Dan Carlin interviews 3rd (and 4th and 5th) party candidates

(Originally published 5/30/12)

Independent presidential
candidate Buddy Roemer

Some of you may know, I'm a podcast junkie. As my poor fiance will tell you, most of my conversations start with the phrase: "So I was listening to this podcast and..." One of my favorite podcasts is "Common Sense with Dan Carlin" (Note: Dan's "Hardcore History" podcast is my #1). Dan doesn't usually have guests on his show, but as he explained on his show this week:

Carlin: For a long time we've told you that it's kind of a crime that more third party and independent candidates don't get a higher profile and don't get more coverage amongst the media out there so that people could know the options that are available to them besides the big two party members. That kind of compels me, doesn't it, to have some of these people on myself ... certainly I can have some of the major people you're not hearing enough from.

Carlin's conducted three such interviews so far (shows 226, 227, & 228 in the Common Sense archive): one with independent candidate, Buddy Roemer; another with Libertarian Party nominee, Gary Johnson; and most recently with Justice Party candidate, Rocky Anderson...

Each interview has been substantive and entertaining (or as entertaining as interviews with politicians can be). In listening to independent and third party candidates talk about the campaign process, you really get a feel for the practical problems candidates without a "D" or an "R" next to their names face, from getting on ballots to garnering any media attention, to taking the debate stage with major party candidates. What's been great, though, is that Dan's interviews have revolved around (related) issues of money in politics -- what he calls "the corruption problem." In Dan's estimate -- and I think he's right -- this is the systemic problem that needs to be addressed before meaningful change can happen in so many needed areas. In Dan's interview Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party, Anderson advocates use of the Presidential "bully pulpit" in trying to turn the tide with respect to money in politics. Below is a selection on this topic from the interview. You can hear the full interview here (show 228).

Carlin: I used to talk about a lot of different issues. You mentioned a lot of issues in your past political career that were important to you. I've realized down the road that none of those issues matter anymore until we finish the "job one" problem, because it corrupts all those other questions. How do you get anything passed, in this political climate we're in now, until you deal with the problem of money in politics, which is the only thing that seems to get anyone's attention. How do you get your justice amendments--. How do your get your human rights amendments--. How do you get any of these things done until we finish the problem of dealing with political corruption. 

Anderson: ... You're absolutely right. None of the rest of this is going to happen until we remove the corrupting influence of money from our political system. And the way that you do that is first of all you have leadership that is providing a path. Going out and speaking to the public--. Creating the demand--. Creating the kind of political momentum and the sense of real hope--authentic hope and expectation that we're gonna change this rotten system. Pointing out to the public--. Wouldn't it be amazing if President Obama, instead of being the recipient of all this corrupting money would say, "I'm not going to be part of it anymore, and I'm going to disclose to the American public just how it's working here in Washington. If he'd been honest about it during the healthcare debate, he would have noted that it was the many millions of dollars from the health care, the for-profit insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical industry that ended up calling the shots. And the reason he's not providing that kind of leadership is because he's one of the recipients, just as he was the largest recipient of Wall Street money during his last campaign.