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 hardball tactics of Republican governors sending migrants to places like Martha’s Vineyard and Washington, D.C. from Florida and Texas.
This video podcast is approximately 14 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.
Danna Murphy Murden says
We have spent our last 12 winters in Texas and will be going again this year. The winter of 2019-2020 we decided to do something different and we stayed on the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas. Watched the horses climb down the bank from Mexico to get a drink of water, the children come down the same bank swim and laugh in a way that only children can do. We had a marvelous winter met a lot of wonderful people Hispanic as well as white. I felt so safe that I a white woman went out at night alone towards Brownsville to get carry out. Now my heart aches for all the lovely people that we meet that this has been dumped upon them. I think about their homes and businesses and wonder how they are managing. I am sorry but I disagree with both of you gentlemen if the boarder was going to be opened then something should have been in place to have plans for what was going to be done with these people before the FIRST PERSON CROSSED. I do not put an ounce of blame on these Governor’s they have been beyond overwhelmed and they are just trying to make a point. I don’t think these people that they are flying or bussing or any worse off then if they hadn’t been. Martha’s Vineyard made a point NOT IN MY BACK YARD and they have enough money to do something about it. I keep telling people all the time what if Talbot County boarded on the Rio Grande you would be talking a different tune.Again I say not one person should have been allowed to cross until the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAD A PLAN IN PLACE TO TAKE CARE OF THESE PEOPLE, IT IS NOT FAIR OR KIND TO THESE PEOPLE WHAT HAS TAKEN HAPPENED. For the burden to be on a few border states is disgusting.
Henry Herr says
It’s US and International law to allow people to cross borders seeking asylum. It’s also US law to allow those individuals to stay in the country as they await their asylum court date. These people are not illegals. The border is no more open or closed than it has been for many years.
Danna Murphy Murden says
I am sorry sir but when I was there in 2019-2020( we left March 2020) the Border Patrol used a boat ramp that was on the property where we stayed. They constantly patrolled the river to keep people from crossing. Border Patrol was constantly flying helicopters 24/7 with lights a night watching the river. There are thousands a day crossing now. Local people that live on the border all their lives have recently been terrified to the point that some have moved to other states. Approximately seventy miles from the boarder we would be stopped on the highway at Border Patrol Stations ( they were there from the first year we wintered in Texas when we would travel to different boarder towns all over the Rio Grande) where we were questioned showed our identity and had dogs sniff our vehicles. These people were called illegals before but once the boarder was opened they are no longer considered illegals. I do wonder where are these people who can here before illegally stand in all this now. So I am sorry sir the boarder is DEFINITELY MUCH MORE OPEN THEN IT HAS BEEN FOR MANY YEARS.
Henry Herr says
Can you point to me what policy and laws Biden has changed to “make the border more open?” Can you also point to the law that makes migrants seeking asylum illegal?
I’ve never understood the term “illegals.” They are humans seeking asylum. They deserved to be treated with love and respect. At least that’s what I think and believe. I learned that from Sunday School.
Reed Fawell 3 says
I agree completely with Danna Murphy Murden.