AMY GOODMAN: And you’re listening to Democracy Now! Well, we’re joined right now by someone from another state that is having a primary today. In 1990, the good people of Maine’s 1st District, which includes Kennebunkport, George Bush’s vacation home, sent Tom Andrews to the House of Representatives to fulfill his campaign pledges: spending tax dollars wisely, keeping Maine’s environment safe and clean, working for equal opportunity. And interestingly, the 1st District includes many voters whose livelihood depends on defense contracts. The Bath Iron Works, the Brunswick Naval Air Station, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard were all part of Andrews’ district. And he went to Washington saying he would be cutting defense spending. Now, that is pretty brave. Well, ultimately, he went for a Senate seat. He lost to Republican Olympia Snowe, who is the senator for Maine now. And he is currently the head of People for the American Way.

And we want to welcome you to Democracy Now!, Tom Andrews.

THOMAS ANDREWS: Amy, thank you. It’s nice to be here.

AMY GOODMAN: Now, People for the American Way tracks the right. Maybe you can give us just a quick description of People for the American Way. And then we’ll talk briefly about your home state, Maine.

THOMAS ANDREWS: Well, Amy, People for the American Way is a citizen organization, membership-based. We have 300,000 members from one end of the country to the other. We believe in basic principles and values that are under attack by the extreme right — _E Pluribus Unum_, for example, “out of many, one,” that America’s diversity is America’s strength, and not only should we accept and respect our diversity, but celebrate our diversity and come together as one. We believe in the basic idea that no one should be guaranteed success in America, but that everyone should be guaranteed the opportunity to succeed. And that includes children that need programs that are under attack by the right, such as the Head Start program or School Breakfast Program or working families’ ability to send their kids to college, depending upon college loans and grants. We believe in freedom, the idea that people should be free to speak, that what you take out of a public library should not be based upon an ideological censor but based upon your own judgment, the idea that we are not a Christian nation, we’re not a Jewish nation, we’re not a Muslim nation or a Buddhist nation, we are a free nation, and everyone should be free to practice their religion on the basis of their own conscience and spirituality, and not upon the dictates or direction of a government or a school system. So, those are some of the basic ideals and values that we’re fighting very hard to protect and promote.

AMY GOODMAN: Speaking of religion, in just a little while, we’re going to be going down to Mississippi to speak with Lisa Herdahl, who is in court today to fight for her belief that her six children should not be praying in school. This is a case People for the American Way is quite involved with. On the issue of what you’re doing about this, about your beliefs, People for the American Way, what does it mean to say you’re tracking the right? And what is your assessment right now of the Republican primaries and who’s running?

THOMAS ANDREWS: We launched a program, Amy, back a few months ago in Iowa called Expose the Right. And the basic idea was that Americans really don’t understand, to the extent that they should, what this right-wing agenda is and what it will mean for America if they are successful. Much of the coverage that you hear and see about these primaries and caucuses are like you’re following a sports contest or a horse race — who’s up, who’s down, who jabbed, who ducked — and you’re not hearing what this all means, what it all adds up to. There really is very little choice for moderate, pro-choice — in fact, there’s no choice for a moderate, pro-choice Republican in these caucuses and primaries, for example. I mean, if you believe in — well, if you looked back for a few months here and you saw the news conference that these right-wing leaders had four days before General Colin Powell dropped out of the race, they said there’s no place in the Republican primary presidential process for someone who has the moderate views of a General Powell on things like affirmative action or a woman’s right to choose. Just you need not apply if you have those views. And what’s happened is, is that you have this entire field racing to the right, trying to outdo one another to gain the favor of very extreme right-wing groups. What we’ve been doing, in fact, in Iowa, New Hampshire, at every single political event of every major presidential candidate, we were there asking questions and asking them to take positions on this extreme right-wing agenda and what it means for Americans.

AMY GOODMAN: I remember in New Hampshire, one of your Expose the Right campaigners asked Lamar Alexander if he would consider Pat Robertson as a running mate, and he said yes.

THOMAS ANDREWS: That’s — he said that, “Well, I would consider someone who I respected, who I liked and whose views are like my own.” And then he said, “Yes, therefore, I would consider Pat Robertson.”

AMY GOODMAN: What about Pat Buchanan? I mean, we know what his views are, and he very much has been marginalized by the Republican establishment. They want to make him look like an extremist. And an extremist, he may be, but how much more extreme is he than, for example, Bob Dole?

THOMAS ANDREWS: Very little. The fact of the matter is that Pat Buchanan exposes what’s happening in these primaries and caucuses for the reality that it is. These are candidates with extreme views. I mean, if you ask most Americans about something like an issue like choice, for example, most Americans believe in respecting a woman’s right to choose. Well, you have no place to go in this primary. In fact, we asked people if they would support the Republican platform, or at least stand up and try to change the Republican platform, that says that even a victim of rape should not have the choice of whether to carry a pregnancy to term, and everybody kind of headed for the hills with respect to that.

Let’s take Lamar Alexander, who has been promoted as someone who is the moderate alternative to a Bob Dole. Give me a break. I mean, here you have a man who wants to abolish even the basic safety net, social safety net, that even Ronald Reagan supported. Here’s someone who told us on the campaign trail that he would repeal the Brady Bill. This is a law that has the support of over 90% of the American people. And as president of the United States, the so-called moderate would repeal it. So, the fact of the matter is that there is very little place to go for moderates and pro-choice people and people that have a more moderate point of view in this race.

AMY GOODMAN: Bob Dole at the Christian Coalition rallies he’s been to, can you describe what they’ve been like?

THOMAS ANDREWS: Well, they are called “God and country” rallies, and they’re used as techniques for the right wing, the Christian Coalition, organizing tools to bring out their faithful, strut their stuff, flex their muscles and show what they can do. And let me tell you, Amy, they are very sophisticated. They’re very hard-working. I have a lot of respect for them. They really do bring people to the polls and squeeze every ounce of support they have into this process. The key to their success is the idea that most of the rest of us are going to be asleep at the switch, we’re not going to be participating in these things. And so they’re able to be very successful. Bob Dole shows up to these rallies, holds up the Christian Coalition scorecard, proclaims that he scores perfectly right down the line and that he will walk right alongside of them in perfect harmony as president of the United States.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, some say, “Well, you have to pander during the primaries to the right flank of your party.” What do you think? Do you think Bob Dole will shift from that, or that that really does determine his agenda and that has been his voting record in Congress?

THOMAS ANDREWS: Well, he’s claiming that this is who he is. He’s pointing to his record. He says that he truly is someone who believes in and will support and has supported the agenda of religious political extremists. There’s every reason to believe that when he is in office, he will follow suit. So, I think anyone who’s hoping that this is just a chameleon, politics-as-usual technique — he’s going to say one thing to the right and then do something else when he’s elected to office — I think that that’s wishful thinking.

AMY GOODMAN: People can just look at his record, I guess. He’s certainly got a long record.

THOMAS ANDREWS: That’s exactly right.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Tom Andrews, who is a former congressman from Maine and now is heading up People for the American Way. We’re going to go to a break and then come back. But I do have to ask — People for the American Way has been around as long as the Christian Coalition. And when we come back, I’m going to ask you why it is you think the Christian Coalition has become so powerful, if, as you believe, the majority of people in this country support your kind of views. That’s all coming up, as well as Lisa Herdahl, who will be talking to us about her battle in Mississippi, and then we’ll be going to John Stauber, who is author of a book, Toxic Sludge Is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Public Relations Industry. We’re going to find out about PR and presidential politics, all coming up on Democracy Now!

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AMY GOODMAN: You’re listening to Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman. Democracy Now! is Pacifica’s national daily grassroots election show. And we urge listeners who are enjoying the show to tell their friends about it, in other states where it’s not being heard, to call their community or public radio stations to tell them to run Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now!

We’re joined in the studio by Tom Andrews, who is a former congressman from Maine and is now heading up People for the American Way, which is tracking the right in this campaign, not only in this campaign, but that is its mission, founded by Norman Lear. And we’re joined on the telephone right now by Lisa Herdahl, who is a mother in Mississippi, a mother of six children, who believes that they shouldn’t be forced to pray in school. But before we go to Lisa, I did want to follow up on that question, Congressman Andrews, and that is the question of why the Christian Coalition has gotten as strong as it has, been around as long as People for the American Way. Why hasn’t People for the American Way fared so well, if you’re about building a movement?

THOMAS ANDREWS: First of all, Amy, as I said before, you have to give them a lot of credit for the hard work and organizing that they’ve done. I mean, basically, they have stolen a page from those of us who are progressive. They looked at the great success that we’ve had in the past organizing people, bringing them to the polls, getting them active. And that’s exactly what they’re doing. The basic theory is, is that they may only have a minority view — that is, only a minority of Americans believe in what they believe in — but if 100% of their minority goes to the polls, and most of the rest of us are asleep and not showing up, they’re going to win. And that’s exactly what they’ve done. The challenge for us is pretty simple. We have to feel the same kind of passion and commitment for our values and our point of view as they do for theirs. And then we have to translate that into organizing. That’s what People for the American Way is now doing. That’s what Expose the Right is all about. That’s what our other activities around the country are all about. We need to build a progressive grassroots movement to take these people on.