It’s time once again for all good Liberals to Drink! Come on down to the venerable Shanty on 4th Avenue at the Underpass starting at 6pm, and meet some fine folks for some good conversation and good beer (or whatever libation makes your lips flap). Bill, the proprietor of the Shanty is now catering our … Read more

Jon Kyl gets an F for fairness to the middle class from the Drum Major Institute. Scoring just 13 on a 100 point scale, Kyl clearly demonstrated his contempt for the intelligence of the voters, and the needs of middle class families with his votes. The bills examined by DMI include major changes to our … Read more

I love our Governor, but I have been vaguely dissatisfied with the outcome of this year’s budget negotiations. I think that even though Janet got some of the spending she wanted, she had to swallow a program Democrats really dislike (diverting millions in tax revenues to private schools), fiscally irresponsible and regressive tax cuts (500 … Read more

I sent a MoveOn.org challenge to all the Democrats (who all took the pledge) and all the Republicans in the race for CD 8 to abstain from taking donations from oil interests. To his credit, the only Republican candidate to even bother responding was Frank Antenori. Frank agreed not to take money from oil interests, … Read more

Hearty kudos to State Senator Paula Aboud for standing up for those in no position to protect themselves, under the hardest of political circumstances. Senator Aboud worked to head off making felons of prostitutes this session. Many would just stay quiet rather than advocate for a widely despised group like prostitutes, an principled stand which … Read more

Dr. Chat, as he likes to be called, is standing for the Democratic nomination against John Thrasher, and ultimately for the right to take on incumbent Republican Trent Franks. Dr. Chat dropped in on a meeting of Drinking Liberally in Tucson two weeks ago. It’s not unusual for a Congresssional candidate to stop by Drinking Liberally, but it is unusual for one to drive down from Phoenix just to do so.

Dr. Chat spent a very pleasant evening with us and asked if I would like to interview him. Unfortunately, not being from his district, I knew couldn’t address properly the many purely local issues that some voters would be interested in knowing about. But I did feel I could give prospective voters a good idea where Chat stands on major issues with just 20 questions. I’ll be sending the same questions (except maybe the first) to Chat’s rival for the nomination.

Yes, that’s Al Gore in the photo above. And no, Chat didn’t just slide up to him and get a snap; Chat went to school with Gore in Tennessee. Chat told me that a 20-something Gore once called him and a group of college friends together for their advice and support as he was contemplating his first run for Congress, and just recently, as Chat considered running for Congress, he reversed the roles and asked Gore for his advice on running. Not a bad coach to have in your corner when taking on an entrenched incumbent.

I haven’t done any follow-up questions based on Chat’s responses, but I’m hoping to rely on you readers to ask additional or clarifying questions. Chat reads this blog and I’m sure that he would be interested in addressing your comments and follow-up questions.

The first question may come as something of a surprise: Chat recently changed his party affiliation because, as he says, his party left him. Don’t be under any illusions: Chat is very much still a liberal Republican in his views, and he doesn’t pretend otherwise. But as there is no longer any room in the Republican tent for progressive independents like Chat, his campaign is testing the waters for a new alignment in American politics.

1) When did you change parties and why?