 Hello everyone, I'm here with Jason Cole running in Washington State's second congressional district He's running against a corporate Democrat named Rick Larson and he is here to talk about his campaign Jason Thank you so much for coming on the program Thanks so much for having me here Mike appreciate it very much You know Washington State is my neighbor as an Oregonian So I feel very like interested in your politics because usually what happens in Washington It does affect Oregon like you guys legalized cannabis and then a few years later We legalized cannabis so you're kind of like the big brother slash big sister state So you know we we need to make sure you guys do well So you set an example for a little brother slash little sister well We love Oregon up here in Washington and I on that note. I'll let you know that I was one of the top volunteer signature getters for i-502 the past cannabis here in Back in 2012 I stood outside the local farmers market for weeks and weeks and weeks on end getting people to Sign that petition. So we were very excited that we along with Colorado were first in the nation to legalize And I will add to that also so that with my congressional run It's definitely something that I'm going to push at the federal level. Should I be elected? That's great So I just found out about your campaign and everything you say is incredibly on point and this new crop of candidates like I was impressed in 2018 but this new cycle you guys are all so bold and I love this so much like it actually makes me feel optimistic not to sound too corny But like we need people to step up and run and so many people have really answered that call So why did you decide to run because politics isn't necessarily the funnest thing putting yourself on the line to run for Congress not the easiest thing requires a lot of self-sacrifice and dedication What made you want to challenge a corporate democrat? Well, I've been an activist my whole life I've been I got started in in sort of street activism when we invaded Iraq back in 1990 I was a freshman at the university of washington I got out in the streets with people who were anti-war activists then And I continued that kind of activism Through the iraq war in 2003. I marched You know every year I've marched on the anniversary of the iraq war I've marched with the answer coalition to support palestinian rights a lot of that stuff goes on in Washington state. I actually missed the WTO protest in seattle and that was a big one I was kind of sad to have missed that but that's the kind of thing I've been involved in I have had my fingers in the green party and I'm a I'm a member of dsa. I'm a dues main paying member of dsa and when bernie announced in 2015 I had been listening to him on brunch with bernie for tom hartman for years And it was very much a drop everything and what can I do to help bernie get elected? And so I got myself involved in volunteering for bernie here in washington state Managed to get myself elected to the washington state democrat central committee where I have been pushing pushing progressive values Um I think a lot of people don't know That uh in washington while we people kind of look at us as a progressive state Our representation is not at all progressive. They're very corporate. They're very centrist And my fight with the state committee Which is pretty much an arm of the dnc at this point in washington Has been to question why we keep electing these corporate centric Right-wing democrats who take industry money when washington is a progressive state We have progressive values our state platform, which I helped write Is a progressive platform, but our representation really doesn't match that I fought for sarah smith as I was telling you a little bit earlier To get vote builder access. I fought hard for her on the state committee didn't make any friends doing that and she didn't get it but My fight really is to have our representation in washington Match what the democratic party says It stands for uh, and I think what the people in washington Want the democratic party to stand for and which it currently does not stand for and I'm curious as to what you think You'd be able to accomplish because we're starting to see this type of block emerge within the democratic party in dc You know the squad a of c ilhan omar Pramila jaya paul and whatnot. So we already see that even if they lack, you know the numbers Really from a qualitative standpoint, they really have done a phenomenal job at influencing discourse for the positive for the better And I'm just curious. What do you think it would take because I don't foresee a situation where we get a progressive speaker of the house Anytime soon. Um, I don't foresee a situation where progressives actually have a solid majority But if we have a strong enough block if our numbers are big enough, um I actually do see that really having a substantial impact in the same way that the freedom caucus and tea party kind of transformed The republican party. So what do you think it would take and how would you as an individual? Fight to change the national democratic party if you're elected Well, the the reality is um people like pramila jaya paul and aoc Uh, they are driving the conversation right now. Um, I as in terms of my platform what I support I support what they are supporting. I support medicare for all I'm actually extremely disappointed and this is one of my beefs with the representation in washington state But out of seven democrats we have representing us here in washington Pramila is the only one who supports medicare for all Adam smith has said he supports medicare for all because sarah kind of pushed him to the left back in 2018 But as he is on the stump for reelection, he's really not talking about medicare for all he's talking about strengthening the the Aca And he's kind of walking that thing back And so my goal is to take the values that have been put on the table green new deal affordable housing workers rights And and medicare for all and those kind of things and make sure we keep pushing that conversation forward I I don't envision in congress right now any point where those values are going to start to recede So the goal now is just to keep flipping these seats and driving that conversation forward As you said, we've got a fantastic block of people running and i'm connected with all these people On twitter we we talk back and forth on twitter candidates from new york candidates from florida candidates from maryland and so on candidates right in oregon and we People are being very bold about the changes that they need to make People a few years ago May not have been comfortable saying something like billionaires shouldn't exist I think people are very comfortable saying that right now so that is Now is the time not to walk any of that back now is the time to keep pushing it forward and driving it forward And that's really what I intend to do What what pernilla and aoc have put on the table? I want to be there to support Yeah, and that's great to hear one thing about washington I will say even if you guys are a very progressive state without the representation We've seen so many phenomenal candidates emerge out of washington state Dorothy gaskay sarah smith uh jason I'm blanking on his last name a different jason. Uh, no joshua college. Excuse me. Yes. Yes. Um, you're jason So there's a lot of uh progressives that are emerging from from washington state And it's so nice to see like people all over the country They're stepping up and they're just ordinary people and that's really I think what's lacking currently There's so many elites and oligarchs in congress currently And you really see the way that that influences them in terms of like how they respond to Constituents if they even talk to them at all so to see just normal working people get involved Um, it is encouraging to see now Let me ask you this because you know, we're we're to this point now where we've been pushing for these policies for a number of years Medicare for all and whatnot Um feasibly what can be accomplished within a year? Let's say you're elected we increase the squad block a little bit larger And best case scenario we get a bernie sanders president Do you think it would be feasible to get something like medicare for all? You know past in that first year or medicare plus something else Like what do you think we can actually accomplish if we um strengthen that block in congress within like a year I think we can accomplish medicare for all in this cycle already Half of the democrats have said have signed on to medicare for all. I think medicare for all is Very feasible. Of course We've got the old establishment like nancy polosi pushing back on it, you know, essentially saying it'll never happen um And uh, I I fully disagree with that. I I think the uh, I think the understanding now About how dysfunctional our system in is not in just not delivering the health care that people have a right to Because health care is a human right But also all of the peripheral stuff that goes along with not getting health care the bankruptcies that come along with it Um, I you know, it's ridiculous that we are I don't know if you remember when syco was released michael moor released syco back in 2007 I I am a michael moor devotee and I and I held a house party And you know, we sat around watching that movie and we're stunned at how bad our health care system Served the american people compared to all these, you know, nationalized health care systems around the world So that that information has been on the table and it's been there for the american public to digest for You know close to 15 years now And I really believe that people are ready for it and the only resistance We're getting is from the people who stand to lose their profit from it and that's you know The bottom line is that is who our current current representation is Is standing up for and when I look at my opponent rick larson's uh, fec filings I see exactly why he's standing up or standing against Single-payer health care, uh, he has Hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions from the health care industry And he's not even the worst in terms of contributions from health care in washington state and he's he's far worse in other areas defense and Fossil fuels and the transportation industry. I mean bowing is big here in washington state and and he's he's really doing work for them But um, he's taken money from the health care industry And he is standing against medicare for all and pretty much that's what all of our democratic representation here in washington is doing I think people are ready ready for a change. Um, and I definitely think we can get it passed, uh, especially under bernie sanders presidency Um, and I also wanted to say that if bernie sanders does get the nomination, which is something i'm fighting hard for here in washington state Um, I I believe it makes the path for myself and all of the these other blocks of progressive candidates nationwide So much easier I would totally agree with that and I kind of wanted to touch on your campaign itself because this is grassroots funded Um, you are not like your opponent. He's bankrolled by all of the special interests But my question for you is what do you think it would take to make you competitive aside from like a bernie sanders nomination? I'm curious because joshua collins He said something that really made a lot of sense if you can raise like 10 of the funds That can really make you competitive and for me the what I what I kind of see this and feel free to correct me As is like this is about name recognition because everyone just kind of defaults to um rick larson because he's just he's the incumbent So we just vote for him, you know, he's been there for 20 years He's been there for 20 years So what do you think it would take in terms of boosting your name recognition? Because I truly believe that every single progressive and every single district would win if they got the name out to enough People so what what do you think is the best strategy for not just yourself? But progressives across the country in terms of getting that name recognition High end enough to defeat a very hugely funded, you know, a corporate backed candidate Well, one of the things one of the things you've got to do and this is where I feel like I have an advantage over a number Of other progressive candidates in that I have involved myself in the democratic party for the last four years Now I'm I'm a dsa member but I've been pushing progressive values in my local district in my county and statewide as part of the state committee so There are Five counties and nine legislative districts that overlap or or intersectional with my congressional district And I know most of the chairs of those parties I have the support of my own legislative district party chair and other county party chairs I mean they all know who I am they Sometimes they're hesitant to support me because I'm very edgy when it comes to To progressive politics and they're you know, they look at the state party and go, okay Have I support Jason? Am I going to get myself in trouble here? So they're walking a fine line, but the reality is a lot of them already support me And uh, they are going to be talking with their membership about my campaign. So that's one of the things So those local party endorsements are going to be Extremely helpful to me. I'm not going to get all of them, but I will get some of them And at that point I believe I will get the party resources that were denied to sarah smith back in 2018 Because one of the arguments for the state party was will sarah didn't have she didn't do the work to get any of the party endorsements That overlap congressional district nine where she was running So they denied her those resources. They're not going to be able to do that for me As far as funding goes grassroots. I think a lot of people sort of Who haven't donated to political campaigns before or not really sure how that works or not really sure Whether they are money is going to help and you know, grassroots campaigns are funded by small donations But the importance there is recurring donations $5 a month $10 a month. Um, I am I have already Got my campaign staff, uh unionized through the ibew We are the first campaign in washington. I'm not sure where the first campaign nationwide to do that with this new progressive block But I believe unionizing my campaign is very important. Um But the way we get those workers paid because that's how your campaign operates is is to is through those grassroots donations I'm not taking any corporate PAC money So if people go to my website, uh, it's call for congress f or not the number four call for congress.com There is a donate link there and just sign up to give me five bucks a month or give me 10 bucks a month or give me $27 a month if you can afford it. Um, and I know Contributing to bernie sanders is really important right now too, which is something that I do as well Um, but that's how it's run. It's not, you know, I I I want to take $200 from from this person Or $500 from that person. I want a thousand. I want 10 000 people To give me $5 a month if I can raise $50 000 a month that way from 10 000 people I have plenty of money to go up against the million dollars rick larson literally raises and spends a million dollars every cycle Even when he doesn't have a challenger So That's how it's done Yeah, that's really important to say that because I think that a lot of people they I think at times Rightfully so swear off, you know, the local party apparatus They try to subvert that system because they just kind of view it as corrupt and whatnot But really building those inroads that does matter and you know, I think it's important to really try to win over people In your area first to propel yourself and to kind of Protect yourself against any local shenanigans because like you alluded to. Um, yeah, sarah smith. She was disadvantaged I believe she talked about that on my show. She came on multiple times But yeah, you know, it's difficult because we're all trying to navigate a post Corporate money world whereas before it was just If you run for congress, you take corporate PAC money But now there's so many candidates who are not doing that and they're choosing to remain principal to prove to people that It's it's them who they're fighting for not these large multinational corporations So I think that you know, we're kind of learning more as we go along just collectively as a movement So I like to kind of pick the brains of everyone who's running because you all kind of have something really unique in terms of insight to contribute into how we can all be successful but I want to ask you this because Everyone who has followed your campaign and knows anything about you They know that you check all the progressive boxes like you're a dsa member So you're not just one of these centrist progressives Who likes to say you're progressive, but in actuality you're not so I mean you are If somebody watches the humanist report, they can rest assured that jason call will be someone who appeals to them But what's your issue that you think is kind of like your pet issue because every one candidate who I've spoken to They've kind of brought something something unique like one Really was focused on gun violence one medicare for all one climate change What's something that is really important to you aside from all the standard progressive things that we all kind of collectively support You know, it's it's kind of funny to say that because I I I really do fight for all of these issues Medicare for if I had if I had to say anything it would be some single payer health care I think it is the most important thing and I am a board member of the activist group whole washington and whole washington is The the volunteer fully volunteer donation group that is trying to get single payer on the ballot in in washington state And if people know how canada got there nationalized health care, it actually started in saskatchewan saskatchewan Developed a single payer health care program It was proven to work and then the other provinces in canada latched onto that and eventually it went Federal national for for canada. We are hoping in washington state to do exactly the same thing Now if we can get it at the federal level, that's great Then our work is done But if we can't get it at the federal level, we are going to put that As a ballot initiative again in washington to be on the ballot in 2020 so that we have a state single payer system that we can prove that it works because I fully believe that Public option I reject any notion of a public option because I believe a public option is is designed to kill single payer What a public option will do is it will take the neediest and the least able to Afford that care it will crash the system within a couple of years The system will be overburdened and underfunded and then the corporatists will be able to come in and say look Single payer doesn't work public option didn't work now. We're going to continue gouging you on health insurance premiums So that is that is the really fundamental reason that I think we've got to reject any public option and move straight to single payer So we can show that that works here in washington if it doesn't happen at the federal level That we're we're hoping then for a domino effect if we just can't get it straight up medicare for all federally So that is my biggest issue Aside from that climate change Is is huge for me. I'm I've been an environmental activist for a long time. Also on the state committee What's really nice is I get to get my fingers into all of these issues I've been writing resolutions. I wrote resolutions to reject the d triple c blackballing of vendors which pass I wrote the resolution to reject corporate PAC money from The health care industry and the pharmaceutical industry and it passed I uh My platform committee. I was the chair of my county platform committee back in 2018 and we wrote the reasonable firearms control Resolution which if you think of all the regulations that progressives would want on firearms We got them all into this resolution The only thing that we couldn't get in was an insurance requirement And the reason we couldn't get a share an insurance requirement is in is there's no insurance company that offers liability insurance for Homeowners and and their firearms and that right there should tell you that the insurance companies know how dangerous Firearms are they simply won't insure them So we didn't get that but but those are the things that I have been involved in so I know it's sort of the Standard this is the range of progressive issues, but I I think I've been On the front of fighting for quite a few of them housing justice My platform team created what is now on the books in washington state as the housing justice platform It didn't exist before my team brought it to the state platform So there are really so many things that It's it's hard for me to define one But if I picked my top two it would be medicare for all single payer whether at the state level or the federal level and The climate crisis. Yeah, I think you and I are simpatico right there And I love the way that you explain single payer and why we need to opt for that Instead of a public option because a public option. I think you're right It kind of has been this diversion tactic to well Let's try a public option and then graduate to medicare for all but we already know the way that you know these corporate funded Congress people will operate. They're of course going to Tell you how bad government run health care is once it's watered down and underfunded They did this with the VA, you know, um, and they use that as an example So, yeah, it's nice to really not just advocate for something but educate people I think that is something that is really lacking and you know, it's why I think it's important for us Each kind of have like our own pet issue Because if we really focus on the details and getting the facts right I think it really helps us not just in terms of legitimizing us But convincing people because if you have the knowledge and the facts and you know, somebody doesn't support it They can't really argue against it. If you know what you're talking about. So at this point, I think we're preaching through the choir I want to tell everyone who's watching um to go and support Jason call phenomenal candidate And even if you don't live in washington state if you live in oregon for example or wherever You can donate to him and even if you just have a dollar to spare that one dollar is Putting in, you know, just the small down payment into a future into a congressperson that can fight for you So i'll let you get the last word jason and make your last pitch Okay, um, so my website is call for congress.com. You can find me on facebook and twitter both at call for congress All of it is f or not the number four. Um, I uh, I'm open to anybody emailing me My personal email is jason at call for congress.com. You got questions. You want to talk about platform issues I'm willing to engage with people. Um, who who want to dig a little bit deeper into what i'm about I have a fully fleshed out issues on my website And you know, i'm running against a guy who has who has you know, raised and spent a million dollars in every cycle He takes he's taken almost two million dollars in his career from the defense industry From the fossil fuel industry from the transportation industry. He is doing their bidding He is not standing up for the people of washington state And I think they my tagline for my campaign is demand better So hashtag demand better and I think we can do a lot better than what's representing us right now All right, well, we'll leave that there jason call running in washington's second congressional district against rick larson Thank you so much for coming on jason. Appreciate it very much my catch you later