In this episode of The Open Door (December 13th), panelists Jim Hanink and Mario Ramos-Reyes discuss the progress of the American Solidarity Party and the current presidential and vice presidential campaign of Peter Sonski and Lauren Onak. Our special and welcome guest is Marcos Lopez, the Chair of the American Solidarity Party. A first generation Cuban-American, he is a husband and a father of two and lives in Tampa, Florida. Lopez holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of South Florida. He works in marketing and spends most of his free time with his family. He’s also involved with the music ministry at his parish.

Is it true that the fastest growing political party in the United States is the American Solidarity Party? If so, what accounts for its growth?

What initially brought you to the American Solidarity Party?

Conventional opinion says that votes for third party candidates are wasted votes. What’s your answer to this charge?

How did you come to be the Chair of the Party?

What sort of week to week challenges does the Party’s National Committee currently face?

Can you tell us about Peter Sonski and Lauren Onak, the Party’s candidates for president and vice president of the United States?

What is the process for getting on the ballot? How is the Party faring in doing so?

Is there a way to use marketing skills to expand and develop political debate?

Can the Party attract nationally known figures like Dan Lipinski or Robert George? Can it attract six figure donations?

In this episode of The Open Door , panelists Jim Hanink and Valierie Niemeyer interview Lauren Onak, the new vice presidential candidate of the American Solidarity Party. Lauren was born and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. She studied English Literature at Barnard College of Columbia University and received a Masters in Adolescent Education from Hunter College. Onak is a stay at home mom to three young children and lives in the Boston suburbs. She teaches natural family planning and is active in several community organizations. Among the questions we’ll be asking are the following. Please feel free to ask your own!

Lauren, can you share some of your back story with us? Back before you joined the American Solidarity Party?

Tell us about your discernment process when invited to represent the American Solidarity Party as vice presidential candidate alongside Peter Sonski. Why did you say yes to such a weighty commitment?

The American Solidarity Party believes strongly in the principle of subsidiarity, a principle that reflects the social teaching of the Catholic Church. How do you explain subsidiarity to folks who aren’t familiar with it?

How do strong communities relate to this principle of subsidiarity?

We also affirm the importance of solidarity, and living it out both personally and collectively. Can you give us some examples of what solidarity looks like or could look like from the personal to the national and even international level?

Dorothy Day, the co-founder of The Catholic Worker Movement, once said that we don’t want to trade one poverty for a worse poverty. What do you think that she meant?

At one point Day also said that more than ever she believed we need to foster personal responsibility. How can we balance that with concrete expressions of personal and collective solidarity?

How does the evangelical counsel of a personal and even communal commitment to voluntary poverty relate to this dynamic?

As a stay-at-home mother, how have you sought to strengthen the communities in which you live? What are your hopes for the future in that regard?