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Scott Aaron Rogers interviews Drew Cox, one of nine Democratic candidates for Indiana’s 4th Congressional District. Cox, a Purdue music instructor, Marine Corps veteran, fourth-generation farmer, and son of an elementary school teacher, discusses his campaign platform focused on abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, cannabis legalization, tackling corporate power, and energizing young voters. He argues that ICE should be replaced with pre-9/11 immigration services, that healthcare costs are spiraling out of control as ACA subsidies expired (leaving his nephew who had a heart transplant without Medicaid), and that Congress must reassert authority over tariffs instead of letting Trump act unilaterally. Cox advocates raising corporate tax rates to incentivize wage investment over profit extraction, supporting grassroots candidates across every local race to spread GOP money thin, and making election day a national holiday while expanding early voting access. He emphasizes the need to regulate data centers requiring closed-loop systems and community benefits rather than tax abatements, criticizes Democrats for chasing corporate cash since the Clinton era, and stresses that building political power with young people (not just around them) is essential to counter Citizens United and achieve progressive goals in this sprawling 16-county district.
IN THE INTERVIEW:
0:03:36 - INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND
- Teaching music history and jazz history at Purdue (favorite class)
- First drum set teacher at Purdue University despite massive band program
- Marine Corps veteran, used GI Bill for education at IU and University of Illinois PhD
0:06:12 - DEMOCRACY AS PARTICIPATION
- Last 10 years taught democracy is not a spectator sport
- Middle-aged white guys have unearned political capital/privilege
- Must use that voice to help pull others along until everyone can speak equally
0:07:05 - WHY RUN NOW - ICE & IMMIGRATION
- People not having a voice, especially with ICE terrorizing communities of color
- Need to abolish ICE, return to pre-9/11 Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
- Post-9/11 increased surveillance doesn’t help citizens as much
0:08:45 - THE 4TH DISTRICT GEOGRAPHY
- 16 counties west of Indianapolis, north to Jasper County (Rensselaer), south to Martinsville
- Lafayette in middle but still traveling hour+ in all directions
- Massive sprawling district, difficult to keep up with all county chairs
0:13:21 - KEY ISSUES: CONGRESS FAILING ON REPRESENTATION
- Jim Baird not representing the people
- Congress not asserting authority on tariffs, letting president “shoot from the hip”
- Healthcare costs out of control despite ACA expansion
0:14:50 - MEDICARE FOR ALL & CANNABIS LEGALIZATION
- Advocate for Medicare for All/single-payer for everyone
- Surrounded by legal cannabis states, Indiana losing revenue to neighbors
- Could generate $200 million/year for schools, Title One funding, property tax relief
- Can’t legalize due to entities like Eli Lilly ($30 million CEO salary)
0:17:10 - FLOODING THE ZONE & BREAKING THROUGH THE NOISE
- Steve Bannon strategy: flood zone so you can’t pick one thing to fight
- First order: town hall in every community asking “what do you want?”
- Pledge to have town hall in every county before general election (16 full counties, 3 partial)
0:18:26 - HEALTHCARE CRISIS - PERSONAL STORY
- Nephew born with heart defect, Medicaid enabled heart transplant at age 2 (Riley Children’s Hospital)
- Sister/brother-in-law lost Medicaid over summer at age 14, now facing wild bills and medications
- Other Riley kids losing Medicaid and disability
- Need single-payer, address for-profit healthcare
0:20:18 - HEALTHCARE & ECONOMY ARE INTERTWINED
- Healthcare is huge part of U.S. economy and household budgets
- Insurance premiums doubled/tripled, getting less coverage for more money
- ACA subsidies just give more profits to insurance companies
- ACA came from Heritage Foundation as Republican answer to universal healthcare
0:23:20 - CITIZENS UNITED & MONEY IN POLITICS
- First thing after Trump inauguration: tax cuts for billionaires
- Don’t have free lunch for needy students but tax cuts for richest
- Problem is largely money in politics and Citizens United
0:23:45 - TERM LIMITS DEBATE
- Moderate on term limits: maybe 3 terms for representatives, 2 for senators
- But only for those taking PAC money and corporate cash
- Should Bernie Sanders who only takes money from teachers/factory workers/unions be term limited?
- Lobbyists stay while elected officials with institutional memory leave
0:25:06 - TACKLING AFFORDABILITY REQUIRES CONFRONTING WEALTH CLASS
- Democrats emphasizing “affordability” but can’t tackle it without taking on donor class
- Need to generate more revenue (cannabis legalization)
- Reform Citizens United - Elon Musk’s $300 million from South African is foreign election interference
0:27:00 - GRASSROOTS WAVE IN 2026
- So many people running in so many races GOP can’t surgically intervene
- Example: Tiffany Stoner lost by handful after opponent got big last-minute donation
- Can’t do that when races everywhere
- Campaign goal: energize and activate young folks (stood up Boone County Young Democrats)
0:28:34 - YOUTH VOTER PARTICIPATION
- Indiana dead last in participation
- Get 20-30 year olds to vote and “we can have everything we want”
- Young people will save us but must build with them, not around them
0:32:18 - REPUBLICANS GROOMING NEXT GENERATION
- Older conservative generation dying off
- Millennials not getting more conservative with age (opposite trend)
- GOP using manosphere podcasts, Turning Point USA to groom young right-wingers
- State interference helping Turning Point is constitutional violation
0:33:38 - DATA CENTERS & HYPOCRISY
- Mike Braun simultaneously attacking big tech for “poisoning youth” while inviting Meta to build data center
- 20+ Indiana counties have renewable energy moratoriums (not very pro-capitalist)
- Wind farms in district but moratoriums on renewables elsewhere
0:35:17 - REGULATING DATA CENTERS
- Congress can regulate: require closed-loop systems, community benefits, no tax abatements
- Braun says “don’t want to be left behind” - left behind for whom? The 1%?
- Families don’t wake up wanting data centers in backyards
0:36:12 - DATA CENTERS AS EXTRACTION
- Purely extractive: use water and natural resources, drive up electricity rates
- Don’t pay taxes, don’t provide jobs (dozens not hundreds/thousands once built)
- Money doesn’t stay in community, not like hiring lots of people who spend locally
- Zuckerberg, Musk, tech oligarchs behind Trump as avatar for oligarch class
0:38:40 - WEALTH TAX & RAISING TAXES ON RICH
- Raising top marginal tax rate is at least a start
- Corporate tax rate very low now - Eisenhower had 90-91% corporate rate
- High rate incentivizes spending on infrastructure and wages
- Low rate incentivizes declaring profit, cutting jobs, taking shortcuts
- Been brainwashed to believe trickle-down works - Reagan era showed it doesn’t
0:41:07 - DEMOCRATS CHASING CORPORATE CASH
- Primary problem last 30 years: Democrats chasing corporate dollar
- Got kicked in 80s, decided “if you can’t beat them, join them” in Clinton era
- Too cozy with pharmaceutical industry, big tech, insurance companies
- Corporate donors different from GOP (oil/gas/extractive/military industrial) but same problem
- Neoliberalism/Reaganism crashed in 2008, held together by printing money and corporate subsidies
0:50:11 - BREAKING THE LOGJAM
- Need to line up presidency, House, Senate, Supreme Court like combo lock
- Make election day national holiday
- Make voting easier - Indiana one of hardest places to vote (shortest early voting hours, polls close at 6pm)
- Comes down to local clerks
0:51:36 - LOCAL RACES MATTER ENORMOUSLY
- When decided to run, party asked why jump to federal
- Lives in Sheila Klinker and Ron Alting’s districts (strong longtime incumbents)
- Learning all local positions (councils, trustees) have gone unopposed
- Now finally changing - campaign helping people run for smallest offices
- Local commissioner decisions allow data centers without community oversight
0:53:15 - STRONGEST CAMPAIGN IN CROWDED PRIMARY
- Believes they’re strongest in primary
- If doesn’t make it past primary, will get caucused into smallest local office available
- People running everywhere forces money to spread thin
- Tippecanoe County (biggest in district, notoriously low Dem participation) now seeing races everywhere
0:54:42 - TRANSFORMATION & YOUNG PEOPLE
- Year ago just a voter, now running for Congress, sees this as “life or death”
- Constant campaign targeting young folks - they’re going to save us
- Build with them not around them, then “we can have nice things again”
- Big money spread thin when everybody runs everywhere
0:56:27 - CAMPAIGN INFORMATION
- Website: drewcox.org
- Mail: PO Box 56, Lafayette, IN 47902
- Donate via ActBlue or directly through website
- Volunteer signup available - any level of help appreciated (even just offering opinions)
- Grassroots campaign needs everyone participating
