Graham Platner asserts that campaigning should focus on community-level organizing rather than following the direction of party leadership.

“But what we're not going to take is like frankly direction or advice on what we're doing because we just what we've built is ours and we have we have 15,000 active volunteers in the state of Maine and we have more signing up every single day.”

The candidate argues that successfully challenging the political establishment requires a strong, direct-to-voter field operation and that grassroots donor support is an important metric of legitimacy

“I think there is an element of when you run a grassroots campaign, getting that grassroots donor support is a way of showing that you have support, and that probably would have been a maybe would have been a better route to go.”

The abandonment of traditional face-to-face campaigning would be a negative development for the country.

“I think the death of retail politics would be a terrible thing for the country and bad for Nostalgia chasing political hacks like me who know that the early states are the best part of the campaign”

He maintains that it is an effective tactic for candidates to physically travel to neglected areas to reach voters.

“They'll do everything but go to those areas physically. Hold so I'm not knocking that. That was genius. He spent years going to these random areas. And these people felt very ignored, which they are. Cuz they don't have money. No one cares about them. And yeah, he's like, hey, I I care about you.”

The DNC must shift resources away from status quo consultants and towards direct investment in local organizing and under-resourced states.

“I'm the only candidate, for example, out there saying very forcefully that if elected, I'm going to let every single vendor contract expire, no auto renewals, and for those services we need, we'll competitively rebid those contracts.”

Curtis Sliwa rejects the influence of billionaires and PAC money in the New York mayoral race, maintaining that his candidacy represents the interests of working-class people.

“Let the people decide. I trust people. I don't trust billionaires. I don't trust the professional political class. They are not going to choose the mayor. Let the people decide.”

He believes candidates should focus on ideological goals like removing corporate influence from politics rather than being swayed by special interest spending.

“We ran a campaign on ideas and ideals. I said something in the time folks mostly ready to hear which that Donald Trump himself is not the disease of our politics. He's just the worst symptom of the disease of our politics. Corporations and special interests buy and sell politicians”

She believes that the current state of political campaigning and the influence of money has made elections bought by interest groups.

“it tells you that uh our elections are bought and if you don't play nice with the Israel lobby, they'll do whatever it takes to crush you.”

Nida Allam claims that she is the only candidate in her congressional race who refuses to accept funding from corporate special interests like the pharmaceutical and private hospital lobby.

“A 100 million Americans are in over 200 billion dollars of medical debt. And yet I am the only candidate in this race who refuses to take money from the pharmaceutical and private hospital lobby.”

Hartzell Gray maintains that candidates should be unapologetically committed to serving the working class rather than acting as resume builders for establishment political interests.

“This is not a campaign that's an intellectual exercise. This is not a resume boost. This is the urgency of now that MLK talks about, right? This is Frederick Douglas saying, "We need the fire. We need the earthquake. We need the whirlwind."”

Politics in Iowa and nationally should move toward a model where leaders are evaluated on their authenticity and willingness to challenge party orthodoxy rather than strict party affiliation.

“I think the bottom line for this for a lot of people is we think oftentimes we're forced and pushed to think in terms of Democrats versus Republicans. There are many people in the state of Iowa and nationally, but I think particular in the state of Iowa that actually look at politics and they're lik”

Candidates must take personal responsibility for their platform and stand on their own convictions rather than blaming interest groups.

“It is your job to stand on your own two feet and say that's not what I believe. So, if if if ACLU says, "Oh, that you should say this." I say, "With all due respect, no. I disagree with you. Thank you for your position." I I put more of the onus on Kamala Harris than I do ACLU making an advocacy pos”

Candidates should stop filling out questionnaires from interest groups as it boxes them into politically unfavorable and unnecessary positions.

“I feel like there's no reason people need to fill out questionnaires. Questionnaires are like the devil and I'm sorry for people who work for groups, but I just think that they are boxing candidates into things that are unnecessary.”

It is essential for politicians to be honest and relatable to the community to truly represent their constituents.

“I think if we can if we can open the door in the next few weeks which is something I've always tried to do in politics. If I can get in my foot in the door and like force it open for everyone else to come through, politics will just be filled with normal relatable people”