Tiffany Hayden may be the most interesting woman in politics today, even more so than Hillary. Tiffany is running for two offices in two different parties, while overseeing a startup company and being a homeschooling mother. Sorry Hillary, Tiffany has you beat hands down.
I was blessed to get to interview Tiffany on Twitter, and here it is:
ED: First, let me ask you the basics: You are running for two offices in two different parties. Can you explain this? Which offices specifically for which parties?
TIFFANY: Yeah. This is what I'm writing about right -hoping to better clarify. I am a Libertarian running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Michigan's 13th District. I hate politics, but there are a LOT of really important issues flying right under the radar. I'm running against John Conyers -the longest serving member of Congress in history. Because my chances of winning are practically non-existent, I decided to join the Green Party and run as a Michigan State Representative as a backup position. There are several Michigan specific issues that need immediate attention.
ED: What specific issues are those?
TIFFANY: Snyder's emergency manager laws that have completely suspended democracy in Michigan, the Flint Water Crisis that STILL has not been resolved, and a new law that State Legislatures just pushed through that will allow police to start performing roadside drug testing. There is a lot more to that than people realize. I am forming a civil rights coalition in response.
ED: Tell me about this coalition?
TIFFANY: I'm really wanted to wait until I send out an actual press release announcing my candidacy. I haven't done that yet.
ED: Ok. Your profile says you are a homeschooling mother. How do you do that and run for not one but two political offices in two parties? Does the word "overachiever" mean anything to you?
TIFFANY: It really, really doesn't. I'm actually a huge fintech geek who was trying to launch a startup. There was a series of shitty events that happened all at once and knocked me on my ass. The worst of it being served divorce papers. I received the Congressional nomination unexpectedly. I was still a little winded from everything, but I've faced so many roadblocks because of FinCEN (who gets their power from Congress) that I decided to run with it.
[Ed's note: If you want to know more about FinCEN, here is their website.]
This is an article I wrote about my startup: Refugees: The Next Wave of Disruptors.
ED: How does one get an unexpected Congressional nomination? You must admit that does sound funny. And I mean "funny haha", although I suppose a little funny strange too.
TIFFANY: The same way one receives an unexpected nomination to become a State Representative. You walk into a nominating convention for a party you just joined, pretend to have confidence, and when the nominating process begins -own it.
ED: Let's talk about your political views. You are running for political offices in both the Libertarian Party and the Green Party. While there isn't the animosity between them which you see in the Republicans and Democrats, how do you as a candidate justify how you can represent both Libertarians and Greens?
TIFFANY: I think there is a lot of potential for Libertarians and the Green Party to compliment each other, kind of like yin and yang. Where the Libertarians are [weak], the Green Party is strong and vice versa. Getting others to see that will be a huge challenge. I really wasn't expecting the reaction I got on FB when I announced I was also running for State Rep as a Green Party candidate. I'm very new to learning about the Green Party, but the reason I wanted to learn more is because I feel like there is human component missing from the Libertarian party. We're too analytical and rarely do you see compassion. I get asked regularly if I have Asperger's. I think part of it is because I'm interested in cyrptocurrencies and fintech on a protocol level and there aren't many other women that will talk about it until your eyes glaze over, but I think it's also because I can be overly analytical too. The Green Party has some important, worthwhile goals, but the way they want to implement those goals (that I have heard) is by taking a statist route. That's all they know though. They haven't been sitting around for years like some of us trying to figure out ways of getting the government out of our lives. Libertarianism could provide the means to the end for the Green Party goals. At least some of them anyway.
ED: Can you give me an example of a Green Party issue that could use a Libertarian implementation?
TIFFANY: When the Green Party advocates for collective action, it is heard (and maybe also meant) as coercive state action. But... social coordination through conscious action would invite people to participate voluntarily.
ED: Let's flip this. What Libertarian issue could use a Green Party implementation?
TIFFANY: The biggest one that stands out to me is charity. Libertarians emphasize individual responsibility. They often say that we don't need social safety nets because if we didn't have so much money stolen from our paychecks we'd have more money to donate. I'm uncomfortable with this assumption. Like I said, sometimes I feel like there is a lack of compassion and I don't know if Libertarians are the best group to be trying to start charities. The Green Party seems ready to help all the impoverished people - locally and globally.
ED: I want to step back to something you mentioned earlier. How is Enable coming along? [Ed's note: Enable is Tiffany's startup company which she mentioned in the "Refugees" story earlier.]
TIFFANY: It's on pause, although I do have an organization wanting to partner with me. If I could add a few more hours to the day I could make it work... We'll see. I hate having it sit there idle, but campaigning takes up an enormous amount of time.
ED: What do your kids think about your political career?
TIFFANY: Oh gosh, they are SO excited and proud of me. I'm trying to involve them as much as possible so that it's also a really great learning experience. We're talking about renting an ice cream truck for the day and driving around passing out ice cream along with information about my platform.
ED: Ice cream for votes? Is that legal? Just kidding.
TIFFANY: Lol. I have to think of creative ways to get noticed. I live in a low income district and many people aren't online.
ED: On another subject, you wrote a recent editorial about the militarization of police forces in America. Obviously, that is an issue, but much of the recent controversies have been around police actions unrelated to their "arming". This is just my own opinion, but I consider one of the problems being the number of laws we have police enforcing. When you give them a legal "buffet" from which to choose, they can arrest first and figure out the crime later, which gives them far too much leeway in deciding who is really a criminal. Any thoughts?
TIFFANY: I disagree -partially, that the issues are unrelated to their arming. The arming has given police a warrior mentality that has forever changed their lens of perception. Additionally, there are too many perverse incentives for police to want to write tickets and make arrests. Many police departments offer rewards for writing a certain amount of tickets every month -like an extra paid vacation day. Also, anytime an officer has to go to court, that's overtime. I know officers that make 6 figures because they rake in so much going to court. They get paid 4 hours minimum just for showing up -even if they leave 5 minutes later. They have every incentive to try and find a crime that you've committed.
ED: Fair enough. Do you have any thoughts on the presidential election? And who do you endorse, [Libertarian Gary] Johnson or [Green Party's Jill] Stein?
TIFFANY: Johnson. I don't worship at the alter of any ideologies, but I do consider myself a Libertarian.
Given the depth and complexity of the cascading crises happening around the world, I don't see how one political group can think they have all of the answers. I'm willing to listen to what everyone has to say.
ED: Your opinion on Trump and Clinton?
TIFFANY: I detest them both.
ED: I am with you there! Anyway, thank you for your time today. Good luck with both your elections.
TIFFANY: Thanks!
[Note: I totally stole her picture above from her Twitter account. I hope she can forgive me.]
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