Today we were able to speak with Leslie Danks Burke.
She is a public advocate and the Founder and President of  TRAILBLAZERS PAC :  a political action committee dedicated to finding and supporting candidates for local political office beyond typical party ideology and structure.
Based in Horseheads, NY, Leslie's goal is to improve the quality of candidates and the political discourse in this country, one municipality at a time. 
Their mission statement states: "Trailblazers PAC reconnects citizens with democracy by moving politics out of the back room and onto the front porch. We educate candidates on building an honest donor relationship with their own voters. We invest in candidates for local office who take action for clean government."
She is here to help us

make sense of the current political environment,
its impact on the current political apparatus, and
the direction of grass root campaigns going forward

QUESTIONS 
Background

Where are you located?
Work Background
Interest in politics

Frustrations with the System

Consensus between parties being thwarted
Quality candidates scared off by a poor process
Lack of new ideas / good ideas thwarted
Entrenched interests
Impact of money

Issues

The Impact of Trump on the Political Industrial Complex
Big gov’t v. small gov't
Changes in the media and distortions in “story distribution"
Gerrymandering / obstructionist voting laws and other distortions
Lobbying interests
Schisms in voters along income, education and cultural fault lines
The pull of better economics (and weather!) in other states
How do you establish consensus-common ground

The Opportunities for Positive Change

What does Trailblazers seek to do?
What type of races are interesting
What geography?
Is there an ideology?
Improving candidate quality/interparty dialogue?
Predictions for the future

How do we keep track of your progress?
TRAILBLAZERSPAC.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/TRAILBLAZERSPAC 
@TRAILBLAZERSPAC
@LDANKSBURKE