Now that the electoral cycle is nearly continuous on click-baiting “news” websites and cable television, genuine analysis of our presidential races is more precious than ever. The Contenders is an irreverent gem from 2008, which cut through the fluff to give insight into each Democratic candidate in what turned out to be a historic election season.
Featuring:
Laura Flanders on Hillary Clinton
Richard Goldstein on Barack Obama
Dean Kuipers on Al Gore
James Ridgeway on Edwards, Dodd, Biden and Gravel
and Dan Savage (with Eli Sanders) on Dennis Kucinich
Dan Savage is the author of the internationally syndicated sex column “Savage Love” and the editor of the Stranger, Seattle’s weekly newspaper.
DEAN KUIPERS is the managing editor of CityBeat, the alternative weekly of Los Angeles, contributor to The Contenders, and the author of Burning Rainbow Farm: How a Stoner Utopia Went Up in Smoke.
Eli Sanders is the senior staff writer for the Stranger, Seattle's weekly newspaper.
Currently a Soros Justice Media Fellow, James Ridgeway helped usher in a new age of muckraking when he revealed, in 1965, that General Motors had hired agents to spy on a consumer reporter by the name of Ralph Nader. Since then he has written columns for Harper’s, the Economist, the Nation, and others, as well as over a dozen books on political issues ranging from crisis in Haiti to the Klu Klux Klan. He served for many years as the Washington correspondent for the Village Voice. Ridgeway lives in Washington, D.C.
LAURA FLANDERS is the host of RadioNation on Air America Radio and contributor to The Contenders. She is the author of Blue Grit: Democrats Take Back Politics from the Politicians and Bushwomen: How They Won the White House for Their Men.
RICHARD GOLDSTEIN writes regularly for the Nation. He is the author of Homocons: The Rise of the Gay Rightand contributor to The Contenders.
