The Dig - Greater Boston's Alternative News Source
This year, workers’ rights, the economy, and wealth distribution are focal points in the campaigns of progressive Democratic candidates, particularly US senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and businessman Andrew Yang. But do the candidates have a clear policy for government reform that integrates the new nature of business and protects gig workers?
After the days spent traveling New Hampshire in search of novel insights prognosticating the coming months of our political spectacle, of inroads to the minds of candidates and organizers seeking leadership roles in our market of ideas and government jobs, to compare the frame of mind of the wide-eyed visiting volunteers and resident voters of outsize influence with those in my home community, and to generally learn whether I could fairly expect my anxieties to be quieted by our process, I was left vexed.
Music is the original gig economy, and the concerns of the musical underclass are shaped by America at large.
“I don’t care if they’re young or old, I want them to have a good mind, to be able to have some good policies.”
“We work mostly in New Hampshire to fight money in politics and end gerrymandering ... This includes everything from lobbying reform, transparency, closing the LLC loophole, and exposing dark money.”
“I was alarmed by some of the answers from the other candidates at the debates the other night,” she said. “I will end those wasteful regime change wars.”
"If there is an afterlife, you don’t get to enjoy it unless you got a permission slip from the poor."
“The things we’re talking about with Sanders are things I’ve wanted my whole life."
As the only man left on death row, an African-American in a state that is 93% Caucasian, sitting in the secure housing unit at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men, he seemed far from the concerns of the candidates on stage.
Whereas the Bernie party embraced imagery we’ve all been brainwashed into associating with right wingery—plastic furniture designed for outdoor use, a concession selling hot dogs to cover costs for a traveling little league baseball team—the Warren watch party looked like a casting call for an L.L. Bean commercial.
“The easiest way for them to get elected is to go to big donors and get campaign donations. There are favors that are being given to special interests, whether it’s a corporation, a union, or some billionaire."
“It’s none of your fucking business what I own ... I haven’t broken any laws. Why do I have to register my shit? Leave me alone.”
“On Saturday, going to the dump is as normal as going to the post office ... Good campaigns will have people at the dump.”
Join Michael Moore for a live taping of his Rumble podcast with special guests Chapo Trap House.
“Everyone knows we are a mosquito on the butt of an elephant ... I’ve had cops see my shirt and get inches from my face about it.”
“If there is a decision to be made in Washington, it’s a decision made by money ... Money is calling the shots in Washington.”
"Unfortunately, the leadership of the Republican party is at odds with their own voters, so I think we should replace the leader with a Republican who’s actually pro-environment."
There is a process. First of all, you are curious, then you discover, then you research, and then the cycle continues. You discover more things.
Through the fog of nobodies, MSNBC show host and hoagie hound Chris Matthews managed to get access; “Just hang on,” he whispered in his trademark brassy brogue to the minion flanking his effort, “she’ll get us in.”
“We saw this opportunity where, if we could organize young people in New Hampshire to not only turn out to vote but to also work after the election to hold leaders accountable, we actually have a lot of political agency."
“Should a corporation poison your family for money?” Steyer asked the crowd. “Climate is the number one priority … not because we want it to be, but because it has to be.”
“I must say, I’m a little troubled when I look around and see what’s happening,” Weld said, adding that he “was so proud of Mitt Romney,” another former Mass governor who was the only Republican to vote for impeachment.
“I’m here showing solidarity and support for a candidate who CNN is not letting speak,” said Nitya Pool, a protester wearing one of the recently-made black T-shirts the campaign was selling on site.
While college students interviewed presidential hopefuls at a town hall on energy and climate change, supporters of President Donald Trump staged a high-wattage protest outside. Giant flatscreens, attached to a pro-Trump PAC’s black truck, flashed TV news clips meant to embarrass leading Democratic candidates.
“We have to make sure that money goes right back to people, to help with their heating and their cooling bills, or we’re never going to get it passed.”
Klobuchar went on to tell the crowd that her campaign exceeded expectations: “I think the answer for all of this is that you want a president who has the presence of mind that can thrive in chaos.”
A political history in three New Hampshire primaries
The reporters I roll with may not dress like the coifs on TV, or have as many cool lanyards in their credential collection as those who ride campaign buses, but I assure you we are much more serious than most of them.
“Increased patrols do not protect anyone ... they are actively harmful to poor and oppressed people who are routinely harassed, brutalized, and surveilled by the police in Boston and across the country."
“Our job as educators is to learn about our students and where they come from. We create lessons that will interest them, lessons about their life experiences."
