As you probably know, Blue America has pre-endorsed and then quickly and enthusiastically endorsed Wisconsin state Senator Chris Larson in the race for the Democratic nomination to take on reactionary Republican Ron Johnson in next year's U.S. Senate election. Last night, Chris was one of the candidates in Marianne Williamson's Candidate Summit II and I was very excited to hear him tell the story about how he beat a long-time conservative Democratic incumbent in 2010. After he spoke-- you can watch it here-- Marianne asked him to explain briefly why he's the real deal when all sorts of status quo establishment Dems are claiming to be progressives. Chris' response:
Anybody can pick up the badge of "progressive" and wear it for a day. You have to have somebody who's been wearing it, living it and trying to push for other progressives to get in office. Real leadership builds other leaders and I've been a progressive leader all my career."
I caught up with Chris today when he was driving around the state talking with voters and I asked him about the new marijuana legislation Chuck Schumer had introduced earlier today. For nearly a decade, Chris has been on of the lead sponsors of legislation for full legalization, for expunging records of people was served time for non-violent marijuana crimes, for local growers and small dispensaries in an effort to keep the marijuana industry out of the hands of Wall Street predators and profiteers.
Now, let me implore you to go back to the top and watch the excellent interview Cenk did with Chris a couple of nights ago. Cenk is a pro and he knows exactly how to get the best out of his guests.
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