTheBern from spreading across key primary states. Show notesErika Andiola’s plea on YouTube, posted right after her mother and brother were arrested by immigration agents in January 2013 [VIDEO] Erika on TwitterArizona DREAM Act CoalitionBernie gets a tepid response at a church in South Carolina (Washington Post)Music bed: Tell Me (by Alialujah Choir) & Curtains (by The Losers) via Free Music Archive 

This episode is just a few minutes long, but I didn’t want to wait until I produced another complete episode before I shared a special audio clip with you.It features a bit of insight from Robert Reich, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton, and who now teaches public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. In roughly a minute, Reich distills the essential difference between the voters who support Hillary— and voters who support Bernie. It’s worth a quick listen.  Show notesRobert Reich & “The Big Choice for Democrats” [VIDEO] 

After the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, Bernie Sanders already trails Hillary Clinton in the delegate count, 394 to 44. Which seems outrageous to a lot of people because Bernie tied Hillary in Iowa, and won big in New Hampshire. Why the massive delegate gap? It’s all about the superdelegates. Here, in a nutshell, is how it works: The Democratic nomination is a battle for a majority of the 4,763 delegates who will attend the party convention in Philadelphia this July. Roughly 85 percent of those delegates are selected in the caucuses and primaries we’re in the midst of right now. But the other 15 percent — that’s 712 delegates, if you’re scoring at home — are the superdelegates. They are unpledged delegates who are not bound by election results. Instead, they vote for whichever candidate they prefer. So, who are these superdelegates? Members of Congress… party officials… state party leaders… lobbyists... and other people who you might call the party elite. And of those 712 superdelegates, 362 of them have already endorsed Hillary Clinton, while only 8 have endorsed Bernie. In a very red (Republican) state, socialism flourishes. Chad Nodland is one of those 8 Bernie superdelegates. Chad is a lawyer in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he also serves as member of the Executive Committee of the state party. I asked Chad about a bunch of different things, including his take on whether or not the concerns about the fairness of the superdelegate system are legitimate. He also shared some surprising insights on the role of socialism in his very Republican state. Show notesChad NodlandSuperdelegates (Wikipedia)Current 2016 superdelegate tally (New York Times)The State Bank of North DakotaNorth Dakota Mill & Elevator Association: “the only state-owned milling facility in the United States” Jake Tapper interviews Debbie Wasserman Schultz [VIDEO]John Dickerson interviews Bernie Sanders [VIDEO] 

On a cold weekend afternoon last February, my son Caleb and I were searching for a good movie on Netflix. And we ended up watching a documentary called Inequality for All.The star of the documentary is Robert Reich, who served as Secretary of Labor during the (Bill) Clinton administration, and who now is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. In the film, Reich sketches a rather frightening portrait of how income inequality is crippling our economy and our nation. But what makes Reich’s argument so riveting is not its moral clarity, but its practicality. Put another way: Reich doesn’t simply insist that the growing gulf between rich and poor is unfair or wrong or unjust (although he certainly says all those things). What he emphasizes is that economic inequality is unsustainable. That if we maintain our current course, and we do nothing to strengthen the middle class, then our whole economy will collapse.It’s been about a year since Caleb and I first watched Inequality for All, and it’s not an overstatement to say that Caleb’s enthusiasm for Bernie — and probably mine too — can be tracked back to this documentary. Jacob Kornbluth is the director of the film, and the other day we talked about how his documentary came to be — and why it could almost serve as a campaign film for Bernie 2016. Show notesJacob KornbluthRobert ReichInequality for All, trailer [VIDEO]Inequality MediaJacob’s MoveOn videosSoundbed: Orange Juicer & Sunset Stroll by Podington Bear 

This past Monday in Iowa, the 2016 election season finally began in earnest with actual voters casting actual votes. As my son and I watched the whole thing unfold from our home in Maryland, we felt like we were missing the Main Event. As I’ve mentioned with monotonous regularity on this podcast, Caleb and I spent a week in Iowa last August just outside Cedar Rapids, where we volunteered in one of Bernie’s field offices. We made phone calls. We knocked on doors. We did what we could to help the full-time campaign staffers get the word out about Bernie. And now the time had finally come... but we weren’t there to see what actually happens at a precinct caucus. So, I called up a few people who were there: Kathryn Stack, Rhonda Shouse, and Jennifer Herrington. They provide some vivid snapshots of what happened on Monday night... what’s wonderful about Iowa’s caucuses... and what needs to be fixed, too.P.S. There’s also tiny bit of Springsteen in this episode — a clip that’s long enough to make my editorial point, but short enough so I won’t violate Fair Use. Or so I hope!  Show notesIowa Democratic PartyResults from the 2016 Democratic caucuses [interactive map]Linn County, IowaPage County, IowaCornel West introduces Bernie Sanders at Cedar Rapids rally, January 31, 2016 [VIDEO]Bruce Springsteen’s We Take Care of Our Own [VIDEO]our iTunes page  

I’ve been a longtime admirer of Michael Dukakis, first when he served as Governor of Massachusetts (where I grew up), and later when he became the Democratic party’s nominee for president in 1988.My memories, though, are less about his policies, and more about him personally: Dukakis always struck me as a decent, upstanding guy. When Gov. Dukakis endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, I can’t say I was surprised. Almost all of the party’s leaders have backed Hillary, but I still haven’t heard a convincing explanation of why.So, on a lark, my son Caleb and I wrote to the Governor, and asked for an interview. And being the decent, upstanding guy that he is, the Governor accepted. We talked about Bernie and Hillary... campaign finance reform... lessons from the 1988 presidential campaign... negative advertising... Elizabeth Warren... and lots more. I hope you enjoy listening to the interview as much as Caleb and I enjoyed producing it. Show notes Michael Dukakis1988 U.S. presidential electionHillary Clinton’s campaign contributions [OpenSecrets.org]Democratic Leadership CouncilSue Prent, writer and editor at the Green Mountain DailyGov. Dukakis says Elizabeth Warren should not run for president in 2016 [U.S. News]Gov. Dukakis talks to students at the Harvard School of Public Health [VIDEO]Lee Atwater and negative political adsJohn E. Walsh, former chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic PartyKitty Dukakis and her advocacy on mental health issuesFenway Park

Over the past eight months or so, I’ve learned a lot about what Bernie Sanders thinks about the economy, health care, campaign finance reform, and lots of other issues. That’s because Bernie is basically an issues guy. He likes talking policy.But I keep wondering how that’s going to wear with voters over the long term, especially when the public often seems hungry for personality and emotion and story. Call it the politics of personal narrative — a world where a political candidate’s life story becomes the keystone of his or her campaign. Problem is, Bernie doesn’t seem to enjoy baring his soul. Whenever he’s pushed into talking about, say, his childhood in Brooklyn, or his parents, or his early days in Vermont — well, you can see Bernie gagging a bit. He hates that stuff. The good news is, a new e-book fills in many of the blanks in Bernie’s past. It’s called The Bern Identity, and it’s by Will Bunch, a veteran political journalist and a Pulitzer Prize winner who now writes for the Philadelphia Daily News. (Will is also the author of several other books, including Backlash: Right-Wing Radicals, High-Def Hucksters and Paranoid Politics in the Age of Obama, and Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future.)Will does a masterful job of telling Bernie’s story — from Sanders’ childhood in Brooklyn to his years at the University of Chicago to Bernie’s early political struggles in Vermont. Will also takes us on the campaign trail to hear Bernie on the stump, to feel the Bern and the vibe at Bernie’s massive rallies, and to meet some of Sanders’ most passionate supporters. This blend of reporting from the campaign trail, personal biography, and analysis — it reminds me of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72, except without the booze, the drugs, and the profanity. And yes, I know what you’re thinking: Thompson was fueled by booze, drugs, and profanity. It was central to the whole Fear and Loathing shtick. But that’s another thing that makes the The Bern Identity so impressive: It’s an incisive, well-written, fast-paced, and funny book — and Bunch did it all sober. At least I think he did... Show notesThe Bern Identity, by Will BunchWill Bunch on TwitterAttywood (Will’s blog)More books by Will BunchHunter S. Thompson reads an excerpt from Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ‘72 [VIDEO] 

In 2004, journalist Bill Moyers interviewed Elizabeth Warren about the financial struggles of the middle class, especially the growing burden of household debt: Between 1990 and 2004, household debt doubled, from 4 trillion to 8 trillion dollars. At the time of Moyers’ interview, Warren was not yet a leader of the Progressive movement, not yet a U.S. Senator, and not yet a key player in the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren was still teaching at Harvard Law School, and had just published a book called The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents are Going Broke. Warren is her usual articulate and passionate self on Moyers’ show. But the key part of the interview (for me, anyway) was when Warren describes two encounters with Hillary Clinton. The first came in the late 1990s, when Clinton was still the First Lady. The second came a few years later, soon after Hillary had been elected to the U.S. Senate. The contrast between these two incarnations of Hillary — well, I think you’ll find it eye-opening, and probably a little disturbing, too.  Show notesFull interview: Bill Moyers talks with Elizabeth Warren [VIDEO]Sound bed: Molasses, by Podington Bear 

In this episode you’ll hear from three people. Lyn DeWitt, a longtime friend of mine, is an ardent feminist and a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton. You heard Lyn in Part 1 of this mini-series, and you’ll hear the same clips of Lyn in part 2. This time, though, the rebuttal to Lyn will come from her 20-year-old daughter Anna Kelly. She’ll respond to her mother’s arguments about why Hillary should be the Democratic nominee. Anna does a wonderful job of explaining why millennials have found a kindred spirit in a rumpled, 74-year-old democratic socialist from Vermont. The third voice in this episode comes from… well, let’s just say a surprise guest. Call her a pundit with decades of political experience — a pundit you’ve never heard from... until now. Before you click play, I gotta say this about Anna Kelly. Not only is she bright, articulate, and well-informed — but she also personifies what makes Bernie’s campaign so exciting: Bernie’s ability to draw such loyal support from people who are 50 years younger than he is. If millennials like Anna can still hear wisdom from their elders — not just hear it, actually, but embrace it — well, that’s a wonderful thing. It’s also a rejection of an old, tired rallying cry of the baby-boomers in Berkeley, back in the 1960s during the Free Speech Movement. The expression? “Don’t trust anyone over 30.”   

In this episode (and the next one), we explore the women’s vote, and the gender gap — or lack of one — between Hillary supporters and Bernie believers. Put another way: I’ll be asking why some women think that putting a woman in the White House is Priority Number One, while other women have decided that gender loyalty matters far less than the candidates’ policy positions. You’ll hear from Jenni Siri, one of the co-founders of Women for Bernie Sanders. The group has about 50,000 members on Facebook, a website overflowing with information and resources, and a national network of state chapters all dedicated to Bernie’s campaign.You’ll also hear from Lyn DeWitt, a longtime friend of mine who is a champion of women’s rights and an ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton. In part 2, you’ll hear from Lyn DeWitt’s daughter Anna, who, unlike her mom, is a big Bernie supporter. Anna provides great insights on why some millennial women see the world in a fundamentally different way than their baby-boom mothers. But before that mother-daughter face-off, here is Jenni Siri...

Is the Democratic National Committee intentionally sidelining Bernie Sanders to prevent him from winning the Democratic nomination?Or to put it more bluntly: Is the DNC in the tank for Hillary Clinton?That question has been bouncing around for a while. It popped up over the summer when the DNC announced there would be only six officially sanctioned debates, which means a challenger like Bernie has relatively few opportunities to introduce himself to a national TV audience.And the timing of the debates has been an issue too. For instance, the third debate was last Saturday — a weekend night, only six days before Christmas. To no one’s surprise, it was the least watched debate of the 2016 election cycle.Questions about the DNC putting its finger on the scale for Hillary Clinton popped up again last week, when someone leaked a story about the security breach of the DNC’s voter database. Now, I don’t want to rehash all the details of that episode here, but I do want to share a tweet from Jim Webb, who until recently was running for the Democratic nomination. When Webb learned that the Sanders campaign had filed a lawsuit against the DNC over how it had handled the security breach, he tweeted: “Good for Bernie. The DNC is nothing more than an arm for the Clinton campaign.”There are lots of questions about the DNC that I can’t answer. Questions like: Who at the DNC created the debate schedule? What does it mean for a voter like me to be a member of the DNC? And how can a DNC member influence the actions of the organization which claims to represent me and my party? To find out, I contacted Luis Miranda, the Communications Director of the Democratic National Committee. Back in October, I sent Luis a message on Twitter in which I introduced myself and this podcast. I included a link to this site, so he could see that Searching for Bernie is a podcast produced by a Bernie supporter (me). Luis responded within hours, and suggested I contact the DNC Press Office to set up an interview. And so began my adventure — six weeks of seemingly endless exchanges with various DNC Press officials who were rather... well, let’s just say it didn’t end on a happy note.After banging my head on the front door of the DNC for six weeks, I called up Hans Noel. He’s an associate professor in the Government department at Georgetown University, and the co-author of The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform. Professor Noel does an excellent job of explaining why so many Democratic voters feel disenfranchised by the national organization that (allegedly) represents them:

In this episode, I’ll be sharing part 2 of my interview with John Lee Dumas.As you may remember from part 1 (Episode #13), John is the host of Entrepreneur on Fire, which is one of the most popular business podcasts on iTunes. It’s also one of the most profitable: John and his partner Kate Erickson are making a fortune running what’s become an online empire that’s built around his podcast about the entrepreneurial life. In fact, so far this year, John and Kate have a net income of more than $2.7 million dollars, which doesn’t even include December. It’s amazing. Now, if you’re wondering why I’d interview a wealthy podcasting guru for a podcast about Bernie Sanders — well, there’s a good reason. John Lee Dumas is just the latest in a long line of self-help coaches that includes guys like Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar, Tony Robbins, Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, and too many others to count. And their message bascially is, in Zig Ziglar’s memorable words: If you can dream it, you can achieve it. In other words: The only thing stopping you from being successful is... you. Which means that everything Bernie Sanders says about the System being stacked against the little guy, and about how the government can help make our lives better — all that, in the eyes of people like John Lee Dumas, is total nonsense. If Bernie Sanders and his progressive agenda have any chance of victory next year, then the worldview of guys like John Lee Dumas will have to be challenged — and debunked. Here’s my small contribution to the cause:   

Listen to Bernie Sanders, and you hear, loud and clear, what ails our economy: declining wages, income inequality, the vanishing middle class.To Bernie, the cause of these problems is simple: Our economy and our political system are rigged against the little guy, who is getting crushed as the top one percent run off with all the money. Listen to Republicans, though, and their diagnosis is entirely different. For them, the bogeyman is The Government, which gets in our way, curtails our freedom, and snuffs out America’s entrepreneurial spirit. This disagreement, I think, is mostly rooted in a broader question, which is: Are the economic problems we face caused by structural weaknesses in our economy? Or are they causeby the character flaws of individuals?Put another way: Have these problems emerged because things like technology, globalization, and deregulation have fundamentally reshaped our economy? Or are these economic inequalities the natural outcome of a competitive free market that, by design, produces winners and losers — and the losers should just quit whining and suck it up and try harder?That’s what we explore in this episode, which includes part 1 of my interview with John Lee Dumas, host of the wildly successful podcast Entrepreneur on Fire. John’s skepticism about government activism, his lack of interest in politics, his faith in private enterprise and entrepreneurship — his whole worldview, really — that is what Bernie and his supporters are up against in this election... and beyond.

Yesterday, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that he was dropping out of the race to become the Republican nominee for president. When I heard the news, I thought: Wait! That’s not what Bobby told me he was going to do! But I’m getting ahead of myself. You see, back in August, my son Caleb and I spent a week in Iowa working for Bernie’s campaign. On our day off, we drove to Des Moines to take in the Iowa State Fair. During presidential election years at the Fair, the Des Moines Register runs something called the Soapbox, where candidates can deliver their stump speeches and answer questions from the crowd. On the day Caleb and I visited the Fair, Bobby Jindal was on the Soapbox. Here’s a short dispatch:

It’s the economy, stupid.That phrase was coined in 1992 by James Carville, who was then the campaign strategist for presidential candidate Bill Clinton. But those words could just as easily be the slogan of Bernie’s campaign, too. From income inequality to the minimum wage to the vanishing middle class — economics is central to Bernie 2016. I majored in economics as an undergraduate, and so I’ve been wondering: What would my former economics professors say about Bernie’s ideas? How does democratic socialism fit into the (neo)classical economic model that champions the free market? I graduated from Wesleyan University way back in 1981. So it came as no surprise that when I looked at the website of Wesleyan’s economics department, almost all the familiar names were gone, except one: Richard Adelstein. When I saw his name, two thoughts popped to mind: Professor Adelstein was a very popular teacher when I was at Wesleyan; and I still regret never taking any of his classes.But then I realized that maybe, 35 years later, I could atone. If I could get him on the phone, he could explain what economists think of Bernie Sanders and I could finally attend a seminar — actually, more of a one-on-one tutorial — with Professor Adelstein. And so this episode was born:  Show notes:Professor Richard Adelstein Wesleyan pagebrief bioClassical & neo-classical economicsAdam SmithHomo economicus“How Homo Economicus Went Extinct: Consumers and investors don’t act rationally, but for generations economists have pretended they do,” in The Wall Street JournalPareto optimality (or pareto efficiency)Kenneth ArrowGerard Debreu Amartya Sen

Mario Cuomo, the former governor of New York, once said that “you campaign in poetry, you govern in prose.”Listening to Bernie on the stump, he’s mostly prose. He outlines the issues clearly. He speaks to those issues forcefully. But it’s hard not to think that most of the time, Bernie is angry — and with good reason. Income inequality. Childhood poverty. Citizens United. The list of things to be angry about is pretty long.But I often wonder if Bernie’s rhetorical style will help him or hurt him in the long run. Will his anger — and his monotone delivery — will they get Bernie where he wants to go? And: Will Bernie’s apparent unwillingness to tell personal stories about himself and his parents and his past — the whole politics as personal narrative approach — can Bernie run a political campaign at the national level without publicly getting in touch with his feelings? On the other hand: Is it possible that people are actually relieved that Bernie isn’t talking about himself? Maybe voters are tired to listening to candidates who sound as though they’ve gone through months of media training and coaching on how to talk, how to emote, how to share?Put another way: Is Bernie violating certain rules about public speaking that are as immutable as the laws of gravity? To find out, I consulted a professional — Arabella Macpherson, the founder of Resonate Communications. As a coach for public and corporate clients, Arabella is a big believer in a system called the Process Communication Model (PCM). It’s the brainchild of Dr. Taibi Kahler, a clinical psychologist whose work has been celebrated by none other than former President (and master of faux public emoting) Bill Clinton. Arabella lives and works in Sydney, Australia, so she had not heard of Bernie Sanders until I contacted her. And that’s a good thing because I wanted her to assess Bernie’s communication skills with fresh eyes. So I asked Arabella to watch a YouTube video of Bernie talking to 20,000 people in Portland, Maine... and to get a sense of what Bernie is like on the stump. Then she joined me on Skype to discuss whether or not Bernie Sanders is — or isn’t — a great communicator.  Show notesArabella Macpherson, founder of Resonate CommunicationsDr. Taibi Kahler; Process Communication Model Bill Clinton’s testimonial re: Dr. Kahler’s workBernie in Portland, Maine (VIDEO)Bernie at a student town meeting at George Mason University in Virginia (VIDEO)

A few weeks ago, I read a fascinating article titled “Bernie Sanders’ Refusal to Attack Hillary Clinton Isn’t Just Principled — It’s Political Genius.”It caught my eye partly because the author did an outstanding job of explaining why Bernie’s campaign might see not only moral but strategic value in refusing to run negative ads. It also caught my attention because the piece was written by a (very thoughtful and articulate) college student. Marc Daalder is a sophomore at Amherst College in Massachusetts, and a regular contributor to In These Times. Here’s my conversation with Marc — plus a few examples of negative political advertising, just to remind you how noxious it can be. Show notesMarc Daalder“Bernie Sanders Refusal to Attack Hillary Clinton Isn’t Just Principled — It’s Political Genius.”on TwitterAppeal to Reason (Marc’s blog)his contributor’s page at In These TimesSleaziest Political Ads of 2012 (VIDEO)Bernie takes on the media in Dubuque, Iowa. (VIDEO)Correction: In the podcast, I said this clip was from Portland, Maine. Nope. It’s actually from Dubuque. Bernie talks about negative ads during his announcement that he was running for president. (VIDEO)Andrea Mitchell interviews Bernie Sanders. (VIDEO)David Axelrod interviews Bernie Sanders. 

Let’s be honest: Most of the talking heads and political pundits on the major networks rarely say anything that you haven’t already heard from another talking head. Or from your next-door neighbor. Or, more likely, that you haven’t already thought of yourself. It often seems like the main prerequisite to becoming a political commentator on the national stage is you gotta have opinions. Lots of them. Hunches, too. Throw in some speculation, a prediction or two, and a nice haircut, and you’re well on your way. After the Democratic debate on Tuesday, I was looking for an expert like that to share such insights with me (and you). To highlight the key moments from the debate. To “unpack” it all. Most of all, I needed someone to tell me what to think about what I’d just witnessed.Suddenly it hit me: I know a guy like that — someone with plenty of political opinions, a willingness to share them, and nice hair. (He’s also happens to be a very smart and observant guy.)Introducing Searching for Bernie’s new in-house political analyst — my 17-year-old son:

This week, the five leading Democratic candidates for president — Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee, and Jim Webb — will meet on stage for a debate in Las Vegas.It will be the first of only six scheduled Democratic debates, which is a dramatic decline from primaries past. In 2004, for instance, there were 15 Democratic debates. In 2008, there were 26 debates. So what’s the difference this time? Why only 6 debates? Because of something called the exclusivity rule — conjured and enforced by the leadership of the Democratic National Committee. In this episode, we explore:the blowback to the DNC’s decision to cut off debate;the shifting position of Bernie’s campaign staff on the importance of more debates;how the debates might cast Bernie in an unflattering light, and how he might respond; andthe movement to #AllowDebate. Show notesBen Doernberg & AllowDebate.comThe official website of the Democratic National CommitteeDebbie Wasserman Schultz (DWS) on TwitterDWS gets heckled in New Hampshire Jake Tapper interviews DWS on CNNMartin O’Malley fumes about the debate schedule at the DNC’s Summer Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota (August 28, 2015)The Democratic debate scheduleAlan Schroeder, professor of journalism at Northeastern UniversityRep. Tulsi Gabbard, a vice chairwoman at the DNC, is disinvited by the DNC from the debate in Las Vegas. Jonathan Mann makes a musical appeal to DWS — and to you! (You gotta see the video.) Sound beds: Keep Dancing; Massive; and Orange Juicier, by Podington Bear

As I read about and watch and listen to Bernie’s campaign, I’m constantly clipping and starring and highlighting material. Much of it is audio, and most of it never makes it into episodes of this podcast.Yet those clips are worth a listen. They’re informative and entertaining — and they really don’t need any set-up from me. So, instead of waiting to find a way to seamlessly weave those clips into a future episode, I’ll share them with you now. Enjoy. Show notes: Feel the Bern #4: a video by MagnumDB that charts the fall and rise of Bernie’s campaign.Jon Stewart on a key difference between Hillary and Bernie Sarah Silverman introduces Bernie in Los AngelesBrian Estes sings Hey Bernie On his YouTube page, Brian writes: I've never written a song for a political candidate. I don't generally trust politicians or find them particularly inspiring. Bernie's got me fired up though. It's refreshing to see somebody who not only disagrees with Citizens United, but also refuses to run a campaign with super PAC money. Listen to what Bernie Sanders is saying. Look what he's done in his political career. Figure out whether you agree with him or not and why. Vote your conscience, not what you think is "safe."Sound bed: Buddy Guy, by Podington Bear  

Lil' Bernie celebrates the massive wave of contributions that poured into Big Bernie's campaign during the third quarter of 2015. (photo courtesy of Emily Engel) Last night — Wednesday, September 30, 2015 — Bernie Sanders and his supporters celebrated some amazing milestones to mark the end of the third quarter of 2015: more than 1.3 million donations received from more than 650,000 people, totalling roughly $25 million.Incredible. To celebrate this milestone, I'd like to introduce you to one (especially creative) person in that crowd of 650,000 contributors. Her name is Emily Engel. She’s a professional seamstress who lives in Ludlow, Massachusetts, and who is the creator of Lil’ Bernie.Emily has been making her Lil’ Bernie dolls for almost two weeks now, mostly because she wanted to contribute her creative talents to help the crowd carry Bernie Sanders to the White House. And she wanted to contribute some money, too. So all the proceeds from the sale of her Lil’ Bernies — everything above time & materials — that money has gone directly to Big Bernie’s campaign. Lil’ Bernie: coming soon to a campaign rally near you! Show notesLil Bernie onlineEmily on TwitterLil’ Bernie has his own Instagram A bit of Lil’ Bernie’s press coverage

In the early days, when Bernie Sanders began his political career as the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, what exactly was his appeal? And why is he attracting such huge crowds now? What’s his secret?

Bernie rallies the troops in Virginia, and we joined the crowd.

Bernie Sanders is a self-described democratic socialist. So there’s little doubt that as his campaign continues to gain momentum, his opponents and critics will ramp up the name calling: He’s a radical! A Marxist! A communist! The problem is that most people don’t understand what those words really mean. In this episode of Searching for Bernie, professor David Coates of Wake Forest University helps us make sense of it all.

How do you campaign for Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, in Wyoming, the most Republican state in the nation? James Sempsey, founder of Wyoming for Bernie, explains how he’s trying to persuade his (Republican) neighbors that Bernie Sanders, when you look closely at his policies, is really an Eisenhower Republican.

If you’d told me a year ago that one day I’d be even remotely interested in the political campaign of a guy like Bernie Sanders, I’d have called you crazy. But three things recently inspired me to reconsider the Sanders campaign, and to launch this podcast.