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 agree that the Biden honeymoon is officially over and discuss why that has happened as well the President’s chances to recover before the 2022 midterm elections.
This podcast is approximately eighteen minutes in length. To listen to the audio 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.
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.
Lisa mansueti says
Interesting what these guys say. I think they live in the past. I am a total liberal Democrat. Not sure about Biden. Well was pleased with policies. Then Afghanistan pullout. Terrible. I do not care at all what he said, A cowardly political act that caused another humanitarian crisis on top of a pandemic. Women and kids suffer the most. Makes me very upset. Now the border Haiti crisis, Take care of these people, we are big and rich enough to do it. Mass quantities of blonde blue eyes people would not have been whipped
Note global warming terrible governments will increase the migration, People want to save themselves and family, I do not blame them.
Done with biden
Charles Barranco says
Lisa,
Unfortunately you didn’t offer a solution.
World events, not of our making occur daily and there are always missteps
.
You mentioned, The Haitian problem being a disaster. It is, but what do you do with 10,000 people on the border trying to get into the Country. It does cause a crisis as to what to do with them;
Damed, if you let them in, Damed, if they are shipped backed to their country. What is the answer. Which ones do you let in, which ones do you send home.
As you know, Joe Biden, not alone, but with his advisers are trying to solve a problem where there is not a happy outcome. There will never be a happy outcome. The solution is impossible, Biden can’t solve, nobody can.
Btw, Over 125,000 people were airlifted from Afghanistan. It was a disaster because Our intelligence said, we had 6 months before the Taliban would take over. It took the Taliban 10 days to reach Kabul, No Fighting, No Opposition to the Taliban? They had their ducks in a row, but our intelligence missed it, or did they ignore it. Biden’s decision to pull out was courageous and had to be done. He made the right decision, the timing was based on faulty intelligence. Look at the big picture, we are out of a quagmire and got a lot of people out.
Want to talk about the interpreters and intelligence people, the Afghans who worked for us, that didn’t get out and who are now being hunted by the Taliban.
How about the women who championed
Women’s Rights and didn’t get out.
What is being done to get them out.
Is anybody trying to get them out.
Let’s beat the drum.
Write to Andy Harris, I’am know he’ll help!
Charles Barranco