My interview with Jonathan Tasini

[WilliamPitt]

An Interview with Jonathan Tasini
August 17th, 2006
By William Rivers Pitt
Progressive Democrats of America

Thursday 17 August 2006

WRP: Describe the energy and vibrancy of the campaign, the street work, the enthusiasm of the volunteers.

JT: Our campaign recently collected 40,000 ballot access signatures, far in excess of the 15,000 required to qualify for the New York Senate primary.

This was a tremendous grassroots effort by hundreds of volunteers all around the state, organized by dozens of volunteer regional coordinators. It was truly inspiring to see the process unfold, as I went out on the street to collect signatures daily myself, accompanied by wonderful volunteers. I really loved the process. And I saw a hunger out there from people who longed for an alternative to the pro-war incumbent. People would see our campaign signs and come running across the park to sign our petitions. They would call us from their cellphones to say, “I’m on the corner, where are you, I came all the way downtown to sign your petition.” Volunteers collected signatures in the heat, in the rain, days, nights and weekends. Our upstate volunteers endured storms and flooding but made sure their petition sheets got to the post office in time. Near the deadline, petitions were pouring into our office from volunteers we didn’t even know we had. On the day we drove to Albany to deliver our signed sheets, we got to the office at 6:00 a.m. to find a clipboard full of petition sheets wedged in the door, from a volunteer who wanted to make sure we submitted her hard-won signatures to Albany.

Along with individuals, many grassroots political clubs have been deeply involved with our campaign, and we could not do it without them. We are indebted to the Village Independent Democrats, the Downtown Independent Democrats, DFNYC, and of course, PDA, just to name a few. PDA members have been some of our most stalwart supporters; they’ve been the kind of friends we really lean on when there’s hard work to be done. For instance, one PDA member, Chris Tompkins, organized a street team to go out several nights a week to canvas voters for our campaign. This is emblematic of a number of things that have happened. Another group of volunteers decided to purchase and distribute lawn signs. They organized this entirely on their own - designed, ordered, delivered and distributed. Tonight as I drove through Woodstock on the way back to New York City I was thrilled to see these signs all over town.

More: http://blog.pdamerica.org/?p=795

(Note, as of 1:10pm EST, the text on that link is a mess. The technical gurus at PDA are working to fix it, and it should be squared away and presentable for sharing shortly)

[Tom Joad]

1. Hillary is no better than Joe Lieberman, i have no idea why Tasini

gets so little support here. And unlike Lamont, Tasini even questions unconditional support for Israel's destruction of Lebanon.

[lostnfound]

11. Tasini doesn't have $4 Million of his own money to spend

which is the biggest reason why he isn't as viable as Lamont.

[johnnie]

2. Uh huh, uh huh..

And this has *what* to do about JonBenet Ramsey :shrug:


:P


Sorry, I will read it now.

[Greyhound]

7. LOL!

Kudos to you! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. When did they set this "threshold"? Did this $$$...

>>>Well obviously money is an obstacle. You may know that NY1, the local 24 hour news channel which sponsors a series of candidate debates, has barred me from debating because I don’t meet an arbitrary “threshold” they have set of $500,000 either raised or spent.>>>>>

... criterion apply in previous years on NY 1 to all candidates?

My suspicion... perhaps my suspicion is unfounded ( feel free to reassure me with facts, Clinton supporters).... is that this 'hasn't raised enough money' thing (weirdest thing I have have ever heard of , frankly) is new this year and has been created for the ... shall we say... "convenience" of Senator Clinton.

Might Time-Warner Corp. ( owner of NY1) expect some "convenience" in return?

But what? Hmmmm......

[hedgehog]

6. On another thread someone indicated that the threshold used to be $50,000

It must really burn someone at Time Warner that they had to give all that extra money to Hillary in order to make her look unbeatable compared to Tasini.

[Stephanie]

12. this "threshold" effectively shuts out only one candidate

tonight is the atty gen'l debate - four candidates, two of whom poll around 3%, but they all have money (for advertising)

[Cassandra]

4. I was one of those signatures.

And pleased to do it.

[WilliamPitt]

5. The link is fixed

[Smarmie Doofus]

9. Alas, so is the election, I'm afraid. n/t

[Greyhound]

8. I think it would be one of the funniest things to happen in my life

if HRC turned out to be a 1 term politiwhore because of her pro-corporate, anti-worker positions. :rofl: :rofl:

I don't think it is going to happen, but the poetic justice would be heartening indeed.

[bvar22]

10. Tasini has my support!

*significant problems in this country will be underfunded for decades to come because of the trillions of dollars wasted on this illegal, immoral war...

*universal health care, Medicare for All, that we could implement tomorrow if we just had the will...

*end the abusive corporate power that has shipped thousands of our jobs overseas, eroded workers’ pay here at home, and stolen the pensions of thousands of Americans who worked hard all their lives only to see corporate executives escape failed companies with golden parachutes while the employees lost everything."

Hitting all the right notes.

http://www.tasinifornewyork.org/Donate

http://www.tasinifornewyork.org/

The Democratic Party is a BIG TENT, but there is NO ROOM for those
who advance the agenda of THE RICH (Corporate Owners) at the EXPENSE of LABOR and the POOR.

:dem:

[Stephanie]

13. Five new videos >

http://www.tasinifornewyork.org/tasini_on_the_issues_video

[mdmc]

14. I wonder if they got a single petition signature

from Ulster, Dutchess, Orange, or Sullivan county. The reason that I ask is that I know many people in these counties that would have carried for him, but the campaign never responded to requests for petitions.
Either way, he gets my vote if he gets on the ballot.

Woodstock!

[hedgehog]

15. He's on the ballot

Which makes canceling the debate even more egregious. He meets New york State's standards as a candidate and they were especially written to try to keep any challengers out of the race. To bad he doesn't meet Time-Warner's standards. I guess now we all know who is the higher authority. $1, 1 vote.

[mdmc]

16. I am very glad that he got on the ballot

I think that it is a huge liberal coup for progressives to be able to challenge Hillary Clinton. His ability to get on the ballot in NYS is, in itself, a HUGE PROGRESSIVE VICTORY! I know I will vote for him in the primary (then Green in the general, most likely)

[Cassandra]

17. I agree. It's not easy to get on the ballot in NYS...

or to stay on it. Signature challenges are depressingly common.

[redwitch]

18. Howie Hawkins is running on the Green ticket

He is an amazing person- heard him speak recently and answer a barrage of questions so thoroughly and thoughtfully I have to admit I was dazzled. Will have to give Mr Tasini a listen too before I decide. The war in Iraq is a deal breaker for me ( well, that and the flag burning nonsense) as far as Hillary is concerned.

[Kat45]

19. I know Jonathan Tasini

He used to be president of the National Writers Union back when I was a member.