NDN Blog

The Hill's Jonathan Kaplan writes today about Congressional Democrats tackling economic issues next week and beyond. As NDN President Simon Rosenberg says in the article, we believe economic issues are going to be the top issue in the 2008 election for one simple reason: average Americans are struggling to get ahead, and the Administration's policies have failed them.

Household median income has fallen by over $1,000 since Bush took office. Wages are stagnant. These are the measures by which most Americans judge the American economy, and so it's no wonder that our recent poll shows that Americans are pessimistic and desperate for economic leadership.

Both the economic data and the public opinion data make it clear that we need a plan to make globalization work for all Americans. NDN believes that America must adopt a new economic strategy that would modernize our health care and energy policies; invest in our workers, students, and infrastructure; and foster and accelerate innovation across the economy. This strategy should also strive to fix our immigration system, ensure universal and affordable broadband access, and offer workers card check by adopting the Employee Free Choice Act. And perhaps most importantly, there must be a new national commitment to giving our workers and children the skills and capacities required to succeed in the globalized economy of the 21st century.

We need an economic agenda that doesn't just sound good, but an aggressive, comprehensive plan that will actually work and raise incomes, wages, and make it easier for Americans to get ahead. We're excited that the House Democratic caucus recognizes the urgency of the issue and is eager to take on that task next week and throughout 2008.

Syndicated columnist Salena Zito wrote this week on NDN's new poll, conducted by Pete Brodnitz, on the economy and globalization.  She noted that the economy was bound to be a defining issue in the 2008 race, something that is becoming increasingly evident as we look at recent polls.

Please visit our website for more on NDN's Globalization Initiative.

We at NDN are excited to announce that we are expanding our team in Washington, D.C. to include three new positions:

MANAGER OF HISPANIC PROGRAMS: The Hispanic Strategy Center manager is responsible for implementing NDN programs, particularly those of the Hispanic Strategy Center, an affiliate of NDN. Specific job duties include monitoring relevant legislation with a particular focus on immigration reform and issues relating to the Hispanic community, following Hispanic media trends, implementing NDN and the Hispanic Strategy Center's policy and communications objectives, and overall support of the Hispanic Strategy Center Director, Joe Garcia, to whom the manager will report. Candidates must be fluent in English and Spanish, and have 2-3 years experience working in advocacy, politics, or government. Salary commensurate with experience.

ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER: The Online Communications Manager is responsible for overseeing and implementing NDN’s online communications strategy, which includes managing NDN’s web site and blog, e-mail communications, and online advertising. Candidates must be strong writers, possess the technical skills to create and maintain a web site, and have 2 – 3 years experience working in communications or web site development. Salary commensurate with experience.

STAFF ASSISTANT: The Staff Assistant is responsible for working with the entire NDN staff to implement the organizations’ priorities, including work product release, event planning and execution, and other support tasks as needed. Candidates must be friendly, outgoing, possess a positive attitude, and be organized. Salary range is $27,000 - $32,000, depending on experience and qualifications.

Feel free to send this on to anyone you think would make a great fit. Interested parties should e-mail their resume and a cover letter to jobs@ndn.org.

Today NDN released the second of two memos outlining findings from a recent national poll focused on the economy and globalization.

Pete Brodnitz of BSG Strategies conducted the poll. He stated:

President Bush’s decision to focus his Presidency on terrorism and Iraq and his decision to limit his economic vision to tax cuts is taking a clear toll on Americans' perceptions of the health of the economy. At a time when many Americans are facing rising health care, education and energy costs, the President offers no compelling economic strategy and fails to even acknowledge the hard economic realities facing American families during his Presidency. As a result, there is an opportunity, and even a demand, for others to fill the vacuum his abdication on economic hardships has caused. The results of our survey and focus group research show that leaders who recognize both the challenges we face in today’s economy and a strategy for growing our economy will be filling a void that is particularly acute on the subject of globalization – a change in our economy that is widely perceived as both a significant concern and as unavoidable. It is also clear that the American electorate is looking for leaders who recognize the need to both soften the impact of globalization and harness Americans’ greatest economic strength - the creativity and freedom of our society – to ensure that ultimately we succeed in the global economy.

NDN President Simon Rosenberg noted:

This poll confirms what the economic data and previous public opinion data have shown for some time - the American people are ready for Washington to once again focus on them and the struggle their families are facing.

By any measure this decade has been a tough one for American families. Despite strong GDP and productivity and stock market gains, household median income has actually declined and wages have been flat. Many more are without health insurance and in poverty and the number of undocumented immigrants continues to rise. Costs of everyday and important things - health care, gas and energy, education - have risen dramatically. In the Bush era it has simply become harder to get ahead.

This poll confirms the central argument of our work at NDN these past several years - the people of the United States are looking for a new economic strategy that makes globalization work for all Americans. We believe offering this strategy is one of the highest political and governing priorities of our time, and based on this new poll, will increasingly come to dominate the presidential debate in the year ahead.

To read the full memo, please visit our website. Also check out the first memo.

Today NDN released the first of two memos outlining findings from a new national poll on the economy and globalization.

The poll was conducted by Pete Brodnitz of Benenson Strategy Group. Brodnitz noted:

Voters are pessimistic about the direction of the country and continue to express a strong desire for change on national security and economic issues. They are frustrated with the performance of the President and Congress and the lack of progress on making health care more affordable, the situation in Iraq, and the precarious state of the economy. They perceive Democrats to be more likely to address these concerns and believe Democrats will stand up and fight for the middle class, leading more voters to support Democratic candidates than Republican candidates for President and Congress.

To read the full memo, please visit our website.

As television audiences become increasingly segmented through technologies such as cable, DVRs, and satellite TV, a broadcast-only strategy of reaching viewers just doesn’t work anymore. Satellite TV subscribers, for example, are among the most difficult for political advertisers to reach because ads can only be bought nationally on the non-local channels.

Simply put, while a political advertiser can buy ads on popular cable channels such as TNT, TBS, and A&E by buying through their local cable company, it’s been impossible to buy ads on those very same stations on satellite networks.

Today’s announcement by Google and Echostar could change this dynamic. Google announced today that it will sell TV ads on the 125 stations distributed by Echostar Communications’ DISH network.

The TV ads will work much like Google’s online search ads do – advertisers specify how much they’re willing to pay, and through an automated auction, the ads with the highest price are selected. What’s more, just like in the online search ads, advertisers can choose by geographic region:

Mr. Desai said the television ad system would work much like Google’s existing online and offline advertising systems. EchoStar would make some unspecified amount of air time available to Google’s advertisers. Advertisers or agencies would upload video spots to the system along with their desired target audience or network and would specify the price they are willing to bid for the air time.

Google’s ad system would then select the winning ads and play them on the air. Using information collected by EchoStar’s set-top satellite boxes, it will be able to give advertisers a report showing how many people viewed any ad and whether users tuned it out in the first few seconds.

Google will also use information collected by EchoStar to deliver the ads to their target audiences more precisely, the companies said.

Advertisers will not be able to designate specific households, but will be able to choose individual networks like ESPN or MTV and a time of day. Alternatively, they could choose a demographic group or geographic region, and Google’s system would schedule the ads across a variety of networks.

This is still a pilot program, but it could be the beginning of a significant change in political TV ad buying.

On behalf of the entire NDN team, I’m excited to announce that Chris McCleary has joined us as our new Development Director. 

Chris is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and a seasoned campaign veteran with 10 years of fundraising experience at nearly every electoral level.  Chris has been involved in over 30 races across the country, from Congress to President, in the past 10 years and also worked at America Coming Together in 2004.  Chris is excited to join our team and will be designing a national program to ensure that NDN has the resources it needs to imagine and build the new progressive politics for this new century.  Chris and his fiancé Carol live in northern Virginia.

Please join us in welcoming Chris and feel free to e-mail him at cmccleary@ndn.org to say hello.  We’re thrilled to have him aboard!