Episode 240: Patrick Harris, outgoing Chair of the National Committee of the American Solidarity Party (July 27, 2022)

Welcome to The Open Door! This week (Wednesday, July 27th) we return to a discussion of the American Solidarity Party, our political home. We’ve been called “the Party that reads the encyclicals.” We surely strive to read the signs of the times. Already the 2022 elections are close at hand. Can 2024 be far behind? Joining us will be Patrick Harris. He’s just finished his term as the Chair of our National Committee. Among the questions we’ll ask are the following. 1. Patrick, if we may, could you begin by telling us a bit about your background and your young family? 2. Some say that the Party is top-heavy with academics. Is it a fair charge? 3. Reviewing your experiences as Chair, what successes do you see? What challenges? 4. How can the Party make new friends and influence elections? 5. What do you make of the conundrum that the Party will never succeed unless it uses the methods of the major parties but if, by doing so, it succeeds then it will lose its soul? 6. The Party is in the great tradition of Christian Democracy. Does it also have links with contemporary third parties abroad? What about England’s Social Democrat Party? 7. The Party is resolutely pro-life for the whole of life. But how can it make its distinctive economic policies better known and understood? 8. What distinctive family friendly policies do you advocate? 9. Do politics and theology mix? 10. What books are you reading?