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Every Thursday, the Spy hosts a conversation with Al From and Craig Fuller on the most topical political news of the moment.
This week, From and Fuller discuss the aftermath of Joe Biden’s debate disaster and the hard choices the Democratic Party must face before its national convention in August. Al and Craig also chat about the Supreme Court’s decision this week to grant partial immunity to presidents, including Donald Trump, for official acts while in office.
This video podcast is approximately 22 minutes in length.
To listen to the audio podcast version, please use this link:
Background
While the Spy’s public affairs mission has always been hyper-local, it has never limited us from covering national, or even international issues, that impact the communities we serve. With that in mind, we were delighted that Al From and Craig Fuller, both highly respected Washington insiders, have agreed to a new Spy video project called “The Analysis of From and Fuller” over the next year.
The Spy and our region are very lucky to have such an accomplished duo volunteer for this experiment. While one is a devoted Democrat and the other a lifetime Republican, both had long careers that sought out the middle ground of the American political spectrum.
Al From, the genius behind the Democratic Leadership Council’s moderate agenda which would eventually lead to the election of Bill Clinton, has never compromised from this middle-of-the-road philosophy. This did not go unnoticed in a party that was moving quickly to the left in the 1980s. Including progressive Howard Dean saying that From’s DLC was the Republican wing of the Democratic Party.
From’s boss, Bill Clinton, had a different perspective. He said it would be hard to think of a single American citizen who, as a private citizen, has had a more positive impact on the progress of American life in the last 25 years than Al From.”
Al now lives in Annapolis and spends his semi-retirement as a board member of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (his alma mater) and authoring New Democrats and the Return to Power. He also is an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins’ Krieger School and recently agreed to serve on the Annapolis Spy’s Board of Visitors. He is the author of “New Democrats and the Return to Power.”
For Craig Fuller, his moderation in the Republican party was a rare phenomenon. With deep roots in California’s GOP culture of centralism, Fuller, starting with a long history with Ronald Reagan, leading to his appointment as Reagan’s cabinet secretary at the White House, and later as George Bush’s chief-of-staff and presidential campaign manager was known for his instincts to find the middle ground. Even more noted was his reputation of being a nice guy in Washington, a rare characteristic for a successful tenure in the White House.
Craig has called Easton his permanent home for the last eight years, where he now chairs the board of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and is a former board member of the Academy Art Museum and Benedictine. He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors and writes an e-newsletter available by clicking on DECADE SEVEN.
With their rich experience and long history of friendship, now joined by their love of the Chesapeake Bay, they have agreed through the magic of Zoom, to talk inside politics and policy with the Spy every Thursday.
0 Responses
Excellent analysis. But can President Biden be forced out of office. If not, what might he insist upon? And at what cost to the nation, and it’s citizens?
Love him, if you will, but it is time to leave him, to a graceful retirement. I hope he figures out a way to do that.
As always, thank you for this civil discussion.
I agree with Al that Biden should not appear again with a teleprompter. If he does, the Democrats will be gaslighting all of us who saw the debate. Personally, I think he should step aside. I’ve written our two senators about this, but I don’t believe my opinion counts for anything.
I’m sorry you all did not address what Trump said during the debate. Or what he is saying every day. He is an autocratic wack job. I’m sure there are some nice people in Talbot Republican Club or whatever they call themselves. And those people will vote for Trump. They will be voting for the US Army to round up 12 million people and put them in concentration camps, for military tribunals to be formed to put Trump’s enemies on trial, for white terrorists to be pardoned for all their crimes, for the United States to cow-tow to Putin, for environmental regulations to go away thereby accelerating the death of the Chesapeake Bay, for birth control to go away, for abortion to be banned everywhere – thereby voiding what Marylanders want, for the FDA, FAA, and all federal agencies to be run by Trump loyalists rather than experts (good luck finding save drugs!), and for Trump to start the biggest trade wars the world has ever seen.
Trump has said he’s going to do all this. Is what the Republicans want when they meet for tea or attend the yacht club meetings? I think the two of you should talk at length about this as well.
Michael, your comment is the best I have read in any newspaper, and I read them all.
Thank you for your succinct and spot on remarks.
Personally, I will vote for anyone other than the Republican nominee. I love this nation too much.
Why is the media so intent on getting us to focus on Biden’s faltering single debate performance when there is so much on the line if Trump wins this election? Why are we not being shown Trump’s deranged rally performances, his very real authoritarian aspirations and those of the Heritage Foundation whose agenda threatens to extinguish democracy? Why are we not being reminded of our loss of stature with other democratic countries, the ineffective handling of the Covid epidemic, the separation of children from their parents at the border, the dismantling of the state department and other government agencies, and the financial graft that occurred during Trump’s presidency as compared to all the good things Biden has accomplished during his presidency, such as stabilizing the economy, higher employment, student loan forgiveness, and the child care tax credit. I could go on and on about the very real differences between these two men and their presidencies. Yes, Biden’s performance should have been much better but the media is irresponsibly misguiding the public by making this the focal point, at this time.
General comment — I am one of those readers who doesn’t want to spend time watching video. Do you publish just transcripts anywhere?