Maurice Mitchell

Well, today we're talking with one of the people leading that fight here in the US.

Maurice Mitchell is the national director of the Working Families Party.

He's also a longtime organizer and a leading figure in the movement for Black Lives.

In this episode, we discuss how Democrats lost working people, we dig into the tech oligarchs who are running the country now and what they actually believe, and we discuss why Maurice thinks this moment is the moment for real political transformation, both in the US and beyond.

And towards the end, we have a discussion about purity politics on the left that I really appreciate.

But before we dive in, a quick reminder that Better Future is an independent podcast, so if you like what we're doing, please become a paid subscriber on Substack.

All right, let's dive into this conversation with Maurice Mitchell.

Maurice, thank you for being here with me today.

Even self-described moderates chose moderate ideas only 8% of the time.

Election result after election result, poll after poll, suggests a majority in this country, across background, region, even ideology, that are decidedly disgusted with a decadent elite and political and corporate establishment that is making their lives harder and less affordable and isn't offering any relief at all or speaking to our aspirations, said Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party.

While in previous cycles, WFP has tended towards solid blue seats, this year it branched out into toss-up districts.

It has primarily backed candidates from the working class, like Villegas in California, alongside several with union backgrounds.

They are given a voice in setting the party's direction, ensuring it fits their conception of how to get reelected.

Sometimes they're simply used as an excuse.

When Democrats don't want to do something, they argue frontliners won't tolerate it, said Maurice Mitchell of the Working Families Party.

The answer is they're compromised by donors.