A Post Citizens United World: This week's podcast, with Jamie Eldridge

State Senator Jamie Eldridge has long been one of our favorite guests on LeftAhead, but it's been a while since we've last had him on and were very excited when he quickly agreed to jump on the show and talk about what's really become one of the the most important issues facing us today: how do we live in a post-Citizens United world?

It's a difficult topic to address. There's the drastic implications of the Citizens United decision itself, as well as the conservative/corporate-loving bent of our courts to deal with -- courts in which things could get worse before they get better.

There's also the power of the special interests who have ample money and resources available to thwart even that which can still be done in a post-Citizens United world today.

The game seems rigged against us, yet the question becomes are we going to sit here and take it?

There's a reason why many in the progressive left of this state admire and respect Jamie Eldridge above and beyond many others -- and what he has to say on this podcast reflects so many of them. He knows how to mix progressive with pragmatic, having a political style that speaks to our aspirations while not letting perfection become the enemy of the good. He understands the really important issues that are going on and has an almost Elizabeth-Warren-like ability to talk about them in ways that anyone can understand and get behind. Most importantly, though, he's not afraid to get behind the really difficult issues, the issues that require real courage and leadership to tackle -- and anything meant to realistically challenge the implications of a post-Citizens United world today falls under that category.

Senator Eldridge really speaks to the fact that you can run as a proud democrat, one who's not scared of their own core convictions, and win in districts that have little in common with Cambridge, Brookline, Amherst or Somerville -- not in spite of your beliefs, but because of them.

I strongly recommend listening in on the podcast -- it was the sort of show that flew by so quickly, I wished our format allowed us more time. Alas.

As always, you can get the show on LeftAhead, BlogTalkRadio.com/lefties, iTunes, or on the BlogTalkRadio audio player to the right.

Finally, as an announcement, we're having a special Thursday morning edition of LeftAhead tomorrow, featuring special guest Ayanna Pressley. It's probably been an election cycle since we've last had her on and the Boston City Council city-wide seat is very competitive this year, so it should be a good show.