Lighting a Fire Under Dems

I spent the weekend in New Orleans, home of jazz and jambalaya, and this year, the location of the 20th annual Netroots Nation conference, the largest yearly gathering of progressives in the nation. As part of a small crew with Free Speech TV, I spent 3 days interviewing activists, change makers and liberal politicians about the uniquely dangerous moment we are currently in.

I was surprised at how many party politicians and stalwarts were present and available for interviews. On the one hand, I was thrilled at the access– often it's impossible even for left journalists to pin them down for interviews (Scroll down to watch all the FSTV interviews I did).

On the other hand, I was disturbed at how Democratic politicians felt comfortable giving interviews at a time when their party has betrayed its voters and values. (An April 2025 Pew Research poll found that Democrats have a paltry 38% approval rating, compared to the GOP's 43%.)

And then, sitting through a panel about podcasting and independent media, I realized why this was the case. The rise of influencers, particularly progressive/left ones, has politicians feeling comfortable offering themselves up for "interviews." Politicians love influencers with big followings and influencers love people willing to pay to feature them in feeds. I understand influencers need to charge for posts in order to make money–that is their business model. But they cannot and should not be a substitute for journalists.

Not being held accountable by the press has, in part, led to the Democrats failing to garner enough political support. Democracy depends on solid, independent journalism that aggressively questions politicians, especially those professing to be pro-social justice but who act in the interests of billionaires and genocidal autocrats.

"A lot of people think the party has been bought [by Wall Street]," I contended to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in our conversation. Ellison is among a minority of progressive stalwarts in the Democratic Party.

"Well, those people are, I think, overly cynical," Ellison countered.

Um, no. They rightfully refuse to have faith in a party that keeps letting them down.

I let Ellison continue, and he made the claim that "there's tremendous pressure to raise money." When I interrupted saying, "raising money is not a strategy," AG Ellison accused me of not letting him finish his sentences.

As someone who see the legacy media (CNN, CBS, NYT, etc) as enabling fascism and white supremacy in the same way that the Democratic Party has, I see how comfortable and righteous liberal politicians are when facing the press. Netroots Nation 2025 was yet another reminder of the tremendous importance of independent journalists - especially those of us who are operating in the vacuum of defunded public media.

I also had the chance to speak with important activist leaders including Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, Analilia Mejia, Elaine Brown, and Adela de la Torre.

And, I interviewed various union leaders including AFT president Randi Weingarten, AFGE President Everett Kelley, and SEIU California President David Huerta, who was only just cleared for interviews after being arrested by ICE agents in Los Angeles in June. Huerta's conversation will air on Rising Up With Sonali this week alongside several other Netroots interviews.

My colleague and compatriot, Max Alvarez of The Real News Network generously helped acquire the opportunity with Huerta. Alvarez was one of several indie journalists I reconnected with, alongside Amy Goodman, Jasiri X, and Nathan Robinson. I truly believe that independent journalists, especially those actively holding power accountable, need to lift one another up, share resources, amplify each other's work and voices, and stop falling into the capitalist trap of competitiveness.

Also at Netroots, I announced my new collaborative project with Free Speech TV, a weekly half-hour program we're calling Rising Up For Justice: Conversations with Change Makers. The idea is to delve into how organizers are creating change through their social justice organizations. This new show will complement the existing show, Rising Up With Sonali and I am so excited to bring you this new bonus episode every week.

Please tune in to the debut of Rising Up for Justice on Free Speech TV on Monday Aug 25 at 2:30 PST/5:30 EST.

And now... here are most of the video interviews I did at Netroots Nation. ENJOY!