What do you see as the single biggest threat to America today?
I think the biggest challenge to America is how to deal with the emergence of China and India… primarily China and the Western Pacific. It is a challenge, not a threat. It is a challenge diplomatically, financially [and] security-wise for our allies. And we don’t have a lot of margin for error anymore.

What is your greatest concern for the nation?
My biggest concern right now has to do with the idea of nationhood–what makes us one country, what holds us together. We’ve got to demonstrate that we recognize what it means to be an American even when the details are politically contested.

Tell me a little bit about your political vision for America. Do you think it’s a departure from the politics of the Democratic Party in the last election?
The biggest trends are technology, automation, and global interconnections, and these things are changing everything. They’re changing society, they’re changing work, they’re changing jobs, they’re changing resource allocation, they’re changing security risk. And my vision is to prepare the country, and most importantly our citizens, for that future.

How do you think your points raised on reparations in the second debate particularly engaged with people?
I don’t believe in the current leadership model—which is so endemic to our current political system—in which leaders strategize with polling and focus groups to figure out their platforms. They’re losing out on some of the most important topics because the number of people voicing that issue is small. So I’m just talking about what I believe needs to be said, and that’s what leadership ought to be.