Like the Women’s March, the upcoming March for Science promises to be an energizing event, one that reminds the public that accurate information is critical to making good decisions. And it will show that scientists are as diverse, excited and passionate as any group in the nation. Still, just as with the Women’s March, that passion can’t be allowed to end on the National Mall. It has to be turned into a campaign, at every level, to improve the nation’s understanding and appreciation for science. Voters shouldn’t just assume that policies align with sound science; they should demand it.
314 Action is out to increase the knowledge of science in American government in the most direct way possible—by putting more scientists into political office. At every level, from the local school board to Congress and beyond, 314 Action is looking for citizen-scientists who can bring their drive to politics.
After all, these are people who have struggled with difficult, multi-pronged issues heads-down, intent on uncovering new knowledge. They know how to move beyond obstacles, make discoveries, find cures, and get answers that honestly change the world. We need people like that in office.
In interviews with 314 Action’s founder, Shaughnessy Naughton, and with board member Joe Trippi—the man who not only helmed the Howard Dean campaign, but revolutionized the whole idea of modern campaigning—Daily Kos applied its own science (call it journalismology) to discover what makes 314 Action different, and why they feel that we can reverse the entropy filling American politics with anti-science.
One big subject of discussion: Why the challenge isn’t just taking political seats away from Republicans, but convincing the Democratic Party that insider politics and stale ways of doing business are locking out a generation of supporters.
Shaughnessy Naughton is a chemist and entrepreneur who spent over a decade building up her own business and researching medical solutions before she decided to try her hand at running for office. However, her fight for office was halted at the primary stage, as one of the things she discovered was not just the shortage of scientific knowledge in political office, but the web of connections that makes it hard for any new candidate to “crash the gates.”
“We’re not going to win elections at 30,000 feet. We need to not just be in red states, we need to focus on red states. We need to be in districts where Democrats lost, because that’s where we can make the most difference.” —Shaughnessy Naughton
DK: The primary goal of 314 Action is giving scientists the training they need to be good political candidates, but is that all you’re doing?
Shaughnessy Naughton: 314 is also an advocacy group. We have an educational arm that’s just getting started, with a network of scientists across the country helping to spotlight how science impacts issues. Most people find science interesting. The problem is that the information just isn’t accessible. One of the most important things is to get people who are clear communicators and have them put science into terms that are both interesting and comprehensible.
DK: So part of 314 Action can be imagined as a “science translation service?”
Naughton: Translation and localization. We want that information in local papers. Local papers don’t have budgets to employ science writers. The more local we can make it, the more visible science is in communities across the nation, the more that’s going to help our cause. We need to be on the ground and visible.
DK: But the primary idea is to get people with a background in science running for office?
Naughton: Not just running, but to get them elected. To make the US more pro-science, we need politicians with a better understanding of science, and we need politicians who are going to support access to quality science education.
DK: And are there certain regions where …
Naughton: Everywhere. We’re not going to win elections at 30,000 feet. We need to not just be in red states, we need to focus on red states. We need to be in districts where Democrats lost, because that’s where we can make the most difference.
DK: And run candidates in those states?
Naughton: Absolutely. The populace is on our side. They agree with us on minimum wage, on women’s rights, on a whole host of issues. But somehow they vote for Republicans even though they are not for those issues. People aren’t voting on the issues. People want to vote for someone they believe. If we find people who really believe in why they are running, and are able to articulate that belief, we’ll win offices. In every state.
DK: How is the candidate search going?
Naughton: So far we have over 250 potential candidates who have signed up. I think we’ll have a lot more by Pi Day (March 14) when we’re having a workshop. We’re putting together state coordinators, looking for people. This isn’t just about federal races. State legislatures are a big target, a place where Democrats have to have greater success.
DK: In this cycle, it seems like those voters in red states wanted to listen to Trump.
Naughton: It’s sad, because what Trump is selling them is a past that’s not coming back. Look, it’s not just coal miners. Newspaper reporters would love to go back to writing for newspapers. Everyone would vote for the job they loved most to always be there, ready for them. That’s not going to happen. How do we bring back industry and jobs? By looking forward. By looking at the growing clean energy sector. By not just looking at current high tech jobs, but imagining the next generation of those jobs. Failing to invest in science and failing to plan, puts us further and further behind China, Germany, and others who are making those investments.
DK: And what are you going to do to get candidates ready?
Naughton: We’re going to help train them. That training is open at any level—school board, township supervisor, state legislature, Congress. We may also be able to support candidates financially, but that decision is still down the road. Right now we’re going to focus on how to put together a campaign and how to communicate with the general public. The Pi Day workshop, which will be streamed for those who can’t attend, will be the real start.
DK: And after the workshop?
Naughton: We’ll have candidates who know how to start a campaign, and also know that they have a community behind them. That will help them get past one of their first problems, which is a problem with the Democratic Party. When people try to get involved in the Democratic Party at their local level, even if they come in with a huge amount of enthusiasm, they often glaze over and leave.
DK: Because the Party still does things the way it did a hundred years ago.
Naughton: Exactly. You don’t keep people enthusiastic and involved by reading minutes of the last meeting, arguing Robert’s Rules of Order, and fighting over committee bylaws. Scientists are problem solvers, and this is one of those problems we need to address—how do we keep people who want to be involved encouraged and participating?
While Joe Trippi may be most familiar from his work with Howard Dean, he actually began his political career working for Ted Kennedy’s upstart campaign in 1980, and has worked on the campaigns of six presidential candidates. He was instrumental in bringing social media and online communities into campaigns, and now he’s on the board of 314 Action.
“In the last ten years, too much politics has been played with our science, but there’s not enough science in our politics.” —Joe Trippi
DK: Why science? How did this capture your attention?
Joe Trippi: I was actually an aeronautical engineering major in college. Coming out of college, I tried to decide “where can I make the biggest impact, science or politics?” I gravitated to politics.
DK: Where you’ve had a big impact.
Trippi: No. I made a mistake. It should have been science. The cell phone changed the world more than every politician I ever worked for put together.
DK: So now you’re doing politics and science together.
Trippi: That’s why the Dean campaign happened. It straddled new technology and politics. At the time, I was one of the few people who understood both the politics and the technical worlds enough to bring them together.
DK: How does 314 Action fit in?
Trippi: In the last ten years, too much politics has been played with our science, but there’s not enough science in our politics. We need to get more fact-based, science-based, STEM-based candidates. We need to end the “I’m not a scientist defense.” Because “I don’t know” should never be an excuse to do the wrong thing.
DK: So replace “I’m not a scientist” with “I am a scientist?”
Trippi: Right. Scientists are in the lab, studying something. They’re trying to make difference in the place where they think they can have the biggest impact. They’re trying to solve a problem, find a cure. They’re not generally inclined to spend the time it takes to explain what they’re doing to people who don’t understand their field. But it’s critical that they do. 314 Action provides training, gives them a platform, provides a support network.
DK: What’s the next solution inside politics?
Trippi: Existing connections, old-style party politics, are breaking down. Dean didn’t have an existing platform and network of support that was already there. We made it. 314 provides structure, organization, helps get people get past the established candidates. Gives contacts to people with experience, and with other candidates facing the same problems.
DK: Is there going to be a 50 state strategy for science?
Trippi: A 50 state strategy inside and outside the party. One of the big mistakes the Democratic Party made after Dean left the chairmanship was to go back to dealing with just a few states. The Comey letter, everything else, add up, but if we had organized everywhere it wouldn’t have mattered. It has to be a 50 state strategy if we’re going to put 100 scientists in the House.
314Action.org is up and running. They’re looking for volunteers and potential candidates both among those with a background in science and those who respect the need for accurate science in policies.