NDN Blog

NDN Senior Policy Advisor James Crabtree has an article in today's online edition of The American Prospect.  It seems that a close relationship with President Bush isn't just toxic to candidates here in the states, but also his friends across the pond.

Check out Simon in the Financial Times today discussing Al Gore and his role in raising public awareness on global warming.

"There is no question that the conversation about global warming is finally entering the mainstream in the US and Al Gore can claim much of the credit," says Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democratic Network, a centrist group based in Washington. "It has gone beyond asingle issue of the environment to encompass foreign policy questions such as energy independence."

Simon is in The Hill today discussing the importance of meaningful immigration reform and the need for Democrats to include it in their new agenda.

Simon Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network, a political advocacy organization that has spent millions on drawing Hispanic voters into the Democratic Party fold, defended the Democratic record on immigration. Still, he chided leaders for their omission....“Given how much energy and time Democrats have put into trying to pass comprehensive immigration reform, it’s unfortunate that immigration hasn’t made it into the document, because the party has made it a priority,” said Rosenberg......Rosenberg urged Democrats not to run away from the issue of immigration, vowing that it’s a debate they will win over Republicans, many of whom are focusing exclusively on a tough law-and-order approach to illegal immigration....Rosenberg predicted that some Democrats would spend a lot of money highlighting immigration this fall....“We’re going to see a lot of back-and-forth in paid media on immigration,” he said. “We have nothing to fear. We have a plan to solve the problem and [the Republicans] don’t.”

Joe Garcia, NDN's Hispanic Strategy Center Director, is in the New York Times today discussing the ability of Governor Jeb Bush to help Republican candidates this fall.

Mr. Garcia questioned whether Mr. Bush’s influence would really help Mr. Crist. He suggested that Democrats, trying to hamper the governor’s ability to bolster Republican candidates, would tie him to his brother at a time when the president’s popularity has plummeted....“You want Jeb Bush to carry you,” he said, “that’s fine, but his big brother is going to be there with him.”

NDN's Hispanic Strategy Center Director Joe Garcia is in Hispanic Business today discussing Florida's gubenatorial candidates possibly picking a Hispanic for lieutenant governor.

"For the first time we will see that candidates who win the primaries will have to seriously consider a Hispanic for lieutenant governor," EFE was told by Joe Garcia, former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation and senior adviser in Florida for the New Democrat Network, which in 2002 launched an initiative to consolidate Latinos' connection with the party....Garcia said that the campaigns of both parties are working hard to win the Hispanic vote and even have directors of Latino affairs to make sure they do...."The number of Hispanic voters in Florida is almost 15 percent and it is the most changeable vote of any group in the state," he said.

Simon was in the Las Vegas Sun yesterday praising the leadership style of Senate Minority Leader Senator Harry Reid.

"Simon Rosenberg, who runs the centrist New Democrat Network but advocates a policy of confrontation with Republicans, said Reid decided that compromise and deal-making could no longer work in the partisan atmosphere of Washington: "Harry Reid understands that if we're playing on their playing field, we have to play by their rules." 

Simon is in the USA Today discussing Senator Lieberman's decision to run as an Independent.  For more of Simon's thoughts on the CT primary, check out his blog entry from yesterday. 

"Simon Rosenberg, president of the centrist New Democrat Network, called Lieberman's loss "a political failure of great magnitude" and urged him to "end this part of your remarkable career."

NPI Fellow Jennifer Nix is in the San Francisco Chronicle today discussing the impact of the netroots in yesterday's CT Primary.

Joe Garcia, Director of NDN's Hispanic Strategy Center, was in the Miami Herald on Sunday discussing what a post-Fidel Castro Cuba could mean for GOP politics.

''Republicans have had a lot of bark and no bite, but the bark has been enough,'' said Joe Garcia, a former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation and director of the New Democrat Network's Hispanic Strategy Center. ``Once Castro is gone, you can bark all you want, but Castro's not there. You've got to develop a more realistic agenda that's in tune with the Cuban-American reality.''

Simon was in the Washington Post Friday discussing Iraq and this year's mid-term elections.  

"The Republicans are in trouble," said Simon Rosenberg, founder of the centrist New Democrat Network. "But the map is tough. It's going to be hard for us to win one of the two chambers. It's certainly possible. I think both are going to be hard."

Democrats needed "a broader narrative" on foreign policy, especially in light of the Lebanon crisis, and should avoid becoming wedded to the idea that Iraq -- and Iraq alone -- represented their best chance of winning, Rosenberg warned.

"There's a general sense of chaos, that whatever we attempted to do in the Middle East, it certainly seems to be getting worse not better," he said. "If we bet the whole farm on Iraq, it may not work for us."