Episode 2235: John Driscoll on why Kamala Harris lost
I did this interview with John Driscoll, co-author of Pay the People! Why Fair Pay is Good for Business and Great for America, earlier this week, assuming that Harris would lose the election. And let’s be clear: she did lose an election that should have been eminently winnable. Driscoll spelt it out clearly in a powerful The Hill article last week about how raising the minimum wage is the key to the White House for Harris. The problem with Harris, and most of the Democratic party, is their failure to offer a coherent and politically sellable economic alternative to Trumpism. John Driscoll and his group of successful business leaders at Patriotic Millionaires offer that alternative. It’s not socialism, but it is an undisguised and unapologetic attempt to recognize the economic predicament of the American working class and to resurrect the American Dream by leveling the playing field. That’s the way to defeat Trumpism. Not by smiling inanely and saying nothing.
John Driscoll chairs the Waystar Corporation and is a senior advisor at Walgreens Boots Alliance. Previously, he was CEO at CareCentrix, president of Castlight, group president at Medco, and SVP at Oxford Health Plans. John also served as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve and is a longtime board member of the Alliance for Hunger and The Patriotic Millionaires. The co-author, with Morris Pearl, of Pay the People! (The New Press), he lives in Stamford, Connecticut.
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.
Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
Miss Aldridge Regrets: Louise Hare on how to write a successful second novel
No Miracles Needed: Mark Jacobson on how today's technology can save our climate and clean our air
Fragile Cargo: Adam Brookes on the the World War II race to save the treasures of China's Forbidden City
Freedom Moves: H. Samy Alim celebrates the Past, Present and Future of Hip Hop on its fiftieth birthday
The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism: Why Capitalism and Democracy have fallen out of love and how to bring them back together
Welcome Me to the Kingdom: Mai Nardone's unvarnished fictional truths about life in contemporary Thailand
Burn the Boats: Matt Higgins on why we should all toss Plan B overboard
Why All Writing is Failure: Stephen Marche on the Peculiar Perseverance Required to Endure the Life of a Writer
Why Both America and Britain are Imprisoned in Empireland: Sathnam Sanghera on how the West has been shaped by its imperial past
Happy B'Day, Abe!! John Cribb on what both Republicans and Democrats can learn from the great Rail Splitter on Lincoln's 214th birthday
Bloodshed and Lies in Saudi Arabia: Jeed Basyouni on Mohammed bin Salman's Kingdom of Executions
Can Populism Survive? Massimo Morelli on the nature and future of Populism
A Week is a Long Time in Silicon Valley: Keith Teare on How Artificial Intelligence Is Now Unstoppable