Pro Politics with Zac McCrary

Faiz Shakir on Bernie Sanders' 2020 & Working from the Inside & Outside

May 18, 2021 Zac McCrary
Pro Politics with Zac McCrary
Faiz Shakir on Bernie Sanders' 2020 & Working from the Inside & Outside
Show Notes

Faiz Shakir, manager of the 2020 Bernie Sanders' campaign, has worked from the inside (Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid) and the outside (Bernie, the ACLU) to advance the causes in which he believes. Faiz has one of the most versatile and unique resumes in politics. But beyond his professional experience, he has a uniquely American story as a Muslim-American child of Pakistani immigrants who spent his childhood bouncing across Florida before baseball served as his path to Harvard University.

Podcast Website
Twitter: @ProPoliticsPod
Twitter: @ZacMcCrary
Facebook: The Pro Politics Podcast

IN THIS EPISODE

The formative role of baseball in Faiz’s early life…lessons that endure today…

The Harvard Institute of Politics gives Faiz some professional direction…

9/11 is an inflection point in Faiz’s worldview…

The early lessons that Faiz learns working for Senator Bob Graham…

Faiz embeds at the Center for American Progress during CAP’s early days…

Which prominent figured married Faiz and his wife?

Faiz works for Nancy Pelosi and heads up the social media operation for House Democrats…

Faiz’s leap of faith to work for Harry Reid in the Senate for 4+ years…

The first question Harry Reid would ask in every meeting…

Faiz’s role as Political Director of the ACLU at a transformative time…

How Faiz takes the helm of the Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign…

Faiz breaks out his best Bernie impression…

Why Faiz says being a campaign manager has to be “lonely at the top”…

What Faiz learned about running a $200M, 1100-person campaign…

The elements of the Sanders’ campaign of which Faiz is most proud of…

Faiz gives inside scoop on the Bernie-is-Back / AOC rally...

Faiz’s take on the “ideological lanes” theory of the Democratic primary race…

Three Sanders’ strategic decisions Faiz would want to handle differently…

The one question Faiz believes the primary revolved around…

Faiz's advice to the next generation of operatives and activists…


AND Lamar Alexander, John Boehner, Tom Brokaw, Pete Buttigieg, Fidel Castro, Anderson Cooper, Ted Cruz, Tom Dooley, Dianne Feinstein, Adele Graham, Bob Graham, Peter Jennings, Amy Klobuchar, Mitch McConnell, More Perfect Union, Brad Parscale, John Podesta, Ari Rabin-Havt, Dan Rather, Bill Richardson, Jane Sanders, ThinkProgress, the Wal-Mart shareholders meeting, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Weaver, wikileaks … and more!

Podcast Website
Twitter: @ProPoliticsPod
Twitter: @ZacMcCrary
Facebook: The Pro Politics Podcast