Steve Doherty served in the Montana legislature, eventually rising to the position of Minority Leader in the Montana Senate before term limits sent him on to new challenges in 2002 (like serving as founding co-chair of Progressive States). Today, in addition to serving as co-chair of Progressive States and maintaining his private legal practice, Steve serves as chair of the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission.During his time as a citizen legislator, Steve represented a city known for its blue-collar progressive history. He also has worked as a conservation organizer.
Where'd the motivation to start the Progressive States Network come from?
The realization that we were getting beat and we didn't have an effective tool to combat the wrongs that were being done and we didn't have an effective tool to press our own agenda. We were just damn tired of getting kicked around.You served as a minority leader in Montana's Senate for years. What's the job of the minority? How do you measure success when you're not in power?
Many times that you measure when you're in power. Are you able to prevent bad things and really horrible ideas from being enacted into law and are you able to press and pass any kind of positive agenda? When I was in the majority, we were under a conservative Governor, so even when we wanted to move progressive things, we still had to deal with the Governor's office. That meant that maybe you couldn't get what you wanted, but it meant that you could make it an issue that had to be dealt with. When you're in the minority and you're not in the Governor's office, there are still things that can be done and you still have victories, but part of the job is clearly defining the differences between positions so that people understand what the impacts of certain actions are.What are the biggest opportunities for progressives on the political landscape right now?
I think economic justice issues and issues as they affect families at a level where they live. How much people get paid for the work they do; who's able to take care of their kids when the kids get sick; and what kind of schools those kids are going to have. And overall, what kind of world we are going to live in. Where that fits with people's everyday lives is where progressives need to go and talk about what it's like to be working three jobs, to have no health insurance, to have no security in a pension plan, to be subject to predatory lending. Those are bread-and-butter issues. And I think Americans are beginning to understand that political ideology -- kind of a hard-core rightwing rabid ideology -- doesn't solve problems that they have on a daily basis. That's where we have to clearly speak to people.Three specific examples: What would you to pass?
Increase the minimum wage. Make sure that there are no barriers to voting and actually provide incentives to vote and run for office. And make sure that families have health insurance of some kind.Other Profiles
