A lifelong Democrat and a lifelong Republican will talk about building trust and finding common ground, as guests on Jill Cody’s “Be Bold America” radio program beginning at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 19, on KSQD 90.7 FM. The program will live-stream online on ksqd.org
Her guests will be Kristen Collishaw, who chairs the Santa Cruz County Republican Party, and Andrew Hanauer, president and CEO of the “One America Movement,” an organization founded by faith and community leaders to address divisiveness in American society. Hanauer will explain the neuroscience behind why Americans are divided and moderate the discussion.
Kristen Collishaw
“Are we destroying ourselves?” Cody asks. “Our democratic republic is not sustainable when one American is demonized against another. There are powerful political, religious, corporate, and ideological forces that increase their money and power from the conflict, and it is not the average citizen.
“This show will be the first of several discussions between a lifelong Republican and a lifelong Democrat who share at least one paramount viewpoint, which is that our democracy will not survive if we don’t stop tearing ourselves apart from the inside out.
We are embroiled in multiple crises that demand all of us, no matter what political party, to solve. Our goal is to model how two people, with different points of view, might be able to bridge the political divide to reimagine unity.”
Andrew Hanauer
Collishaw has lived in Santa Cruz County for 18 years where she and her husband raised three children. She was brought up in a household where politics and local issues were often discussed, and differing opinions encouraged and respected.
Knowing that understanding both sides of an issue were important for a successful country, kept the conversations lively and interesting. A strong belief in America and all the opportunities that are part of this country have led her to be a lifelong conservative.
Under Hanauer’s leadership, One America has launched projects that bring Americans together across religious, racial, and political divides to address race relations, opioids, poverty and homelessness through One America chapters across the country.