MONEYBOMB, Part 5: Why Populism Is Now Centrism (With Adam Bonica)
For the first time in the Citizens United era of billionaires and corporate money buying U.S. elections, change may be afoot. This week, Democrats campaigning on a populist message won resounding victories in the face of big-money opposition.
An aging party establishment is still calling for Democrats to be more moderate and centrist, but what if the center has moved? What if populism is the new centrism?
On this new episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, David Sirota sits down with Stanford political scientist Adam Bonica, author of the newsletter On Data and Democracy, to discover how the labels that we use in our political system are changing — and how this week’s election results could shift the Democratic Party’s battle against corporate power and the oligarchy.
For a full transcript of the episode, click here.
Click here to order our new book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.
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MONEYBOMB, Part 4: How Zohran Mamdani Beat Citizens United
Ahead of the closely watched New York City mayoral race, everyone is looking for a lesson from progressive Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani’s rise to political stardom. The real answer may be a vastly undervalued political strategy: public money. Could public financing of elections overcome Citizens United and the flood of corporate cash and corruption in American politics?
In the latest episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, we explore the importance of publicly funded campaigns. David Sirota speaks with two people who have had front-row seats to how public financing is combating election corruption — Karen Wharton, democracy coalition coordinator for Citizen Action of New York, and Jillian Gilchrest, a Connecticut state representative now running for Congress.
For a full transcript of the episode, click here.
Click here to order our new book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.
Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.
To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.
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BONUS: An Exclusive Interview With Graham Platner
This week, in a special live interview, David Sirota sat down with Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.
Platner is a military veteran and oyster farmer who is a first-time political candidate running in the Democratic primary in the race to challenge Republican Senate incumbent Susan Collins. His rough-around-the-edges campaign has resonated with Maine’s working-class voters, sending him surging in the polls. But his past social media comments have surfaced in the last few weeks, thrusting him into controversy and pushing voters to ask: does Platner still have a shot at winning the Senate seat, and should he?
As a special bonus episode, we’re releasing the unedited audio of that interview. Click here to watch the video on YouTube.
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MONEYBOMB, Part 3: The Montana Plan To Kill Citizens United
A group of Montana activists is pushing a ballot initiative attacking Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted corporations the right to spend unlimited money in politics. While Montana’s Republican Attorney General attempted to block the ballot initiative this week, the fight is far from over.In the third episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, David Sirota sits down with political strategist Tom Moore from The Center for American Progress. That nonprofit is spearheading the Transparent Election Initiative, Montana’s new plan to purge dark money from the state, which could potentially rewrite national politics. Could this effort deal a blow to the corporate takeover of politics? And could it blaze a path for other states to follow?Click here to order our new book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.To read more of Tom Moore’s writing about The Montana Plan, click here.Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.
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MONEYBOMB, Part 3: The Montana Plan To Kill Citizens United
A group of Montana activists is pushing a ballot initiative attacking Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted corporations the right to spend unlimited money in politics. While Montana’s Republican Attorney General attempted to block the ballot initiative this week, the fight is far from over.
In the third episode of Lever Time’s MONEYBOMB series, David Sirota sits down with political strategist Tom Moore from The Center for American Progress. That nonprofit is spearheading the Transparent Election Initiative, Montana’s new plan to purge dark money from the state, which could potentially rewrite national politics. Could this effort deal a blow to the corporate takeover of politics? And could it blaze a path for other states to follow?
Click here to order our book, MASTER PLAN: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America.
To read more of Tom Moore’s writing about The Montana Plan, click here.
Get ad-free episodes, bonus content and extended interviews by becoming a member at levernews.com/join.
To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
From LeverNews.com — Lever Time is the flagship podcast from the investigative news outlet The Lever. Hosted by the award-winning journalist, Oscar-nominated writer, and Bernie Sanders' 2020 speechwriter David Sirota, Lever Time features exclusive reporting from The Lever’s newsroom, high-profile guest interviews, expert analysis, ideas and opinions from the sharpest minds in media and politics.
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