Braver Angels

[Below is from Welcome Page of Braver Angels.]

Welcome

The Mission of Braver Angels:|
We bring Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic.

We welcome people with strong convictions and principles. We believe the best way to achieve a more perfect Union is by being forthright and transparent about our political leanings. In that spirit, we say to our fellow Americans, “Come with your convictions, your willingness to listen, and your readiness to talk with others who disagree with you.”

We also recognize that political beliefs are often complex. A person can belong to a party and not agree with that party’s positions on all issues or candidates. Similarly, one can belong to no party and yet have an overall leaning to the left or right. For instance, research shows that over a third of American voters are registered Independents. However, the vast majority of Independents say they still lean one way or the other: only 7 percent of American voters say they have no leaning either way (Pew 2019 report).

Braver Angels uses the terms “Red” and “Blue” to signify that a person may be inclined Red or Blue but not agree completely with that party’s candidates or positions on all issues.

We also recognize that some Americans don’t identify as leaning Red or Blue. We welcome those Others to join us in our mission of bringing together Red and Blue Americans to depolarize America.

In brief, here is the way we understand the terms Red, Blue, and Other.   

Red

Voters who lean conservative philosophically on most issues (or on some issues critical to them), or who tend to vote for Republicans

• A Red may or may not support Republicans, some Republican candidates, or all of the Republican party’s platform.
• A Red may lean liberal or moderate on some issues or candidates.
• A Red may belong to a third party such as the Libertarians, or no party.

Blue

Voters who lean liberal or progressive philosophically on most issues (or on some issues critical to them), or who tend to vote for Democrats

• A Blue may or may not support Democrats, some Democratic candidates, or the Democratic Party’s platform.
• A Blue may lean conservative or moderate on some issues or candidates.
• A Blue may belong to a third party such as the Greens, or no party.

Others

Voters who do not lean either Red or Blue

• An Other may be registered as a member of any political party or have no party affiliation.
• An Other may lean conservative on some issues or candidates and lean liberal on others.
• An Other can participate in all Braver Angels events (except the Red/Blue workshop where they are welcome as Observers).
• An Other can assume volunteer leadership positions within Braver Angels.
• An Other can become a moderator, organizer, debate chair, and Alliance member.
• An Other may assume a Red or Blue “color for a day,” or assume the Red or Blue color that matches their position on a Skills or Issue workshop, in order to participate that day.

[Below is recent email correspondence I've had with Braver Angels.]

From: Rob Shattuck <rdshatt@aol.com>
To: tbrown@braverangels.org <tbrown@braverangels.org>
Sent: Sun, May 1, 2022 4:56 pm
Subject: Re: Will you enter the arena?

Fair enough. Thank you, Theo.

Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: Theo Brown <tbrown@braverangels.org>
To: Rob Shattuck <rdshatt@aol.com>
Sent: Sun, May 1, 2022 3:42 pm
Subject: Re: Will you enter the arena?

Hello Rob,

I appreciate you sharing with me some of the advocacy you have done as well as your experiences trying to get on the ballot.  I can tell you are frustrated by some of what has happened and your inability to get more people supporting your campaign.  Running for office is very difficult and I share your concern that money has distorted our politics in some tragic ways.  Before working with Braver Angels, I spent many years working to try to reform our federal campaign finance system and, of course, things have only gotten worse over the past few decades in spite of many people's efforts.  I think it is important to continue to talk about the corrupting power of money in our politics and am sure you will do that on your blog and by other means.

As far as us talking is concerned, I don't think it makes sense to do that if what you are looking for is help getting signatures on a petition.  Our new Braver Politics initiative is focused on getting candidates, elected officials and their staff to identify ways they can fight polarization and help fix our broken system.  We do not work for or against specific candidates and can't give any type of assistance to further an individual's campaign.  Our sole focus is finding ways to help politicians and their staff to do a better job of increasing understanding and cooperation with those of different views.  

I wish you the best in your various efforts to educate people and perhaps also one day to stand again as a candidate.

Thank you,

Theo Brown

Alabama Coordinator

Braver Angels

On Sun, May 1, 2022 at 2:42 PM Rob Shattuck <rdshatt@aol.com> wrote:

Thank you very much for your prompt reply, Theo.

Let me give you the lay of the land, or the lay of my land, in Alabama, preparatory to any talking on the telephone by us this coming week.

I've got a lot of history, but I can be brief in giving you a good sense of what you would want to know.

In 2020 I made an attempt to get on the ballot as an independent candidate in the AL 6th Congressional district. This attempt is indicated at https://al6thcongdist-ihaveuntiljan13.blogspot.com/2020/02/32-days-until-march-3rd.html. My attempt got about zero interest, and I don't think I collected any signed ballot access petitions.

During the past two years, I have carried on in a voluminous way per my blog https://al6thcongdist-ihaveuntiljan13.blogspot.com/ and my Twitter account at https://twitter.com/RobShattuckAL06. 

Both before 2020 and during the past two years, I have made, or attempted, forays into numerous quarters in Alabama, including Republican and Democratic party organizations; the business, legal, medical and university academic communities; and reproductive rights and gunsense groups in Alabama. I think many in those quarters have gotten to know my name, but, focusing on 2020 and on 2022 now, basically no one has given me any encouragement to run for office or indicated any willingness to help me out in such an effort.

With no one encouraging me and no one indicating a willingness to help me out in a run for office, I have not put myself out in 2022 the way I did in 2020 (as indicated in link above) to try to get on the ballot as an independent candidate in the AL 6th Congressional district.

There are 23 days to go until the May 24th deadline for getting ballot access petitions signed in order to run as an independent candidate in the AL 6th Congressional district.

That would not be impossible to achieve, but it would take scores of helpers putting in a lot of effort during the next three weeks to get the needed ballot access petitions signed and submitted to the Alabama Secretary of State.

If, after reading this email and researching the links I have given you in this email, you remain interested in a phone conversation with me, let me know and we can plan for tomorrow morning.

Sincerely,

Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: Theo Brown <tbrown@braverangels.org>
To: Rob Shattuck <rdshatt@aol.com>
Sent: Sun, May 1, 2022 12:13 pm
Subject: Re: Will you enter the arena?

Hello Rob,

It is good to hear from you and I'd be glad to give you a call and talk about the Braver Politics initiative.  I'm pretty flexible this week so let me know a good time to call and we'll arrange a time to talk.  I look forward to learning more about you and your interests.

Thanks,

Theo Brown

Alabama Coordinator

Braver Angels

240 393-7246 cell

On Sun, May 1, 2022 at 11:16 AM 'Rob Shattuck' via AL State Coordinators <al-coordinators@braverangels.org> wrote:

Dear Theo Brown:

Can I have a telephone conversation with you about the below email?

My telephone number (landline) is 205-967-5586.

Thanks.

Rob Shattuck

-----Original Message-----
From: Ciaran O'Connor <media@braverangels.org>
To: rdshatt@aol.com
Sent: Sun, May 1, 2022 8:02 am
Subject: Will you enter the arena?

 Dear Rob,

As you may have heard, we officially launched our Braver Politics initiative this past week.

It's a national effort to build a movement of brave citizens and brave politicians working together to change our politics for the better.

Braver Angels already has a grassroots army that's nearly 11,000 members and 50,000 subscribers strong.

But Braver Politics will only succeed to the extent that we can get the political world involved.

So why would a candidate or elected official want to participate in Braver Politics?

For one, we offer practical, effective trainings for communicating across the divide with both colleagues and constituents. We can't tell you how many elected officials have expressed a desire to learn how to talk to angry, polarized colleagues and constituents, and we've already released a 40-minute e-course that's getting rave reviews.

For another, we'll be organizing town halls, neighbor conversations, and constituent meetings that give candidates and elected officials an opportunity to talk directly with voters in the Braver Angels Way, without the partisan rancor. We'll also be organizing candidate debates moderated by Braver Angels leaders—debates in which questions are sourced in advance from constituents and prioritized based on community sentiment to get beyond talking points and lead to deeper, constructive exchanges.

Finally, 2022 candidates who participate in Braver Politics will be officially recognized by Ballotpedia, the digital encyclopedia of American elections, on their candidates page. This is how voters will know they're "walking the walk" when it comes to working across the divide.

As U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) said, building out Braver Politics could be “one of the most extraordinary, fundamental prospective changes we could possibly make to the country.”

And as Jill Cook, Secretary of the Virginia GOP, exclaimed, “Braver Politics has the potential to transform the American political arena.”

Our programs are already taking sign-ups from candidates, elected officials, and their staff members all across the country. But we're just getting started, and that's where YOU come in.

Officials, candidates, and staff can sign up for Braver Politics at this link.

We're counting on you to get it in front of them—from local candidates for city council and school boards to county and state Democratic and GOP groups. If you want to help Braver Politics succeed, this is a great place to start.

Thank you for reading, and good luck in the arena!

Ciaran O'Connor
Chief Marketing Officer
Braver Angels