SolarTimes editor Sandy LeonVest hosts the first in a series of “progressive conversations” on strategies for the upcoming 2012 presidential elections. Her guests, David Swanson and Joshua Frank, are two of the country’s leading progressive thinkers. While they agree that “politics as usual” needs to be challenged in the interest of maintaining (what remains of) democracy, their ideas as to the most effective strategies for pushing a truly progressive agenda differ. Tonight’s show, “Can Progressives Organize a Viable Alternative to President Obama in 2012?” features a first-of-a-kind conversation on progressive electoral strategies for 2012. This conversation involves not whether progressives need to challenge the dominant two-party paradigm, but how to do it in the most effective way.