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 Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s removal and its consequences. Al and Craig also trade thoughts on how Democrats might find some strategic advantages as a result of a leaderless GOP majority.
This video podcast is approximately 20 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.
Chris Gordon says
It is perfectly obvious to me, and I’m sure to many others, that the best way forward for this country is through bipartisanship’ The next Speaker should be someone who believes in, who embraces, bipartisanship and who would work with both sides of the aisle to put together policies that would appeal to and benefit a majority of the citizenry.
Those who currently hold seats in Congrees have no interest in doing what’s best for the country. They see all members of the opposing party as enemies who threaten their jobs. An influx of independent voices would be a good start but the two reining parties want no part of that. Nationwide ranked choice voting could be the answer but I don’t see it happening with the parties we now have remaining in charge. I used to be an unfailing optimist but that trait is slipping away from me at an accelerating pace.
Merry Guben says
The GOP is not capable of governing itself, its members or – with utmost certainty – this country. Period. It should not have the privilege of majority authority to legislate on a federal level. It does not place the best interests of the American people anywhere – least of all front and center – in its deliberations or its actions. There is no place in our republic and democratic society for this political party to exist.