Transcript of LIVE CHAT with Bill Bradley: April 4, 11-12pm ET

Senator, it's a special pleasure to welcome you to Gather.com and Gather's headquarters here in Boston. We look forward to learning more about your vision for America and the world and to a thoughtful exchange of ideas here and in the months to come.

Tom Gerace is founder and CEO of Gather.com

Senator, do you write fiction as well? What do you think about outlawing corporate lobbyists altogether. Have you ever been approached by lobbyists, and where you ever influenced by them?

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Senator, I'm so excited for this opportunity. I've been an admirer of yours for a long time--in fact, you were the first person I ever voted for! Thank you so much for doing this!

I notice your seemingly conscious choice to use the word "progressive" where people in the past would have used "liberal." Can you talk about your views of the difference between these two words/concepts?

No I have not written fiction. I have written six books, The New American Story being the sixth book, but they are all non-fiction. My first book was called Life On the Run which was what it was about to be a professional basketball player in America in the 1970's. The second was about tax policy, called The Fair Tax. It formed the basis for the 1986 Tax Reform Act. The third book was Time Present, Time Past, which was a memoir about life as a politician in America, with particular reference to the Senate where I represented New Jersey for 18 years. The fourth book was called Values of the Game, about the life lessons that one learns from basketball. The fifth book was called the Journey from Here, which was a summary of the ideas and issues that I fought for when I ran for President in 2000. And the New American Story is my sixth book -- all non-fiction. I wish I was talented enough to write fiction.

I don't think that it is appropriate to outlaw any lobbyists. Part of democracy is petitioning your elected representatives. I think one of the ways you limit the influence of corporate lobbyists is to take the money out of the equationby passing public financing of senatorial and congressional campaigns. If we did that the only thing lobbyists could provide is information and not money. Sometimes information that lobbyists provide can be helpful in trying to serve the public interests.

Maya - thank you very much for that vote!

I think progressive and liberal can be used interchangeably. They are essentially the same thing.

Senator, it was a pleasure to review your book! I've been teaching a class on "how to save the world in your spare time," mostly to teenagers at MIT -- first taught the class in 1997. I feel like politics has to be "open source" for a healthy democracy, and your book takes some good steps toward that.

We seem to have a disconnect between politics and our own investment in society. Politics is this dirty thing that people with power (not us) participate in. How can we build a critical mass of participation when our lives seem to be engineered by work and media to passive consumption?

Thanks for your work getting us off the couch and thinking/doing something about it!

Good answers Senator. Here's some fiction you can read in your spare time from a talented guy, a collection called Zephrys Through the Hills.

www.ronjenkins.gather.com

Here in Massachusetts, "progressive" has become a perjorative that the machine politicians use to marginalize the participatory newcomers (Deaniacs, etc.). It's a pity that the Democratic party here can't be as welcoming as it was in Oregon to new blood, and work to enculturate and mentor newcomers rather than marginalizing them.

What do you see as the influence and prospects for the old machines (Chicago, Massachusetts,...) in the future of Democratic politics and the vital need for increased grassroots participation?

Senator,

That puts the burden of financing campaigns on the federal budget. Why not just limit the money contributions to legal citizens of the U S and cap the amount they can contribute equal to the median monthly wage of our work force.

Senator, welcome to Gather. I just read your essay in this week's TIME magazine and am impressed. Your book is on my list as a must-read. I also heard an audio essay about Aldo Leopold the same day in which his belief that humanity is just a small part of a whole picture, an environment - if you will - before we even had an environmental movement. His words of 60 years ago sounded like your call to see ourselves, Americans, as a part of the larger whole - one within which we can work towards a better world, and a better position in it. I liked the connection and hope your book can lead to the success Leopold's had. We need your vision now.

(imagines Senator Bradley would have to be a superhuman typist to keep up with the good questions here! :)

Thanks for being here, Senator Bradley! I'll echo Richard Frisbie's comment "We need your vision now." Have you considered being able to share the new American story from the office of Vice President?

Shava- Thank you for your review. It means a lot to me that someone would take the time to so thoroughly read the book and comment on it as you did in your review.

One of the key purposes of The New American Story is to rekindle the belief that we, the people, can control our collective futures. It is easy to be pessimistic in an age of media dominated, money-besotted politics. The way citizens get control is by taking action.

In the book, I refer to Jody Williams, a woman in Vermont who joined a Viet Nam veteran and the head of a German non-profit in 1991 in the audacious campaign to end landmines worldwide. They stayed with it, and in 1996, the Ottawa Treaty was signed by 154 countries, banning landmines worldwide.

The three average citizens won the Nobel Prize for their effort. That same result can occur for elements of The New American Story. The steps to be taken are:
- read the book
- get five other people to read the book
- start a Meet-up about healthcare or education or ending our addiction to oil (or any of the other subjects in the book)
- stay informed about the world and the country
- and hold your representatives accountable

It will be easier to do that in the next year or so, when we have established a transparent federal budget that is keyword accessible, so that you can type-in breast cancer and find all the places in the federal budget that money is spent on breast cancer, linked to the floor debate in Congress that authorized and appropriated the money and linked further to how your representative voted and from whom he received contributions.

And for someone who says that we can't control our future or that it's hopelessly in the hands of special interests, I say baloney! This is America and we are Americans.

Mitch- thanks very much for your votes and confidence. Join the effort to make The New American Story a reality. Sign-up at newamericanstory.gather.com.

Welcome Senator Bradley,

I realize you have many questions to field here in a short time. As David posted above, I'm interested in how we can get the average citizen to "unlearn what they have learned" and see that each individual does indeed have the potential to bring about change.

Marie- thank you for your questions. I think that they put their finger on a very important aspect of the process of politics, but they buy the assumptions of the current political situation (i.e. that it's impossible to deal with real issues). I reject that hypothesis.

The key is for a party to become identified with what 70% of America care about: a good job at good pay, healthcare for the family, quality education for the kids, secure pension upon retirement, and a clean environment. All of the marketing tools should be used to brand the party with those issues in people's minds. These issues should be connected to convictions, such as if you work hard in America, you should be able to support your family. That those who have fallen by the wayside deserve a helping hand. That excellence ought to have the chance to win big. That tolerance is a necessity in our pluralistic society. And that foreign policy is a team sport.

If we focused on those things, the tactics that you describe would be less effective. Particularly since we can use the Internet to connect directly with the people, unfiltered by conservative and liberal media. Further, to that end, I think that a party should engage people directly for their ideas about what can be done. All wisdom does not rest in think tanks. Next, a party ought to provide some outlet for people's desire for service, either through association with non-profits such as Teach-for-America or by generating their own community-building projects. The strength of the Democratic Party in the past, even the old machines, was that it helped people where they lived their lives. I think that needs to be emphasized again.

With that said, I admire Halpern's book.

Shava- if a party does not respond to people's real needs and provide a path for young people as well as older people to fulfill their idealism, it will wither in the long run. That is why local Democratic clubs have shrunk in the last 30 years and why volunteer organizing has diminished. For the party to be future-oriented, it has to plug in, as I have said in previous answers, to where people live their lives and give people hope that their is a path for their voices to be heard.

I'm hoping I can get away from work to see you tonight in Harvard Square. I'm a single mom, and executive director of a US nonprofit with international scope -- sometimes my participation is limited to what I can do through work, and I'm grateful to have a job that lets me help the world (I hope!), even at a slighter wage than I'd make in the private sector.

For a lot of folks, though, work and overcommitment, lack of childcare for civic events (or meetings that run past bedtime) or sheer economics (working multiple jobs doesn't leave much time for participation) -- these are all seemingly insurmountable barriers to participation built into modern life.

I believe the Internet helps, since some conversations can go on, online. But sometimes I think that groups such as MoveOn just give people the *impression* of participation, without getting them off their computers and into the meetings where the work is done. "Consumer politics" again.

Obviously DFA and Meetup and such have shown that the Net can be a great organizing tool for grassroots *real world* politics.

But I talk to my son's friends (he's 14) and today's kids are taught not to talk to strangers, not to take risks. I wonder where the next generation of activists, politicians, and even entrepreneurs will come from?

Your book is more aimed toward me (a late boomer) -- how can we reach and engage kids? Through the net? On campuses? Through music?

How refreshing it would be to hear politicians speak their own words (not ones written by advisors) and to truthfully tell us about what guides their beliefs. Do you think this ideal is possible while maintaining the current bipartisan system? If so, how? If not, what would be a better forum for such an open exchange of ideas?

How can we set a national agenda for change when there is so much regional and class specific variation in the need and wants of "we the people." How should we be approaching national politics to account for both small and large scale issues?

Providing "a good job at good pay, healthcare for the family, quality education for the kids, secure pension upon retirement, and a clean environment" will need to be created differently in each community. How can this be accomplished in a federal system?

Patrick T- the simplest way to take money out of politics is to have the people fund the campaigns through their tax dollars. The federal budget is $2.6 trillion. The cost of financing all congressional and senatorial campaigns is $2 billion. We spend almost as much promoting democracy abroad.

Most important, it is the simplest way to achieve the objective.

I recently polled the Gather members Senator about the delicious taste of the government issued cheese once handed out to the less fortunate. Is there any chance this delectable treat will be brought back?

"The strength of the Democratic Party in the past, even the old machines, was that it helped people where they lived their lives."

We should be hearing this from every presidential candidate who is now running. Why aren't we?

The problem with congressional politics is that politicians are too easily baited into passionate argument and media frenzies. The first step to a new political system would be for everyone to calm down – perhaps to debate in writing rather than with empassioned pleas on the floor of congress or CNBC.

Richard- I am honored to be associated with Aldo Leopold in your comment. I quote him in the book along the lines that, if you allow wilderness to be destroyed, it's one thing that cannot be replaced.

The ethical connectedness which you refer to in the Time magazine article is at the core of The New American Story. It says that we are all connected and if we truly believe that, the actions we need to take, whether they be assuring everyone health insurance, ending our oil addiction, securing pensions, or reforming our educational system all become self-evident. One child's education can contribute to not only a better life for that child's family when he or she grows up, but more economic growth that will benefit all of us.

As I said in the Time magazine essay and in the book, we need collective action - for example, universal health insurance - and assumption of individual responsibility - for example taking care of your own body which means less cost to the healthcare system and more money to assure all of us have coverage.

Senator: Were you suprised by the amount of money that was recently reported by the presidential candidates?

Diana- no, I think that my mission is not only to convey The New American Story, but to try to empower people to see that we are really in control of our own destiny. I have been a Senator and I have run for President, but it was never the office that was important to me. It was the people that I served and about whom I cared.

I continue to have this love affair with the American people. I think my days in elected office are over, but my days of fighting for the country I'd like to see us become have not ended.

jonathan H. says: " The problem with congressional politics is that politicians are too easily baited into passionate argument and media frenzies." Problem is, the first person to calm down loses their election, unless the cultural consensus suddenly condemns, rather than rewards, frenzied controversy.

As a campaign manager, I grew to be more frustrated with media/political literacy in the electorate than with politicians, at least on a local level. That's one of the reasons I think work like Senator Bradley's is important.

Janie- on one level I see your point. What I fear is that candidates under a popular vote system would spend most of their time in ten states and the rest of the country would never see them when they are running for office.

Dear Senator,

Compared to the many wise questions and comments, mine will seem rather mundane. What have I to say? Thanks for taking time to chat with us and I wish you much joy and positivity in the future. See? You were warned-lol!

Best,
Pamela

My wife is reading your book and has commented that she wishes you were running this year. While I'm sure that you're not ready to endorse any candidates yet, what do you think of the field of candidates? Do any of them understand the issues as you see them?

David B- There will always be people who disagree with anyone's vision, including my own. I am glad it seems reasonable to you.

As to what we can do, I would challenge everyone to go to Meetup.com and form a Meet-up in your area to meet face-to-face with people who want to realize the vision that I have put out in The New American Story. Such a meeting would not be controlled from above, but enriched from below. The creativity of the American people would be tapped to do great things. And the ingenuity that comes out of the meet-ups would be as likely as any other action to be effective.

Go for it!

Thanks for being here, Senator.

Lei Z. -- a great effort toward government transparency through tech, as you suggest, is the Sunlight Foundation -- I'd encourage you to check them out. I heard them speak at Harvard a ways back, and they really seem to have their heads on straight. Plus, their stories about responses when they asked Congress folks to publish their meeting schedules (which would show how much time they're spending with big money lobbyists) were both funny and scary.

Senator, welcome! As I read your book, I found myself putting post-it notes on just about every page. Your message--which is so very hopeful-- is relevant to me both personally and professionally.

I have two questions--

We need your leadership now more than ever. Any chance you will reconsider and enter the race for President?

I have been speaking with a number of people who were Justice Robert H. Jackson's contemporaries at Nuremberg, though there are only a few left. They played such an important role in establishing the rule of international law. With everything that is in them, people like Henry King and Whitney Harris are working with like-minded people around the world to address the issues of aggressive war, crimes against humanity and genocide. Do you see any hope for America to restore its leadership role in this regard?

Sara- the biggest enemy to making America a better place is the view that you can't succeed in making America a better place. The best way to change people's sense of the possible is through direct, person-to-person interaction. This interaction is most effective when the person you are contacting shares your own values or interests. If you simply reach the people in your rolodex who have been absent in the effort to build a better America, it could make a difference. If all of us did that, it could change the country.

Thank you, Senator. I meant the Leopold connection - it makes so much sense (to me) to see the/your/our collective movement environmentally. I especially like that connectedness also means our personal responsibility to be active and productive in our own lives (on all levels) as well as the lives of others. If we can accept personal responsibility, we can accept - we can know - that we have a part in the shaping of our future, and our country's (and our world's) future.

I'm a social libertarian and a fiscal conservative.

Please run for President - I want to vote for an unpartied, uncompromised original thinker - not the cookie-cutters who have announced.

Lauren- I take your question, when you say bi-partisan, to mean the two party system. There has been only one successful third party in American politics and that was the Republican party of Abraham Lincoln. Theodore Roosevelt ran the next most significant third party campaign, when, as a former president from 1901-1908, he challenged both Republican and Democratic parties with his progressive mission. Woodrow Wilson, the Democrat, won. Teddy Roosevelt came in second.

That is not to say that a third party is not possible. It is simply to say that it is extremely difficult. I would refer you to something called Unity '08 (see unity08.com) if you are interested in a new way to select a Presidential candidate.

I have been reviewing the Q&As and have found your answers to be refreshingly candid and honest.

Among all the things you mentioned people can do, what would you consider to be the first, simple step that ordinary people can take to help begin the process of affecting global change as you envision it?

Thank you, Senator, but my question was more geared toward wondering whether your ideal for politicians' openness and honesty is possible when catering to one of the two strict party lines. Do you think this ideal is possible while maintaining the current bipartisan system?

Jonathan- thank you for your question. Let me give you two ideas of why national solutions can work. There are 47 million people in America today who do not have health insurance. That is more than all the people in the following states of the United States combined: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and New Mexico. If you think that such a condition is outrageous, you need a national solution, not a local or regional solution to the problem.

It can be solved in one of two ways: with a single payer system where the government pays for everyone's healthcare and assures that costs are controlled and quality increased or with a system in which the government subsidizes those 47 million people so that they can afford to buy health insurance today.

A second example is in the area of education. One of the problems with public schools today is that there is no way to compare the performance of schools in Idaho with schools in Michigan with schools in Georgia. In other words, local standards apply. In a globalized world, we need national education standards so that we can be assured that the next generation will be acquiring the skills that they need to compete in the world economy and to have a rich full life as an educated human being.

What Janie said! :) If I make it to Harvard Square tonight for your talk, I hope I can figure out a way to hook up with more folks from gather who make it to meet you in person...

Senator,
It is my gut feeling that a very large segment of our country is done giving either political party " the benefit of the doubt". Both parties have , for lack of a better term, "run out of gas".
Do you believe the Democrats and Republicans have both lost the ability to convince the American public that they place the good of the nation above their own ambitions ?

Senator, your chapter on education doesn't pull any punches when it comes to identifying the obstacles faced by parents, educators, and local school administrators, many who truly have the students' best interest at heart. I love your idea of rewarding educators based on performance. What can we as citizens do to get everyone on board, including the powerful teachers' unions?

I want to join the chorus of people thanking you profusely for doing this, Senator! It has been an incredibly interesting conversation, so thank you to everyone who chimed in as well!

Thank you Senator,

You are truly an original.

Barbara- the amount of money raised was very surprising. One of the problems with politics is too much money. This indicates the problem is getting larger not smaller. It is what I call "buffalo money" meaning candidates raise money in the first quarter to buffalo other candidates out of the race. I think we are at a time where money will not be the most important thing in a campaign. A candidates ideas and the Internet have the ability to displace the old special interest money raising machine.

Darn, do you think you could stay for another hour or so ...?

Thank you, Senator Bradley, for taking the time to share your insights with us.

Thank you for participating this morning Senator. I still have a Bill Bradley for President poster from when I volunteered for your campaign in 2000. I agree with you that we can't lose hope. The only way positive change will happen is if we don't give up and keep working for it.

Senator, we thank you for joining us for this fabulous live chat. And we thank all the Gather members who joined us with their insightful questions. Unfortunately, the Senator has another enagagement and is not able to answer all of your questions. He encourages you to join us at newamericanstory.gather.com to continue the conversation.

Senator Bradley, as a man who spent most of his life in NJ, I'm interested in what goes on there currently. Do you have any insight on the Newark arena? And what are the Devils' chances this year? And, if possible, can you send some TV sports broacasts over to China?... all I get is basketball.

Senator Bradley, How can we as citizens of the United States of America and The World help bring your plans to reality for present and future generations?

Senator Bradley,

While I applaud the sentiments of your writing, how realistic is the concept that a party can emerge and become successful only by covering the main issues that all Americans want? With the "Swiftboating" of candidates by both the rabid right and the rabid left, almost as quickly as they announce their intentions, and the intentional media-leading of smear politics toward single-issue pidgeonholing (ex: Candidate X is pro-abortion, he wants to KILL BABIES), how can this realistically be achieved in the current climate of political divisiveness?

I expect that I'm coming too late to the party, but I'll make the attempt anyway. Senator, I have gotten involved in a couple activities sponsored by Moveon.org. I have been struck by the fact that the average age of those I've met at these gatherings seems to be around 55+. Do you have any idea--short of re-imposing the draft--to get younger people involved in the political process?

Thank you Tom, The New American Story Moderator, all my great gather colleagues and especially Senator Bradley for a coherent and passionate (and speedily typed) discussion. I'm willing to work to see that good comes of it - Thank you all.

Senator Bradley, I wanted to say "hello" & welcome you to Gather. I am going to save my question for this evening. I along with other members of Gather will be hearing you
read from your book. Wish we had better weather for you in Boston today. We are very looking forward to seeing you, listening to and have questions awaiting to ask of you.

FYI, HERE is a link to the Q&A with Senator Bradley on America's role regarding foreign policy.

Great, thanks Diana.

Diana, thanks as always keeping us inform. Looking forward to hearing the Senator speak this evening and will do a piece on it as you suggested.

I missed the chat but am glad that some of the issues mentioned were "a good job at good pay, healthcare for the family, quality education for the kids, secure pension upon retirement, and a clean environment.", "those who have fallen by the wayside", and "foreign policy is a team sport." I'm hoping that the next Presidential Administration will be more sympathetic to these needs and not just to the special interests.

I missed the chat as well but I've learned a great deal from reading the article and the comments that followed...thanks for alerting me to this Diana and thanks again to Senator Bradley for taking the time from his busy day to speak with us here.

Okay Bill , this comment may not be to deep.. But I just want to tell you I live in Canada and I love listening to you on the TV. I want to stand up and cheer some times.

Thanks for the its much appreciated


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? have followed your writing for a long time.really you have given very successful information.
In spite of my english trouale,I am trying to read and understand your writing.
And ? am following frequently.I hope that you will be with us together with much more scharings.
I hope that your success will go on.
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Very good idea for this commentary I want to tell you that my sister lives in Canada and I know that she will listen to television and she is very satisfied with your thank you listen to it voyant medium voyance telephone voyance direct

Thanks for the its much appreciated
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