Henry Jackson 2020 VP Real Democracy Party
Henry Jackson is the Vice-Presidential nominee of the Real Democracy Party. The Presidential nominee is John Manimas. Mr. Jackson's biography appears on their website:
Henry Jackson is a transplanted New York "city boy" who has grown very fond of the upstate New York region he has made home for the past 30 years. For the past 19 years, Henry has been employed by the New York State Insurance Fund as a claims examiner. He holds a B.S. degree in Economics from S.U.N.Y Empire State College. With his knowledge of economics and the stock market, Henry has become a stock trader/investor and for a time was a contributing writer for Broken Leg Investing. Broken Leg is an online newsletter, specializing in value investing. In his spare time, he’s an avid runner, voracious reader and amateur U.S. historian. Henry is also a fun loving father, grandfather and very head over heels in love with his wife Tracy Fuller. Henry's experience growing up in an inner city housing project and now residing in suburbia has afforded him first-hand experience that there are more commonalities amongst diverse groups than differences. This commonality should be explored via meaningful dialogue that encourages community, coalitions and ultimately peaceful coexistence.
http://www.realdemocracyparty.org/meetcand.htm
The campaign has just started a gofundme page as well:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/john-manimas-campaign-fund
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Q: What sort of political background did you have prior to being the VP nominee of the Real Democracy Party, and, how did that lead to your selection as the running-mate?
HJ: I have voted and participated in marches but this is my first time being a candidate for office. John and I started as friends that shared a passion for history and politics and it seemed every time we were together we would wind up discussing politics and trying to solve all the worlds problems over a 2 hour dinner (laughter). Thru these conversations I learned of John’s RDP initiative and I wanted to be an active part of that.
Q: The RDP webpage has a lot of information to sift through, but if I am correct it seems the following statement summarizes the mission of the Party:
The RDP is not a third party that seeks to win the votes of Democrats or Republicans. We seek to win new write-in votes from the 40% of eligible voters who usually do not vote. Our focused campaign is to have those who expressed their dissatisfaction passively in the past by abstaining from voting to adopt a constructive strategy by casting an active protest vote against the two-party system and for real democracy by writing in the candidate's name, John Manimas.
Our electoral goal is not to have the named candidate, John Manimas, win the 270 Presidential Electoral Votes in order to Presidential Electoral Votes in order to be selected as the next President, but to win a handful of electoral votes and trade those votes through a coalition with the Democratic Party for the specified election reform laws.
So you have two blocs of eligible voters in your radar-- Those who are registered but do not vote, and those who never registered. How do you effectively identify and reach both groups?
HJ: This is one of the greatest challenges... changing behaviors and mindset. If you registered and do not vote. Well did you in the past? Why are you not voting now? If you've never registered and/or voted, then why not? Sad to say, I know people of different backgrounds that do not vote. Most cite the same reason... they don't believe their vote and therefore their voice counts. All of us have seen a greater concentration of wealth and power amongst the 1 percent while there is such a negative backlash against paying the everyday wage earner a living minimum wage. Also we have seen two criminal justice systems side by side, one for the rich and privileged, the other for the poor. These socioeconomic issues have been with us under Democrat and Republican administrations. So many feel it doesn't matter.
We are utilizing Facebook and direct email to regular email address books to get our message out and show the people that they have the power and by not voting they are discarding a viable tool for change. Personally, I have found speaking to people one on one is helpful as it gets to the individual root cause of someone not voting.
Q: I realize at this point in time (June 2020) the Trump Party looks like the Titanic right after it made contact with the iceberg, but I never underestimate the Democratic Party's almost magical ability to blow what should've been an easy Presidential election, even this one. In a scenario where you have to trade votes with Republicans rather than Democrats, how would that be different?
HJ: Well we are willing to work with any group, party or organization that truly wants election reform but that being said... our current administration has dismissed corruption, made a mockery of an impeachment trial, disseminated disinformation regarding the pandemic that hampered efforts to contain it and displayed a lack of leadership and calls for unity and calm post the George Floyd killing. If such an administration gets re-elected, forming coalitions much less election reform will be at the bottom of their to do list.
Q: With their 29 Electors, it is impressive you managed to become registered write-in candidates in New York. From the RDP webpage it appears your strategy is to make an effort to become certified as write-ins in so-called purple swing states, listed here with electoral vote numbers: Florida 29, Pennsylvania 20, Ohio 18, Michigan 16, North Carolina 15, Virginia 13, Minnesota 10, Wisconsin 10, Colorado 9, Nevada 6, and New Hampshire 4. How is the progress on attaining the write-in status in those states?
HJ: Progress has been slow and steady considering the differing rules for each of the purple states. Nevada does not have a write in option, whereas Pennsylvania and New Hampshire does not have any prerequisite to be a write in candidate. All the other states require filing a declaration of intent within specified time frames prior to Election Day. If paperwork isn't filed properly, any votes for a write in candidate won't be counted. There's an example of why campaign reform is needed. It's a process but we're committed to making this happen. Since Pennsylvania and New Hampshire doesn't have any prerequisites, we are concentrating on those states first.
Q: What is the RDP position on continuing the existence of the Electoral College?
HJ: Our position is to have it abolished. With the 2016 election, you have Hillary winning the popular vote and Trump winning in the Electoral College and the Presidency. Hillary supporters felt like their vote didn't matter (goes back to why some don't vote). Trump supporters felt that per the Constitution, Trump is rightful winner. Now more than ever we need a united country and these type of popular vote/Electoral college issues does not help. Removing the Electoral College would be a good first step in showing the people that their vote does count. Removing it does require 38 states to vote in favor of abolishing it. There is a proposed amendment on the RDP website that discusses a plan for a more direct form of voting and holding our elected representatives more accountable as respects the election process.
Q: I can see one advantage to the RDP plan is no one can accuse you being a spoiler since rather than diverting support from the duopoly you are trying to organize people who wouldn't be voting otherwise. That being said, what do you think about the accusation that voting for parties outside the Big Two is a wasted vote?
HJ: Yes!
It's another example of a person's vote not counting. Under the current system, third party votes get run over by the two party system and with no way for those votes to be assigned to another party/candidate that will continue. The RDP fully supports, Rank Choice Voting, which allows voters to rank candidates by preference and Fusion Voting, where two or more political parties on a ballot to list the same candidate and pool votes for that candidate.
Q: Where do you see RDP supporters coming from demographically?
HJ: Poor people, millennials and minorities instantly come to mind but anyone who feels marginalized and fed up with the status quo of how government works for a select and privileged few and not all its citizens.
Q: I watched a Youtube video with your Presidential candidate making the suggestion that voting be mandatory, like being obligated to answer a jury selection summons. There are some political communities and individuals who embrace a philosophy of deliberately not participating in the process and would resist. How would that be handled?
HJ: First off mandatory voting coupled with removing voter suppression would go a long way to increasing voter participation amongst all socio economic groups. There would be strong vocal opposition I'm sure. As Americans we have a strong tendency to resist being told what to do. It's part of our national identity but things are changing and mandatory voting without voter suppression is a step in the right direction of showing population that yes, your vote, everyone's vote counts. That is why the RDP supports mandatory voting. I am aware of many groups that abstain from voting, Jehovah's Witnesses come to mind, groups such as this, their members should have an exemption. While increasing voter participation, the last thing we want to do us step on religious freedoms.
Q: Building on the concept of sortition as we do with jury summons, I have long been interested in the idea of having some municipal offices that do not require special training such as city council be randomly selected from the voter rolls to serve a term. But maybe that is going too far? What do you think?
HJ: Well first, before someone could be "randomly picked" from voters rolls, I believe there would have to be a process of obtaining a list of voters interested in said municipal office. It's a messy process as I would still want to know why Random Bill would be better in the position than Random Mary. Other arguments for choosing people via sortition is that it would cut down on party factionalism and special interests in elections. That might happen on the front end by removing the election process but it would not stop it once a person has office. No, sortition is not the way to go in this instance.
Q: In the biography above it mentions your "first-hand experience that there are more commonalities amongst diverse groups than differences. This commonality should be explored via meaningful dialogue that encourages community, coalitions and ultimately peaceful coexistence." That is an admirable but challenging goal in our current state of social upheaval. Could you elaborate a bit on that statement?
HJ: I'm African-American. My wife Tracy is White. My sons are African-American and my daughter is biracial. All 6 of my grandkids are biracial. Two of my children are part of the LGBTQ community. My upbringing and family and friends are very diverse but we've welcomed it and it never stands in the way of loving each other. No matter our backgrounds, we all want our kids to be healthy, safe, loving and happy. As Americans, no, correction, as humans we all want to have access to the best education and healthcare possible. At a very basic level, all of us want the freedom to achieve whatever our hearts desire provided those desires do not harm anyone else. We need leadership that focuses on those commonalities. We need leadership that is not afraid to embrace diversity. Diversity is not a dirty fearful word. Diversity is a reality, that when embraced and explored can pay great dividends to our society as a whole.
Q: What sort of impact does the killer virus have on your campaign? What is your electioneering plan?
HJ: From the standpoint of the physical duties of campaigning, it won't change our present methods much. We won't be out doing the proverbial handshakes but we will continue with our Facebook/social media approach. We also have started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds. Our campaign is small in stature but giant in potential scope.
Q: Any predictions for Election Day?
HJ: The only thing I predict is it will be one for the books. Currently I see Trump losing and doing everything humanly possible to not leave office while claiming the election was stolen from him. But like you said earlier the Democrats have a magical ability to blow it. We will see.
Q: As someone called an "amateur US historian" in your bio what part of our history interests you the most and does any of it relate to your 2020 VP campaign?
HJ: Period from the Revolution up to the Post Civil War/Reconstruction era is favorite period. Studying history gives one perspective. The old adage, if you do not learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it seems to on display. You think of our Declaration of Independence and the line "all men are created equal". It did not include people that look like me. It didn’t include women at all. Our Constitution's preamble has that wonderful statement, WE THE PEOPLE. That statement and voting rights did not include, women or men without property. Blacks were relegated to 3/5 compromise for taxing purposes and legislative representation. Blacks also remained enslaved. So right there, at our nation's inception people are excluded from having a say in government and sharing in the prosperity of the land. Now several centuries later we still have members of our society that are not included in We The People. Also, this administration and its supporters seem to have issues with the statement Black Lives Matter. African-Americans hear in response to Black Lives Matter, "All Lives Matter". Of course all lives matter, I accept that as an axiom but some African-Americans feel that we are not included in all lives matter much less we the people. We need an administration that is inclusive of African-Americans, Women, Whites, The Poor, the LGBTQ community, everyone.
Q: OK, I have to ask this since I'm a trivia guy. Here in Washington State we had a US Senator named Henry "Scoop" Jackson who served in office forever and even made a couple attempts to gain the Democratic Party nomination for President. Does anyone else ever point out to you there was another Henry Jackson who made a run for national office?
HJ: It has been pointed out to me several times. Although here's something funny... the first time I heard the name Henry "Scoop" Jackson was when I was in the 10th grade. My trigonometry teacher Mr. Rosen told me about Senator Jackson and called me Scoop for the semester and every time he saw me in the halls till I graduated (laughter).
Q: Thank you very much for contributing to this project. If you have anything to address not covered by my questions please feel to add them here.
HJ: I had a really good time and please get out and vote and encourage others to do the same.
