Bringing Hope And Moderation To The Arizona Legislature. Steve Williamson and Gary LaMaster welcome Arizona State Senate candidate, Mike Fogel, to the show. Fogel is a former public-school teacher, coach, and administrator who is running against election-denier Mark Finchem, one of the most extreme, anti-government politicians in the nation.
Fogel says, “My campaign in 2022 and now is essentially to create opportunity for everyday working folk. And that begins with strong public schools.” Among the other issues his campaign is focusing on are water and affordable housing.
Governor Tim Walz: The Joyful Warrior. In an age of anger, distrust and hateful politics, the positive energy of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her pick for vice-president offer a happy and welcome respite.
We provide an in-depth profile of Walz and the Minnesota political system that helped shape him. Of course, not everyone is happy with Kamala’s choice, especially her degenerate and colossally unfit opponent. So, he and his MAGA movement have already begun to attack Walz with misinformation, distortions, and outright lies. But given Governor Walz’s honorable public service, charming demeanor, and his support for highly popular issues, the attacks are unlikely to stick.
Taking The Reins Of The Yavapai County School System. Karen McClelland welcomes Steve King, candidate for Yavapai County School Superintendent. Though it may seem unusual for a show named Democratic Perspective to host a candidate who bills himself as a conservative Republican, there is no Democrat running for the office and King won the Republican primary. So, it’s inevitable that he will win the general election to replace Tim Carter who has held the office for more than 20 years.
Given that, we believe it’s important to understand King’s plans for the office.
A New Race. Biden’s withdrawal from the race has scrambled the presidential election making Trump the only geriatric candidate in cognitive decline. We discuss how the decision to endorse Kamala Harris has brought new energy and hope to Democrats. And the increased likelihood that Trump, his MAGA supporters and Project 2025 will be defeated this Fall.
Justice For The Homeless. Steve and Karen welcome former co-host Hava Derby to discuss the recent DOJ report about the violent treatment of homeless by the Phoenix Police Department and the ensuing repressive ruling by the conservative majority of the United States Supreme Court.
Should Kamala Be The Democratic Candidate? Steve and Karen welcome Emeritus Professor of History Dan Singal back to the show to discuss presidential politics following Biden’s poor debate performance and the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump.
Though he believes the attack at the Trump rally will have minimal impact on the upcoming election, Singal makes a compelling case for replacing Biden as presidential candidate.
Faced with increasing pressure to bow out, Biden has said he is the best person to do the job on a day-to-day basis. “And I think he’s right,” says Singal. “I think he’s the best president we’ve had since World War II. However, he is a first-rate president and, in my view, a third-rate presidential candidate. He has lost a lot of ability to communicate…It goes back 3-1/2 years because all through his presidency, he has made very little effort to communicate with the public.”
“This is a long-term problem with Biden,” says Singal. Regarding the very real threat of Project 2025, he says, “We need a candidate to drive that home. What if the Democrats could switch to a candidate who could speak clearly?”
Singal then gives five reasons why Vice-President Kamala Harris is the only plausible replacement.
“Bad Faith – Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War On Democracy.” That’s the title of a new film this week’s guest and others are screening in battleground states to help voters understand what’s at stake in November. Nancy MacLean joins co-hosts Steve Williamson and Karen McClelland to discuss the documentary film which Variety Magazine calls one of the ten best movies of the year.
MacLean says, “What we have coming in November is not just a choice between candidates from both sides, but actually a choice between two radically different visions of our country. And, if that transformed, captured Republican Party’s candidate wins, we will be seeing a kind of combined plutocratic, theocratic autocracy.”
Taking On The Difficult Issues. Steve and Karen welcome Derek Pfaff who is running for a seat on the Sedona City Council along with current councilmembers, Kathy Kinsella and Holli Ploog, who is also Vice-Mayor.
Kinsella, who is running for a second term, says, “It’s been a very challenging, rewarding, stimulating four years. I think we’ve gotten a lot done. This current council has been one that has refused to kick cans down the road, that has taken on some of the hard problems and some of the problems that people have strong feelings about…everything from big ideas like emergency evacuation planning to resolving issues at the pool and user hours. I’d like to continue for four more years because there are things coming that are coming as a result of the work we have taken on like the Cultural Park planning process that will begin.”
Ploog also wants to continue the work. “I want to run for re-election to complete some of the work we started. And I agree with Kathy that this council has been very active and determined to tackle some of the most difficult problems that we have in our community and, believe me, it’s not easy.”
Pfaff, who is an attorney, says he was approached to run for the seat currently held by Jessica Williamson. Asked why he’s running for office, he replies, “The first thing I want to say is that I agree with you that we do have a great council right now. I’m excited about the possibility of working with these folks.” He says he’d like to use his legal experience to help propel the city forward.
Exposing Discrimination Against The LGBTQ+ Community. Steve Williamson and Karen McClelland welcome Jake Hylton, Founding Executive Director of Lookout Publications, the only nonprofit newsroom dedicated to LGBTQ+ issues. Beginning as a small monthly newsletter, Lookout has grown into an entire nonprofit organization that now covers the AZ legislature, school boards and city councils.
Hylton handles the business side of the organization while his founding partner Joseph Darius Jaafari, who has an extensive background in investigative journalism, is editor-in-chief.
Hylton says, “For us, it is covering LGBTQ+ communities across the state of Arizona, and making sure that we are focusing on hyperlocal, that we are community-driven, and that we are holding those in power to account whether they are in or outside of the community. And to make sure that we are doing service, solutions-based journalism, ultimately finding people who are making life better and giving hope to others. You know, ways to activate them. Ways to get them involved to make change.”
Asked if attempts to limit political participation by the LGBTQ+ community still exists, Hylton responds, “It still does exist and I think there is such a strong hold on identity, and there is a lot of shame around identity that doesn’t fit the mold. Right? It actually goes back to the reason why I am here up in Sedona. I am here in Sedona…convening with some really great people talking about how to combat political and identity-based violence. And one of the biggest things we’ve talked about over the last few days is identities are constantly being scapegoated.”
He goes on to point out that the current attack on sexual and gender identity is essentially the same as that in pre-war Nazi Germany when the Institute of Sexology was destroyed, and its libraries burned.
Can We Rise To The Occasion? The world is currently facing a number of what seem to be insurmountable problems – the threat of autocracy, business monopolies, growing wealth disparity, gun violence, climate crisis, mass migration, mass extinctions and artificial intelligence. Yet they all have one thing in common: Politics.
Some can be solved virtually overnight by simply ending our political stalemate. And, though others are more complicated, they cannot be solved so long as the Republican Party denies their existence and continues to leverage them for political gain.
That leads us to the question of the century: Will the majority of voters acknowledge the challenges and vote for candidates who are ready and willing to address their true causes before it’s too late? The clock is ticking.
