The Filibuster for Democracy
The Premise
We had sixty-five elections (of varying quality) across the globe last year. Who is keeping track? I am. I worked in almost twenty of those elections across four continents. I share the frustration of those concerned with our failing record against the natavist right. In all the breathless discussion of which new tactics to mimic or adopt, the greatest danger could be in overcorrection.
Traditional media, academia, many institutions are going so far as to hire and fire based on new paradigms that are not borne out by date or vibe. When we look at political tactics and elections, the forces of Democracy are failing not because they aren't adopting new tactics quickly enough, it's because they aren't even employing the older ones correctly.
That can be hard, especially when trapped inside the electoral cycles of any particular nation.
The Filibuster For Democracy tries to rise above that limitation by distilling the best tactics, messages, and content that have *worked* worldwide, and putting them into a frame that is usable by practical for progressive forces. A filibuster because we have to take the time to get this right. There is so much we already know, but to put it into context takes time.
I hope people can join us for any portion of the event and we will also annotate the recording to make it useful as a reference
Arun Chaudhary is a filmmaker working in politics. After being a key member of Barack Obama's New Media team during the 2008 campaign, he became the first Official White House Videographer, a position created for him at the beginning of the Obama administration. Chaudhary traveled extensively with the President, capturing public events and behind-the-scenes moments as well as producing and packaging presidential tapings for the Internet and broadcast television. He and his team set a new standard in documenting history, delivering crucial images to the public from the road in real-time. Arun is the creator and architect of "West Wing Week", the first-ever online video diary of the White House. You can read about Arun’s time with Obama in this New York Times profile.
After departing from the White House, Chaudhary joined Revolution Messaging as a partner, where he went on to help craft Senator Bernie Sanders’ game changing 2016 Presidential campaign as Creative Director. Arun’s work received extensive media coverage and praise, including this Ozy profile, “The Creative Genius Behind Bernie’s Revolution”, and this New Yorker piece, “How the Sanders’ Campaign got a Punk Sensibility”.
in 2020, Arun moved to Berlin with his family to focus on counter-programming the far-right globally and to work more closely in international elections/campaigns.
