Joshua Segall for Congress

by Chris Hayes

31
Supporters 3,900
Raised $
 

I’ve had the good fortune to know Joshua Segall since we were both 19 years old, and I can hardly think of someone who I’d rather have representing me in Congress. Josh is a person of tremendous integrity, intelligence and philosophical depth. He is a strong Democrat who will work hard to bring jobs back to the third district of Alabama and to help set American foreign policy on a new course.

Most importantly, though, Josh possesses the three most vital attributes for a politician and a legislator:

1) He listens. Josh is one of the most avid listeners I know. He is indefatigably curious and open to seeing the world in new ways. What voters need out of their elected representatives is not someone who grandstands, or unthinkingly listens to his own party bosses, or corporate donors, but someone who actually listens to the people he represents. This is a rarer trait than it should be, but I’ve known Josh long and well enough to know that as a congressman his door will always be open and not just to those with the money to get a hearing.

2) He believes in politics. Josh’s faith in democracy, in the ability of ordinary people to demand their leaders do what’s in the pubic interest, is both inspiring and, frankly, infectious. For too many years, voters (particularly in Republican districts) have been forced to send people to work in government who don’t actually believe in government’s ability to get anything done or do the right thing. But while Josh is no naive idealist, he does have a firm grasp on the ways in which good, effective governance can make a big difference in lives of ordinary people.

3) He has strong principles and is willing to fight for them. While Josh isn’t doctrinaire, he knows what he believes in: that working families deserve a fair shake, that government is meant to serve the needs of the middle class and those struggling to get into the middle class, and that American foreign policy cannot continue on the course it is on. He’s wise enough to know that moving America in a better direction will sometimes require compromise, but sometimes require a fight. I trust him to be dogged and resolute.

Josh is a strong Democrat, running in a district in Alabama currently held by weak incumbent Republican. It’s an uphill battle, but in 2004, John Kerry only lost the district by ten percentage points. Incumbent Mike Rogers has proven himself entirely beholden to a Republican agenda that hasn’t delivered anything but economic stagnation for Alabama’s third district. Josh may be young, but he’s been working in politics since I met him eleven years ago, on Capitol Hill and on campaigns from Texas to Virginia to, of course, his home state of Alabama.

I’ll be perfectly honest and say that Josh’s politics aren’t my own. But heck, I’m probably too far left to garner the Green Party nomination in Alabama. Josh is a common sense Democrat and he can win. I’ll be donating heavily to his campaign this cycle, and I urge you to do the same.