In their October 16 episode, the Thee Quaker podcast told the story of Jason Palmer, a Quaker who ran against – and defeated – Joe Biden in the 2024 Democratic primaries.
OK, Palmer only won one primary, the American Samoa primary on Super Tuesday. With a vote count of 51 to 40, Palmer got the six delegates that were up for grabs in the United States territory.
Palmer’s history, decision to run, platform, and future plans are an interesting story and the podcast episode does a great job of telling it.
He did not grow up as a Quaker. Palmer says “my father was a golfer and my mother was a Methodist.” But neither golfing or being a Methodist struck a chord with him.
A close childhood friend, David Kaiser, was a Quaker. Kaiser took Palmer to Quaker events and many unprogrammed meetings for worship. Quakerism spoke to Palmer and he joined the Religious Society of Friends.
While working to pay his way through college at the University of Virginia, Palmer became an entrepreneur. He continued that in his professional life after college. For years, his only foray into politics was to make campaign contributions.
But something changed when he watched the 2024 campaign. With input from some friends, he decided to run for President, because, as he said in the video announcing his candidacy, “America needs an upgrade”.
Palmer based his campaign on three main points: conscious capitalism, a way to turn capitalism into a driver for equity in society; the “new collar economy” where people can make a good living by getting certified in digital skills without a college degree; and modernizing government.
While there is no conflict with Quakerism in those three platform planks, Thee Quaker host Georgia Sparling asked Palmer if being Commander in Chief of the largest military in the world and an arms supplier to many countries would present a problem with his beliefs as a Friend.
Palmer supports the peace testimony and said he would work for peace in Palestine and Ukraine.
But he said, “you have to be realistic that when attacked you need a strong defense. But it should be always about defense, never about offensive warfare.”
The win in American Samoa was Palmer’s only primary victory and he ended his campaign for President soon after Super Tuesday.
He took the momentum that built up during the campaign to start a new organization called Together! which is working to try to get young “purple” candidates elected to Congress as well as getting a million young people registered to vote.
Palmer has not decided if he will run again in 2028. He said he’s going to wait two years and then make a decision. If he were to get elected, he would be following in the footsteps of Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon, two Quakers who were elected President.
You can listen to the Thee Quaker podcast on most podcast apps and on their website at quakerpodcast.com. Jason Palmer’s campaign website is still up at palmerforpresident.us, That site also has links to the Together! website.
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