NDN Blog

Don't forget to tune in to our live Web cast of "The G20 Summit and Beyond" today beginning at 12:15 p.m. ET!

With the unveiling of the Treasury's new plan to rid banks of toxic assets, the economy once again topped the news this week, and NDN was right in the thick of it. Dr. Rob Shapiro, chair of our Globalization Initiative, was featured in a national Associated Press story about President Obama's economic policy. From the AP piece:

Rob Shapiro, a former economic adviser to President Bill Clinton, said the question for the administration is how far it can push the sense of urgency before the public, and by extension Congress, becomes wary of the cost and perceives government intervention as intrusion.

"The hardest problem that they face, and consequently the country," said Shapiro, of NDN, a think tank formerly known as the New Democratic Network, "is the separation between what might be economically necessary and what is politically acceptable."

Rob was also quoted in an excellent story in the Christian Science Monitor about the Geithner plan:

“The only thing that matters here is the judgment of the president,” says Robert Shapiro, who served President Bill Clinton as undersecretary of Commerce for economic affairs, now at NDN, a left-leaning think tank in Washington.

Obama’s own job performance is now tethered closely to the success of his Treasury secretary. He selected Geithner, after all, and has endorsed his latest rescue plans.

For Geithner’s part, his job security hinges on how well his plans work in the months ahead, Mr. Shapiro says.

The Obama administration, however, confronts a risk related to Geithner’s policies, he adds: “The larger issue is whether the administration either has been or will be too deferential to Wall Street.”

Simon and NDN Fellow Morley Winograd were quoted in Talking Points Memo on Obama's virtual town hall last week (which I also wrote about here). Morley and Mike were quoted in a Forbes article about the need for a new WPA. From the Forbes piece:  

Tapping the energies of this new "millennial" generation--those now entering their teens and early 20s--would make enormous sense both for economic and social reasons.

Not only do they need work, but also, as their chroniclers, authors Morley Winograd and Mike Hais have demonstrated, many share an interest in community-building in ways reminiscent of the last "civic generation" in the 1930s.

In contrast, the current stimulus, rather than inspiring a new generation, has focused on bailing out failed corporations, few of which will generate much employment. Many of the "new" jobs will be going to the already entitled: highly paid, big-pension-collecting, unionized government workers and well-educated people working in federal and university laboratories.

Our Preview of the Summit of the Americas last Thursday was featured in the Panamanian paper Hora Cero - check it out. Finally, check out this video of Simon from this year's Progressive Governance Conference in Chile:

President Obama used his video this week to address the flooding in Minnesota and the Dakotas, and to highlight the themes of effective government combined with individual service and responsibility. First, Obama detailed what his Administration is doing to respond to the crisis:

Even as we face an economic crisis which demands our constant focus, forces of nature can also intervene in ways that create other crises to which we must respond – and respond urgently. For the people of North and South Dakota and Minnesota who live along rivers spilling over their banks, this is one such moment.

Rivers and streams throughout the region have flooded or are at risk of flooding. The cities of Fargo and neighboring Moorhead are vulnerable as the waters of the Red River have risen. Thousands of homes and businesses are threatened.

That is why, on Tuesday, I granted a major disaster declaration request for the State of North Dakota and ordered federal support into the region to help state and local officials respond to the flooding. This was followed by an emergency declaration for the State of Minnesota. And we are also keeping close watch on the situation in South Dakota as it develops.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency continue to coordinate the federal response. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is helping to oversee federal efforts and she remains in close contact with state officials. Acting FEMA administrator Nancy Ward has been in the region since yesterday to meet with folks on the ground and survey the area herself.

In addition, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is assisting in the emergency construction of levees. The Coast Guard is aiding in search and rescue efforts while the Department of Defense is helping to move people and supplies. Members of the National Guard have been activated and are on the scene as well.

This response is in sharp relief with President Bush's inept or indifferent handling of Katrina. It definitively shows that our current President can, in fact, walk and chew gum at the same time, despite the suggestion of many Republicans that he shouldn't be talking or thinking about anything except the economy.

His response should also put to rest the fear of some white Americans, particularly in Appalachia and the deep south, who didn't vote for Obama because they feared he would "favor Blacks over Whites" (see chart for African-American concentration in Minnesota and the Dakotas). This, again, provides sharp contrast with President Bush, who Kanye West famously said "didn't care about black people" after Katrina. At the time, many in the media mocked this statement, but under President Bush, who has now moved from the ranch that Karl Rove had him buy so he could seem more folksy to an all-white gated community in Texas, the wealth gap between whites and African Americans widened to the point where African-American families, on average, now own just one TENTH of the wealth of a typical white family. So much for the "post-racial society" we keep hearing about.

The President also used his address this week to speak about the power of inidividual service, calling the relief effort

...a reminder of what we can achieve when Americans come together to serve their communities. All across the nation, there are men, women and young people who have answered that call, and millions of other who would like to. Whether it’s helping to reduce the energy we use, cleaning up a neighborhood park, tutoring in a local school, or volunteering in countless other ways, individual citizens can make a big difference. 

That is why I’m so happy that legislation passed the Senate this week and the House last week to provide more opportunities for Americans to serve their communities and the country.

The bipartisan Senate bill was sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch and Senator Ted Kennedy, a leader who embodies the spirit of public service, and I am looking forward to signing this important measure into law.

This echoes many of the themes that NDN fellows Morley Winograd and Mike Hais have discussed recently on this blog, showing yet again that we are entering a new, civic era of American politics.

Watch the video of President Obama's address below:

The big news this week on the New Tools front was, of course, President Obama's virtual town hall earlier today, in which he answered some of the most popular questions submitted and voted on at WhiteHouse.gov. The event, which took place in front of a live audience but was centered around questions submitted online, was streamed live to about 65,000 viewers. Here's what Simon and NDN fellow Morley Winograd had to say about the event in an internationally syndicated Associated Press article today by Philip Elliot, a smart and tech-savvy reporter on the White House beat:

"In the new world of online media, formal press conferences are just one element or program to get the message out — to those, usually older, who watch such things on TV. The online version he is doing is an alternative way to get out the same message, in this case on the budget, targeted toward a different audience, usually younger," said Morley Winograd, a former adviser to Vice President Al Gore who now runs the Institute for Communication Technology Management at the University of Southern California.

"In both cases the questioners are just props — or, in some cases, foils — for the star, Obama, to deliver his message. But in the latter case, they get to self-nominate instead of be selected by elites," Winograd said.

In a way, it's part campaign-style politics and part "American Idol," said political strategist Simon Rosenberg.

"Barack Obama is going to reinvent the presidency the way he reinvented electoral politics," said Rosenberg, president of the New Democrat Network and a veteran of presidential campaigns. "He is allowing everyday people to participate in a way that would've been impossible in the old media world."

Obama's campaign allowed supporters to organize themselves to go door-to-door and raise money. Because of that, many felt an ownership of the campaign and devoted countless hours to giving Obama the Democratic Party's nomination and then the presidency.

Obama's aides are taking that step forward, incorporating tools that let visitors to the White House Web site pick the questions Obama will answer, turning the president's Thursday event into a democratic press conference.

"Average people get to shape the outcome, like 'American Idol,'" Rosenberg said. "This is not a couch-potato age. Average people are expecting to be part of the process."

This virtual town hall was a great gesture on the President's part. Obama owed much of his campaign success to his ability to make ordinary Americans feel tangibly involved in the campaign, and he's making strides to make them feel the same way about government. I agree with Simon that participation is absolutely critical in this new political era, and it's great to see that the President understands that.

That being said, there are certain dangers to this approach. Back in January, in reference to Obama's "Citizen's Briefing Book" experiment, I wrote that it would be interesting to see how the

Obama administration handles [unexpected or uncomfortable questions or suggestions that arise through this process] - are they merely attempting to create the appearance and feel of accessibility and openness, or do they really believe deeply in the intrinsic value of this enterprise? How far will they be willing to push this experiment? How far should they? These are questions that undoubtedly will come increasingly to the fore as we enter headlong into a new era of American politics.

We saw similar issues arise today. The New York Times wrote that "at the outset, at least, the forum had a canned feel." In the town hall today, President Obama laughed off one of the most popular submitted questions, which asked if he would consider taxing and regulating marijuana to create a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. Here are just a few of the comments on the Politico post about the President's response:

"Because a 50 billion dollar/year untaxed industry is something to be laughed about..."

"Same old goverment ...they ask what we are concerned about and then ignore it. Im sure the Mexican Cartels are happy!!! We dont need the billion in tax money from mj, we have own printing press to make money!!"

"It is a shame that he did what he did. There were quite a few respectful, well articulated questions regarding marijuana and legalization. Obama tried to play them off as silly questions from a bunch of stoners. Meanwhile, people are dying in Mexico thanks to the 'War on Drugs.'"

"The way it was handled makes me believe that he is completely ignorant about this issue or else he could have provided a much more thoughtful response then just to laugh at it. I would have accepted some old talking points but to laugh it off as a joke should be insulting to those of us that take this issue seriously."

"The pot question was #1 under jobs, green economy & energy, budget, and financial stability. this is a big issue and i'm disappointed that it was dismissed so casually given the fact the white house is the one who initiated this forum in the first place. what a let down."

Of course, in the midst of a battle to pass his budget, it was unlikely that President Obama would spend political capital on this issue. But the most fundamental issue here is this: When the President asks people for their input, they will naturally want and expect that input to be taken seriously. The American people know the difference between genuine participation and the mere appearance of it; Obama's campaign made it easy for people to actually become directly involved, and people appreciated the authenticity of the experience. If, as Morley says in the article, it becomes too clear that "the questioners are just props — or, in some cases, foils — for the star, Obama, to deliver his message," the President's gesture of openness could potentially backfire on him.

It was an especially diverse week for NDN in the media. First off, Simon had a great quote in Rolling Stone's "100 People Who Are Changing America." Guess who was number 1 on the list? Here's what Rolling Stone had to say about America's Change Agent-in-Chief:

WHAT HE'S CHANGING: The every-man-for-himself ethos of the Reagan Revolution, in favor of a greater idea of America: We're all in this together. The change is reflected in the successes of his first six weeks — the largest-ever middle-class tax cut, passed with the stimulus; his extension of health care to 4 million children; and the act he signed to bring fair pay to working women. "He has already brought about an amazing amount of constructive change," Al Gore tells Rolling Stone. "And he has succeeded in greatly expanding the limits of what is now considered possible." The crises Obama faces in domestic and foreign policy are immense, but his opportunity to implement sweeping change is similarly historic. "He has a capacity to do so much in the next eight years that he'll leave behind a very different understanding of what government can be — and of America itself," says Simon Rosenberg, president of the Democratic think tank NDN.

Simon was also quoted in several stories about immigration reform - in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Associated Press (Spanish-language), El Extra (Texas, Spanish-language) Excelsior (Mexico), and World Journal (Chinese-language). From the Chronicle piece:

Pro-immigrant Democratic strategists were also calling the confab a success. "It's an exciting day," said Simon Rosenberg of NDN. And given the magnitude of Obama's other legislative challenges, he predicted: "The White House is going to realize that passing comprehensive immigration reform is one of the easier things he can do this year."

And from the Mexican paper Excelsior:

Salas destacó que aunque Obama no especificó el mes en el que podría promoverse la reforma, los legisladores confían en que sea en el otoño venidero, por su parte, Simon Rosenberg, presidente del Instituto de Nueva Política, aseguró que le conviene tanto a demócratas como a republicanos promover una reforma migratoria este año.

“Para los demócratas, porque ellos se comprometieron con los votantes latinos a lograrlo y, para los republicanos, porque si no hacen las paces con la enorme y creciente comunidad latina, estarán arriesgándose a quedar fuera del escenario político en una generación y la única forma de reconciliarse con la comunidad latina será salir y apoyar esta reforma migratoria, y reconciliarse con esta enorme fuerza de votantes” explicó.

Our recent event with Joe Rospars and Simon was also picked up in the Polish paper Gazeta (the online version also embeds our video of the event).

Rob got major play in an excellent story by Thomas Edsall in the Huffington Post today:

Democrat Robert Shapiro, former Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs during the Clinton administration, and chairman of the economic advisory firm Sonecon argues that, by generally deferring to Wall Street leaders, the administration has become the target of populist resentment, drawing attention to the fact that many in the administration came from the financial industry, or the New York Fed -- which is closely linked to the industry, including Larry Summers and Tim Geithner. Now, Shapiro added, Summers and Geithner are in position of virtually defending Wall Street - only backing off on the AIG bonus issue, for example, when the public rose up in fury.

Shapiro argues strongly in favor of temporary nationalization of those banks which are on the verge of collapse. A full scale, short-term takeover of insolvent institutions "is the only reasonable course at this point," he said, if that means "pulling out the bad assets and the leveraged borrowed to hold them (without having to put a particular value on them), and selling what's left to a new group, under a new name or the old one. It could actually be done very quickly - so the institution is closed for a short time while the depositors' accounts are quickly transferred to the new entity."

Shapiro contends that "these institutions are so stricken that there's no other practical solution."

Finally, NDN Fellows Morley Winograd and Mike Hais were featured in the San Jose Mercury News in an article about Obama's online mobilization of support for his policy initiatives. From the piece:

Some analysts and political experts believe Obama will be able to springboard from his campaign success, using online tools to keep backers connected and motivated, and that will put new pressure on Congress to enact the president's agenda on health care and energy. Votes on the budget are expected in the next two months.

"The legislative branch is about to experience crowd-sourcing," said Morley Winograd, the co-author with Michael Hais of "Millennial Makeover." He was using a term for leveraging Web technologies to enable mass collaboration.

"The ability to communicate and organize is a powerful weapon, and this will be part of a transformational change in politics," he predicted Thursday. Winograd and Hais believe "millennials" (voters under 30) are using online tools to remake politics.

President Clinton faced a similar challenge, how to keep his backers involved after the 1992 election, "and basically did nothing — that was a costly mistake," Winograd said.

In his weekly address today, President Obama makes his case on the proposed budget. He explains that he does not see this budget as

...numbers on a page or a laundry list of programs. It’s an economic blueprint for our future – a vision of America where growth is not based on real estate bubbles or overleveraged banks, but on a firm foundation of investments in energy, education, and health care that will lead to a real and lasting prosperity.

These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out of thin air – they are a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for too long: the high cost of health care and our dependence on foreign oil; our education deficit and our fiscal deficit.

This video is an important step for the President, who many feel has struggled so far to make a compelling case for his budget. It is also just one of several ways the President is using new media to push his agenda; here's an excerpt from an email I got last week from Organizing for America:

The next few weeks will be some of the most important our movement for change has encountered yet.

Mitch wrote to you earlier this week about Organizing for America's Pledge Project -- an effort to identify and mobilize support across the country for the economic vision President Obama has outlined in his budget.

If you haven't yet done so, pledge your support now and ask your friends, family, and neighbors to do the same.

I'm not sure that the President's language is 100% there yet on the budget (and clean coal still?), but he makes a clear, cogent argument for it in this video. It's also clear that he understands the challenge ahead of him in getting this passed, and it'll be interesting to see how he ramps up the fight. Watch the video of this week's address below:

NDN affiliate The New Politics Institute has become one of the nation's leading experts and advisors on how the rise of a whole new set of media and technology tools is changing the practice of politics. The New Politics Institute has produced one of the most influential and dynamic series of papers in politics, the New Tools series. These papers, along with hundreds of major events and great videos about an array of new tools, have helped many progressives manage the transition to a 21st century media and technology environment.

I'd like to use today's New Tools column to highlight some of this body of work:

• Mobile Media in 21st Century Politics by Tim Chambers, Co-Founder of Dewey Digital and Media 50 Group

• Go Mobile Now by Jed Alpert and Chris Muscarella, Co-founders of Mobile Commons, October 2007

• Mastering Online Search for Politics by Arve Overland, CEO & Executive Creative Director
  Overland Agency, Inc., May 2006

• Use Search by Pete Leyden, September 2007

• Reimagine Video by Dan Manatt, PoliticsTV, October 2007

• Viral Video in Politics by Julie Bergman Sender, January 2007

• Engage the Blogs by Jerome Armstrong, Founder of MyDD and Internet Strategist, September 2007

• Advertise Online by Henry Copeland and Megan Mitzel of Blogads.com, October 2007

• Leverage Social Networks by Chris Kelly, Chief Privacy Officer and Head of Global Public
  Policy for Facebook, November 2007

• Buy Cable Smart by Alixandria Weise, September 2007

• Microtargeting by Mark Steitz and Laura Quinn, Catalist, October 2007

• Speak in Spanish by Simon Rosenberg, President and Founder of NDN, October 2006

Each one of these must-read papers can teach you how to message, organize, and advertise more effectively using the tools of this new political era.

If you're still hungry for more, or if you can't take the time to read through everything right now, you can also learn more about these new tools by watching top experts explain them here:

Co-Founder of Dewey Digital and Media 50 Group Tim Chambers speaking on Going Mobile:

Chief Technology Officer for Catalist Vijay Ravindran on Microtargeting:

Google’s Director of Elections and Issue Advocacy Peter Greenberg on Advertising Online:

CEO and Executive Producer of PoliticsTV Dan Manatt on Reimagining Video:

For more New Tools videos, click here.

Hey everyone, just a quick reminder that we'll be live streaming today's event with Morley Winograd and Mike Hais celebrating the release of the paperback edition of their critically acclaimed book, Millennial Makeover. The live Web cast should will start at 12:15 p.m. ET, and you can check it out on our NDN Live page. 

The Polish newspaper Gazeta picked up our recent event with Joe Rospars; here's an excerpt from the article, which also links to our video of the event:

Joe Rospars odpowiadał za promocję Obamy w internecie, a kampania obecnego prezydenta USA uznana została za przełomową pod tym względem. Rospars jest również współzałożycielem firmy Blue State Digital zajmującej się tworzeniem kampanii i narzędzi internetowych dla firm, organizacji pozarządowych i polityków.

NDN had major appearances in a great group of publications this week. First off, Simon was featured in Roll Call in a story about Al From stepping down from the DLC. Here's an excerpt from the piece:

Another group trading on its centrist ties is the NDN, a group previously known as the New Democrat Network that was started and is still run by former DLC field director Simon Rosenberg.

His organization, now a think tank focusing on demography, technology and the media, was once a political action committee engaged in trying to elect moderate Democratic candidates.

NDN has since retooled, Rosenberg said, although not entirely.

"There is no question our origins come out of the New Democrat movement and NDN has been long affiliated with the New Democrats," Rosenberg said.

"But we’ve also charted our own course. We've really tried to make sure that we've tried to understand the changes in America and build ideas and strategies and arguments around what is a very dynamic and fast-changing time."

For NDN, a "fast-changing time" in 2003 meant engaging with the net roots, the activist wing of the Democratic Party that raises money and interacts primarily on the Internet — and became a thorn in the side of more established players such as From.

Rosenberg said a fissure within his party cropped up in recent years over how moderates should align themselves on the issues with Republicans, whose centrist ranks in recent elections have been gutted. Rosenberg said that once Republicans "became unreasonable, the whole construct of the third way started to weaken.

"There were elements of the New Democrat movement that became leaders in the opposition to [President George W.] Bush and there were others who were slow to recognize how much damage they were doing to the country," he continued. "That became a huge dividing line in the family."

Finding common ground with people "whose ideas are wrong and bad for the country," Rosenberg said, "is not a virtuous act."

Rosenberg wrote the forward to Jerome Armstrong and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas’ best-selling 2006 book "Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics."

As evidence of the rift that still exists between From and others perceived as the party's establishment — a divide originating with moderate Democrats' support for the Iraq War — Moulitsas dismissed the idea of compromise.

"The notion that splitting the difference makes an issue moderate is patently absurd," he said.

Simon was also quoted in an excellent Alternet article about the prospects for immigration reform in the midst of an economic crisis:

But those with whom I spoke are optimistic that a slightly different coalition will hold together. Simon Rosenberg, director of the New Democrat Network, a centrist group that's been in the thick of the immigration debate, told me, "if people want to resolve these issues, they can." He believes a modest guest-worker program is key to winning broad support, including the support of a number of Republicans.

"Getting 5 percent of the workforce out of the shadows, giving them the opportunity to unionize, getting them minimum wage protections -- this is such an important goal for progressives that they need to be willing to accept some compromise," he said.

The original 2007 bill included a guest-worker program that would have allowed as many as 400,000 migrant workers, but an amendment halved that number, capping the number at 200,000 per year for two years. The guest-worker program was a key part of the bargain hammered out between McCain and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., in 2006.

Rosenberg fears that a bill without a guest-worker program may not earn the support of key members of the GOP, including McCain, who rightly feels a sense of ownership over the legislation. "It's going to be hard without McCain, because no Republicans want to be seen running to his left on immigration," Rosenberg said.

Kos also posted on DailyKos today about this same topic, quoting Simon and linking to NDN's report Hispanics Rising II:

There's no doubt that the system is in serious need of reform, as NDN's Simon Rosenberg summed up a month ago:

"Our broken immigration system is a national disgrace, yet another terrible vexing governing challenge left over from the disastrous Bush era. Legitimate workers have a hard time getting legal visas. Employers knowingly hire and exploit undocumented workers. Our immigrant justice system is a moral outrage. And of course, the scapegoating of the undocumented migrant has become the staple for right-wing politicians and media, giving them something to rail against as the rest of their agenda has collapsed all around them. It is long past time to fix this broken system and replace it with a 21st century immigration system consistent with traditional American values and the needs of our modern ideas-based economy."

Few would disagree with that assessment, the real contention is over the solutions. Nativists advocate a hardline against immigrants, but their loud and aggressive efforts have proven to be an electoral bust. On the other hand, Democrats have benefitted from an increasingly engaged, and increasingly Democratic Latino electorate. They're growing (PDF), they voted Democratic, and they expect action on this key issue. You see, for Latinos, immigration reform isn't an ideological issue, it's a family one. And you don't mess with family.

Next, Mother Jones had a write-up of our event last week with Joe Rospars, the Obama campaign's New Media Director and founder of Blue State Digital. From the piece:

On Tuesday, Rospars took part in a question-and-answer session about the impact of technology on politics hosted by the left-leaning think tank NDN. Rospars dinged the Republicans' much-criticized request for a proposal (PDF) to redesign its website, laughing that his company, Blue State Digital, certainly won't be competing for the business. (Lefty BSD probably wouldn't respond to the RFP anyway, of course, but Rospars brought it up out of the blue—he was obviously referring to the widespread mockery it had already received.) He criticized the GOP's email list, boasting that the Obama campaign's 13-million-strong list was developed in an "organic" way. "We didn't purchase lists and just add people to our email list," he said. "The point of having a big email list isn't just to say you have a big email list. The RNC says they have a however big email list, but the point is to actually have relationships with people so they open the message, they listen to what you're saying, and they're willing to do something," he said.

Finally, Michael had a piece in Grist about creating a sustainable system for infrastructure funding - it's very important stuff, so be sure to check it out!