Stolen election? Ari Berman on voter suppression and threats to the 2020 election

Posted on August 30, 2020 by David

Will the 2020 election be stolen? Will voter suppression affect the outcome? Voting rights expert and journalist Ari Berman discusses how voter suppression works and how it has already changed electoral outcomes in the U.S. He explains the strategy behind President Trump’s attacks on the U.S. Postal Service and Trump’s threat to deploy armed agents at polling places — a voter intimidation tactic with long history. Berman explains his nightmare scenario for Election Day 2020 — what it will take for it to happen, and how to prevent it.

Ari Berman, senior reporter, Mother Jones, author, Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America

Vermont’s RNC delegates on the “extremely successful” presidency of Donald Trump and Democratic responsibility for coronavirus deaths

Posted on August 26, 2020 by David

A half dozen Vermont delegates to the Republican National Convention (RNC) traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina this week join 330 other Republican delegates representing 50 states, six territories and Washington, D.C., to renominate Donald Trump as their candidate for president. They discuss why they believe Donald Trump has been “extremely successful,” their claim that Democrats are responsible for most coronavirus deaths and that the virus spread from China through “negligence or a deliberate act,” and why a majority of Vermonters do not support Trump.

Deb Billado, chair, Vermont Republican Party, delegate, Republican National Convention

Jay Shepard, national committeeman, Vermont Republican Party, vice chair, Republican National Committee, delegate, Republican National Convention

Anya Tynio, RNC delegate, Republican candidate for Congress in Vermont, 2018, 2020

Janssen Willhoit, RNC delegate, former Vermont state representative, Republican candidate for Vermont attorney general, 2018

Fighting to vote: A century of struggle for women’s suffrage

Posted on August 21, 2020 by David

On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution, thus giving women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a suffrage movement that was launched in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York, which was also attended by leading abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass. An effort to secure women’s suffrage failed at the US Supreme Court, leading to the movement to win the vote by a constitutional amendment. Enactment of women’s suffrage in 1920 was historic, but it did not end discrimination against African American women, who continued to be denied the vote due to Jim Crow racial discrimination laws until passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Marlboro College Professor Emerita Meg Mott discusses the suffrage movement, the racial divisions within it, enduring discrimination faced by African American and LGBTQ women, and parallels to modern efforts at voter suppression. (August 19, 2020 broadcast)

Meg Mott, Professor of Politics Emerita, Marlboro College

“We can do this:” Vermont DNC delegates voice hope and “terror” about 2020 election

Posted on August 19, 2020 by David

This has been the most unconventional Democratic National Convention. It is taking place, not in Milwaukee as originally planned, but virtually, due to the coronavirus pandemic. We talk with five Vermont delegates to the 2020 DNC about their roles, their hopes and their fears for the 2020 presidential election. (August 19, 2020 broadcast)

Carolyn Dwyer, political advisor, managed last four campaigns for Sen. Patrick Leahy and also headed Rep. Peter Welch’s efforts in 2006 and 2008 (Biden delegate)

Jim Dandeneau, former House campaign director for Vermont Democratic Party, (Sanders delegate)

Lisa Ryan, Director of Rutland County Community Justice Center at BROC Community Action, serve on Rutland City Board of Aldermen, former first vice president of the Rutland Area NAACP (Sanders)

Rep. Mary Sullivan, longtime state rep from Burlington (unpledged)

Allison Leibly, 18 year old from Woodstock, VT, freshman at Stanford (Biden)

Can Vermont schools safely reopen? A top educator & pediatrician confront the challenges

Posted on August 13, 2020 by David

Can schools safely reopen? Balancing staff and student safety against the need for children to return to school has been daunting and controversial around Vermont and the country. “The kids are not alright,” asserts Dr. Rebecca Bell, a critical care pediatrician and president of the Vermont chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Don Tinney, president of Vermont-NEA and a 31-year veteran high school English teacher, warns of “reopening chaos” and schools forced to close due to staff shortages. The educator and physician discuss the challenge of how and whether schools should reopen. (August 12, 2020 broadcast)

Don Tinney, President, Vermont-NEA

Dr. Rebecca Bell, Pediatric Critical Care Physician, UVM Medical Center, President, Vermont Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics

“You’re either a coward or complicit:” Why ex-Navy SEAL Dr. Dan Barkhuff is fighting Trump

Posted on August 12, 2020 by David

How does a self-described “pro-life, gun-owning combat veteran” end up starring in ads against President Trump? Dan Barkhuff is a former Navy SEAL and now an emergency physician at the University of Vermont Medical Center. He is the founder of the group Veterans for Responsible Leadership. Lately, he has gone viral as the star of two ads for the Lincoln Project, which was founded by former top Republican operatives who are now working to defeat Donald Trump in the 2020 election. He says, “I can see Trump for what he is — a coward. We need to send this draft-dodger back to his golf courses. The lives of our troops depend on it.” (August 12, 2020 broadcast)

Dr. Dan Barkhuff, emergency physician, UVM Medical Center, founder, Veterans for Responsible Leadership

“It Was All a Lie:” Top GOP operative Stuart Stevens on renouncing his party & defeating Trump

Posted on August 5, 2020 by David

For 25 years, Stuart Stevens was a leading strategist and media consultant to top Republican politicians, helping to elect presidents, senators, congressman, and governors. He was top strategist for 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and he worked on both of George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns. Stevens, who lives in Vermont, has just written a book, It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump. He argues that Trump did not hijack the Republican party, he is the natural outcome of five decades of the party’s hypocrisy, racism and self delusion. (August 8, 2020 broadcast)

Stuart Stevens, former Republican strategist, author, It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump

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Monthly Archives: August 2020