America’s Public Forum: Practical Politics for Political Minorities

Ever feel like your views are unpopular in the communities you inhabit? Ever have to get things done with people you disagree with, while being in the minority opinion on most things? Do you wonder how this works in the American political system, and how conservatives in liberal urban areas and liberals in conservative rural areas manage to navigate divides in a practical way? And what does all this have to do with names like James Madison, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Theodore Roosevelt, and other political thinkers in American history?

Join us for a very special edition of America’s Public Forum, where BA’s Publius Fellow for Public Discourse, Luke Nathan Phillips, will be joined by Elizabeth Doll—a conservative political consultant in Western Washington—and Michael Cooper—a candidate for Mayor of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina—for a wide-ranging and intimate conversation on practical politics as someone in the political minority.

Doll and Cooper have been in this situation in their careers, and can speak to the pressures it places and opportunities it offers for activists, candidates, and party groups, and the lessons it teaches about political realities that sometimes go unnoticed in our national media-driven politics. The conversation will cover their experiences in principles and compromise, ideals and practicality, the promise and limits of party politics, and for good measure we’ll discuss some of the political thought behind all this as well! We look forward to seeing you there.

This event is free and open to all. A recording will be available on Braver Angels’s YouTube channel a few days after the event.