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August 9, 2022

The Talbot Spy

The nonprofit e-newspaper for the Talbot County Community

Spy Highlights

When Art and Commerce Meet at Plein Air Easton 2022

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It’s that time again. For the 18th year in a row, Plein Air Easton is rolling out its multicolored carpet for artists, collectors, and those that love art and artists for the annual week of shows, exhibitions, competitions, and almost a hundred artists pitching their easels on Talbot County’s streets and country roads.

But one thing that might be lost in all of this artsy activity is the critically important element of downtown tourism and the extraordinary economic impact that Plein Air has on Easton’s galleries, residents, hotels and gift stores. Beyond the influx of artists and their fans, hundreds of visitors take advantage of the festival to enjoy all that Talbot County has to offer.

That fact as not escaped the Avalon Foundation, Plein Air Easton’s proud sponsor, Easton merchants, or the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce. In fact, for the first time, the Chamber has agreed to sponsor the Easton Block Party and Gallery Walk on to welcome those guests on the evening of July 15th from 5 pm to 8 pm.

The Spy sat down with a few participants who helped organize this fusion of art and commerce yesterday at the Trippe Gallery, where shop owners Allie Prell of Trade Whims, Nanny Trippe of Trippe Gallery, Amy Kreiner, the Talbot County Chamber of Commerce’s new president and Jessica Bellis from the Avalon Foundation highlight what Plein Air means to Talbot County and some of the fun planned for this special kick off the event.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information about Plein Art Easton please go here.

 

 

From and Fuller: Can Joe Biden be Unpopular and Still Succeed?

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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 President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings in light of the recent presidential election victory by the equally unpopular Emmanuel Macron in France last month. Al and Craig trade thoughts on how some politicians can still survive even if disliked by a majority of voters.

This video podcast is approximately sixteen 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 five years, where now serves on the boards of the Academy Art Museum, the Benedictine School, and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors.

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.

From and Fuller: The Testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson and Death of Roe v. Wade

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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 damning testimony of former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson earlier this week to the House’s select committee of the January 6th attack on the capitol building.  Al and Craig also highlight the possible political fallout of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Roe v. Wade.

This video podcast is approximately eighteen 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 five years, where now serves on the boards of the Academy Art Museum, the Benedictine School, and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors.

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.

Mid-Shore History: Cousin George’s Giant Legacy by Debra Messick

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One of Dorchester County’s most iconic landmarks, the Spocott Windmill, rises alongside Route 343, which starts as Washington Street in Cambridge, becoming Hudson Street heading West into the Neck District.

The grandson of the man who, at age 95, undertook rebuilding the historic structure, disclosed that and many more stories in a newly published book detailing the incredible, indelible life of one of Dorchester County’s most dedicated office holders and civic contributors. 

Call Me Cousin George, A Personal Look at the Life of Senator George L. Radcliffe, by George M. Radcliffe Jr.–the senator’s only living grandson–was at first intended as a keepsake for the great grandchildren who had never gotten a chance to hear his stories around the family dining room table at the Spocott Farm as he had.

But the project soon took on a life of its own, befitting the larger than life accomplishments of its subject. 

Going through his grandfather’s treasure trove of voluminous correspondence, journals, and photographs turned into a ten year labor of love, providing a springboard to an outsized journey of learning about the man, the world he emerged from, and the historic times he became actively engaged in helping transform.

When the manuscript was finally presented to Salt Water Media in Berlin, MD, the impressed editors advised George M., Jr. that what he’d prepared contained a story holding great interest for a much wider audience than the family memoir he’d initially set out to create.

Spocott Windmill

Prefaced with a well informed overview of a life spanning nearly a century (1877-1974), the chapters marking his expansive experiences and contributions are told in a series of highly readable essays detailing the nooks and crannies comprising the landscape of his life, clearly delineating a modest man of character, good will, and determination that saw him overcome the odds, from frail health as a youngster to surviving a violent robbery at age 90. 

Throughout, the story is sprinkled with famous names–Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson, just to name a few. 

But, in keeping with the grounded, down-to-earth values of Radcliffe’s persona, these are not necessarily the most memorable figures, not by a long shot. 

George L. Radcliffe

Instead, the reader relishes learning about picturesque personalities populating his inner circle. Among these was lifelong chauffeur and companion, Dorchester waterman John Swain Foxwell (Radcliffe never took up driving, yet commuted between Baltimore, Washington, and Dorchester County regularly, sometimes almost daily.)

Also, free African American woman Adaline Morris Wheatley, known as “Aunt Adaline” was the homestead’s cook, manager, and guiding light, whose picture held a singular place of honor in the Spocott homestead’s dining room.

Radcliffe’s Senate terms, 1935 to 1947, are noteworthy in overlapped with the Great Depression and World War II. But his overall contributions extend even beyond the consequence of his times. 

For instance, his friendship with FDR, long before he became president, inspired Radcliffe to become an early and ongoing leader dedicated to fundraising and fighting the scourge of infantile paralysis, also known as polio, culminating in the March of Dimes.

Visitors to Long Wharf Park can view a plaque commemorating FDR’s trip up the Choptank River via the Presidential Yacht Sequoia, to help dedicate the new bridge connecting Dorchester and Talbot counties, whose construction came about through Radcliffe’s efforts.

A voracious reader and student of history from his earliest days, raised within a strong boat building community, Radcliffe realized long before many others how vital it was for the U.S. to build up and maintain an ongoing seafaring force. His insight and efforts have been credited with what turned out to be the crucial beefing up of the Merchant Marine during the late 1930s, prior to U.S. official entry into World War II. 

Though a Democrat, Radcliffe, true to his rural roots, resisted being pulled into ultra progressive stances that clashed with his firm centrist and fiscally conservative views. Yet, in 1945, Radcliffe remarkably rose on the Senate floor to offer A Proposed Constitutional Amendment Providing Equal Rights for Women and Men.

Studying at Johns Hopkins, where then Professor Woodrow Wilson was an advisor, Radcliffe’s Ph.D. dissertation explored the pivotal role played by Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks, who also lived in Dorchester County, in keeping Maryland from seceding during the Civil War. 

The dueling loyalties which served as a backdrop to the War were reflected within his own family history. His Baltimore born mother, Mary McKim Marriott “Daisy” Radcliffe, had strong family ties to the Confederacy, while his father, John Anthony LeCompte Radcliffe, rooted at Dorchester’s ancestral Spocott Farm, left behind indications, including the tantalizing clue relating to his son’s middle name, that he had abolitionist leanings, according to his great grandson.

An inherent interest in and ability to pull on the state’s many historical threads without becoming entangled in messy controversies laid the foundation for Radcliffe’s successful revitalization of the Maryland Historical Society in the 1950s, bringing branches to every county, expanding its staff and Baltimore headquarters, and initiating outreach to schools.

At an age when retirement usually entailed a slowing down from an active life, an ongoing drive to preserve the cherished historical legacy inherited from his parents here in Dorchester county inspired him to embark on a project long promised to his mother, another, to himself. 

 Chapel of Ease

The first was the creation of the Grace Church Foundation, which involved the restoring and relocating the derelict original church building, a Taylor’s Island outpost of Trinity Episcopal Church in Woolford. 

The next involved hiring Mister Jim Richardson, legendary Dorchester boatbuilder, whose shipyard was across the street from the property, to tackle the prospect of authentically reconstructing, with no blueprints, the English windmill constructed by Radcliffe’s father in the 1860’s and destroyed by a heavy winter storm when he was 11. Believing from the outset that he’d find a way to somehow rebuild it, Radcliffe had managed to salvage original stone from its foundation. Despite the passage of 80 years, he kept the dream alive and saw it through. Over his objections, the structure was named in his honor, with a wooden sign bearing the title George L.

Radcliffe’s son, George M., and his only surviving son, George M., Jr, continued their patriarch’s legacy of service to community with a view to make life better for generations to come; George M. was a long time trustee of Washington College in Chesterton, George M., Jr. taught public school science for over 30 years. After retiring he essentially continued that pursuit, guiding the Maryland Ornithology Society’s junior birding program, the Audubon Society’s Dorchester County vital citizen science bird atlas count, and presiding over the Spocott Windmill and Village Foundation, which holds an open house twice a year.

Echoing his grandfather’s characteristic modesty and penchant for quietly doing good ( with no wish for reward other than that), George M., Jr. maintained that the story rightly should have been told by his late brother Bill, a local newspaper reporter, had survived an untimely death in an auto crash (along with his sister). Another sister also died at a young age.

Though unsure of his ability, he took up what he felt was a sacred duty to share his grandfather’s story with the next generation and followed it through to completion.  In so doing, he also kept his spirit alive.

Call Me Cousin George: A Personal Look at the Life of Sen. George L. Radcliffe, by George M. Radcliffe, Jr, Salt Water Media, Berlin MD, 2021 (www.saltwatermedia.com)

From and Fuller: The Dangerous Game of Hunting RINOS and Remembering Mark Shields

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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 real dangers in marking RINOS (Republican in Name Only) for attack through such political ads as one recently produced by Missouri candidate for U.S. Senate Eric Greitens. Al and Craig also note the passing of their friend Mark Shields, the PBS Newshour political commentator who died last week at the age of 85.

This video podcast is approximately twelve minutes in length.

To listen to the audio podcast version, please use this link:

Personal Ties to Aspen Wye by Amelia Blades Steward

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Pictured left to right are Judy Stagg Kusuma and Amelia Blades Steward in their original Wye Institute camp uniforms from 48 years ago. The two met as campers at Wye Institute in 1974 and have remained lifelong friends.

When my parents dropped me off at Wye Institute in Queenstown, Maryland in August 1974, little did I know the impact that four weeks of summer camp would have on both my career as a writer and lifelong friendships. 

Industrial magnate Arthur A. Houghton Jr. bought 1000 acres of property on the Wye River in 1938 to become a gathering place where ideas and innovations evolved. In 1963, Houghton established the foundation, Wye Institute, expanding his philanthropic interests to stimulate educational, cultural and economic opportunities in the region. He built contemporary facilities at Wye Woods to launch a summer educational camp for middle school boys designed to promote civil understanding and in Arthur’s words, “stir the imagination of extraordinarily promising young persons” from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The camp was integrated and eventually included girls—open to all students regardless of race, religion or ethnic origin.

When I arrived at camp in 1974, the girls stayed at Gunston in Centreville, while the boys stayed at Wye Institute. We all gathered at Wye Institute during the daytime hours for camp programming. The campers were from Maryland’s Eastern Shore and from the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York where Houghton made his fortune with Steuben Glass Works, a subsidiary of his family’s company Corning Glass. Many of us were from very moderate-income families – we didn’t have a lot. This camp experience was a gift to all of us.

Some of my memories include participating in a social experiment in downtown Centreville where some of us walked around with war paint on our faces while others walked around without any makeup. We observed how the two groups were treated. Another memory was seeing the Houghtons’ sea lion who lived at Wye Woods. We attended plays and read Greek mythology. We played music, participated in theatre and wrote creative fiction. I met my best friend there, Judy Stagg Kusuma. She was from Snow Hill and I was from Easton. Her family was moving to Easton at the end of that summer for her dad’s new job as superintendent of the Hog Neck Golf Course. Our sisterhood was formed that summer and she is still my best friend today.

But it is the personal connections I have had to the property since my time as a camper at Wye Institute that have been so serendipitous.  The first connection happened in 2004 when I was asked to write an article on Leon Andrus, the benefactor who started Adkins Arboretum in Ridgely. It turns out that Andrus owned Cheston-on-Wye, adjacent to Arthur Houghton’s Wye Plantation. Andrus bought some of Houghton’s Black Angus cattle and my grandfather was his herdsman – something I never knew until I talked with my mother while writing the story. Later, writing copy for the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, located at Wye Plantation, I was able to bring my mother to visit the tenant house where she was born at Cheston-on-Wye – a very special experience for her and me and another connection to this beautiful property.  Most recently in 2019, I was asked to write a DVD booklet on the history of Wye Plantation to accompany a film, “Escape to Aspen Wye,” created by Aspen Institute to help sell the property.  I found my Wye Institute jacket and tee-shirt while cleaning out some clothes that year and was able to share them when I was interviewed for the film as one of the campers who attended the Wye Institute.

I love how everything comes full circle if we wait long enough. While I don’t know the meaning of all of these connections to this special property on the Wye River, I know that its impact on my story is significant and not an accident. Recently, I was thrilled to hear that the 166-acre Wye River Conference Center property was donated by Aspen Institute to become a Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children with serious illnesses and their families in the Mid-Atlantic region. The property will once again help transform the lives of children. What a wonderful legacy to leave for the future. Aspen Institute’s gift pays forward the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Houghton in 1979 when they donated the property to Aspen Institute.

Amelia Blades Steward has written non-fiction articles for national, regional, and local publications for over 30 years. A lifelong storyteller, she published her first book in 2014, a memoir entitled “Charles H. Thornton: A Life of Elegant Solutions.”

 

From and Fuller: The June 14 Primary and First Days of the 1/6 Committee Hearings

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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 interesting results of the primary elections that took place on Tuesday, and how those results contrast with the opening on the House’s select committee of the January 6 attack of the Capitol.

This video podcast is approximately sixteen 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 five years, where now serves on the boards of the Academy Art Museum, the Benedictine School, and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors.

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.

Celebrating Women & Girls Fund’s Two Decades of Action: Mid-Shore Meals Til Monday

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The year 2022 marks a special anniversary for the Mid-Shore’s Women & Girls Fund. For two decades, the WGF, under the watchful eye of its funder, Alice Ryan, and its diligent board members, have invested in some of the region’s most deserving charities to support and empower women and girls.

Over the next twelve months, the Spy will highlight some of the many organizations that the Women & Girls Fund has helped. Strategically using their limited resources to target programs typically overlooked by traditional philanthropists or government grants, the WGF board has found innovative ways to leverage their modest contributions for the most impact.

We continue our series with a conversation with Leslie Bishop, the founder, and director of Mid-Shore Meals Til Monday, based in Cambridge. Bishop starred Mid-Shore Meals Til Monday as a way for some of the most disadvantaged children of Dorchester County to have adequate food during weekends. While those young people are provided with meals during the school week, Leslie grew increasingly concerned that those kids would not have enough to eat over the weekends.

Motivated to start the program after reading about CarePacks project in Talbot County, Leslie began Mid-Shore Meals Til Monday in 2017 with the goal of operating in every public school in Dorchester. And as the organization celebrates its 5th year of existence, she and her army of volunteers have not only met that goal but have extended the program to the region’s summer schools, camps, faith-based organizations, and Community Behavioral Health.

Now with over 100 volunteers and serving from 800 to 1,000 children a week, Leslie is gratified for this remarkable level of community support and singles out the Women & Girls Fund as one of the first philanthropic investors of the fledgling nonprofit enterprise. In fact, she was so impressed with the WGF she agreed to join its board to help steward their Mid-Shore grants.

The Spy sat down with Leslie last week to talk about this important project and how the WGF has once again made significant impact on the Eastern Shore.

This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about Mid-Shore Meals Til Monday please go here. For information about the Women & Girls Fund please go here.

At the Groove: Anchoring “The Yellow Boat” in Cambridge with Jahkai Hall and Talley Wilford

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While everyone involved with the relatively new Groove Theatre Company based in Cambridge is extremely excited to once again perform before a live audience after two years of pandemic-related isolation,  the Groove’s executive director, Talley Wilford has been waiting a lot longer than two years to direct “The Yellow Boat” which premiers next weekend.

In fact, Wilford has been waiting for ten years to take writer David Saar’s Yellow Boat to the stage after studying the play in college when he will majoring in children theatre productions. And finally, after finding the perfect actor to play the demanding lead role of Benjamin with his recruitment of the recently graduated Cambridge-South Dorchester High School Jahkai Hall, the stars have aligned to bring this moving yet funny play to the stage at the Dorchester Center for the Arts.

This is the true story of David and Sonja Saar’s son, Benjamin, who was born with congenital hemophilia, and died in 1987 at the age of 8 of AIDS related complications. It is a glorious affirmation of a child’s life, and the strength and courage of all children. This remarkable voyage of Benjamin was extensively developed and widely produced in America for several years, always to ovations.

The Spy stopped by the DCA to chat with Jahkai and Talley to learn more as they prepare for opening night on Friday.

This video is approximately three minutes in length. For more information about ticket reservations please go here.

 

From and Fuller: Predictions on the 1/6 Committee Hearings and Thoughts of Watergate

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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 House of Representatives special committee on the January 6 attack on the Capitol and the political risks and opportunities that might come with this prime time broadcast. Al and Craig also see interesting comparisons and contrasts with the famed Senate hearings on Watergate and how it dramatically changed the country.

This video podcast is approximately sixteen 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 five years, where now serves on the boards of the Academy Art Museum, the Benedictine School, and Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.  He also serves on the Spy’s Board of Visitors.

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.