Mobile Voting Is the Solution to (Almost) Everything

People in politics and people in tech aren’t always the most beloved (for good reason), but Bradley Tusk, my guest today, is proof there are not only decent people but exceptional ones in both industries.

He’s also saving democracy.

I first met Bradley in the world of books. In 2020, Bradley co-founded the Gotham Book Prize, a literary award that celebrates books about New York City. I was one of the first jurors, and I instantly recognized what a rare and special human he is — and I don’t say that lightly.

But first, his bio, so you can understand why he’s the perfect person to discuss the Sociology of… Politics and build on the ideas and solutions I first wrote about last week:

Bradley Tusk is a seasoned political strategist, venture capitalist, philanthropist, and writer. He is the CEO and co-founder of Tusk Venture Partners, the world’s first venture capital fund that invests solely in early stage startups in highly regulated industries, and he’s the founder of Tusk Strategies, his political consulting firm.

In the political realm, Bradley served as campaign manager for Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 mayoral race, as Deputy Governor of Illinois, as communications director for US Senator Chuck Schumer, and as Uber’s first political advisor.

Our focus today, however, is on a venture that is losing him money, for our benefit: Mobile voting.

Tusk Philanthropies, his family foundation, is funding and leading the national campaign to bring mobile voting to all U.S. elections. (Side note: Their other primary initiative is an impressive anti-hunger campaign that has led to the creation of anti-hunger policies and programs, including universal school breakfast programs, in 17 different states, helping to feed over 12 million people.)

He recently published Vote With Your Phone: Why Mobile Voting Is Our Final Shot at Saving Democracy, which I highly recommend. I devoured it in a day and now realize that mobile voting is about so much more than convenience. (And, thanks to the technology he’s developed, not only is it not a security risk, but it’s the safest possible form of voting.)

Bradley’s political golden rule is simple: every policy output is the result of a political input. To change the outputs, we need to change the inputs. Mobile voting is the answer.

This is a substantive, practical, nonpartisan discussion about how to correct and create a political system where more people participate and more people feel represented. As you’ll see, Bradley isn’t just some talking head that complains about issues or theorizes about hypothetical solutions. He does something about it.

If this conversation inspires you to want more Bradley Tusk, I encourage you to check out his excellent podcast, Firewall (where I learned about his love of competitive eating contests), and his Substack (I especially enjoyed his recent Street Rant post), and if you are in NYC, stop into his book lover’s paradise, P&T Knitwear. If you are someone with either the financial means or the strategic network to help his mobile voting crusade, please reach out directly. What he’s doing is so important, but he can’t do it alone.

Watch or listen and please share with friends. I hope this conversation gives you as much hope for the future of our country as it does me. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

"Mobile voting is our final shot at saving democracy."

"We need to align public interest with political interest."

00:00 Why mobile voting, why now

5:30 Primaries: The problem and the solution

6:45 Why we need to align public interest with political interest

12:15 Why are things so extreme?

14:45 Gerrymandering: What it does, why mobile voting can help

16:15 Section 230: Why it made sense initially but needs reform

21:15 We’re making the same mistakes with AI regulation

24:00 Other voting solutions

28:20 Compulsory voting, a year of service, happiness and fulfillment

35:00 Revisiting the Big Gulp controversy

37:00 Democracy sausages for the win!

38:00 All in: Why Bradley has invested $20M of his own money in mobile voting

40:00 Are we headed for a civil war?

45:15 Academia: Can mobile voting fix THAT?!

51:45 How can we convince all rich people to be like Bradley?

57:45 A siren call to join Bradley in the fight for mobile voting + the path forward

1:00:00 Books! What will make people read again?

1:06:30 Bradley’s favorite thing to observe

1:08:10 Bradley’s walk-on song + political anthem emblematic of the moment [AMERIICAN REQUIEM (Beyonce), Power (Kanye West)]

1:10:10 Our (hopefully someday) karaoke duet [Hurt (Johnny Cash)]