Not to be upstaged by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's historic speech before an estimated 275,000 people in Berlin, U.S. Sen. John McCain used the extra time gained from his canceled campaign trip to Louisiana to make his own Teutonic overtures at Schmidt's Sausage Haus and Restaurant in German Village outside of Columbus, Ohio.
How depressing. Couldn't he think of somewhere else to go? Maybe a Mexican restaurant? What about Thai? This candidate needs a new communications team -- now!
But I digress.
I just wanted to link quickly to some early reaction by one of DC's very talented young writers/bloggers, Spencer Ackerman, who, by the way, was the one who caught CBS editing out McCain's recent confusion/amnesia over the Iraq surge timeline.
Just a quickie. This clearly has been a bad, bad week for U.S. Sen. John McCain, but I think he hit rock bottom with his tortured -- and just plain wrong -- description of the surge in Iraq at a press conference in the cheese aisle -- the cheese aisle -- of a supermarket. McCain, a true military hero, was supposed to be the candidate strong on national defense.
It was supposed to be a wedge issue, an extra sharp distinction between him and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama. Instead, he's left standing in front of plastic packages of neon colored cheese slices. McCain looked even more overripe than usual under the bright fluorescent lights. He looked whey bad. The grating episode got started when McCain -- blinking even more than ususal -- did an interview with Katie Couric and shredded the surge timeline. Strangely, CBS sliced the gaffe right out. But in the world of blogging and YouTube, it quickly ripened, finding its way to the political surface in no time; CBS quickly aired it in its entirety.
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann highlighted the fromage case presser with a handy-dandy timeline. You can watch it here:
McCain's wheel down the cheese aisle may seem funny, but this is no laughing matter. This is only the latest in a series of frightening mistakes that curdles my blood. The bottom rind: this man is not fit to be president.
Having worked in political communications for nearly two decades, I have been trying to avoid watching U.S. Sen. John McCain and his communications team and campaign as they have reverted from grown men and women into jealous, petulant children over media coverage of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.
But it's like driving by a car wreck -- you try not to look; you do it anyway.
McCain's campaign reached a new low yesterday, sending a pathetic "valentine" to reporters that mocked them for being biased in their coverage toward Obama.
Check the love-o-gram out here:
To be sure, some reporters may be swooning. But this is pretty rich coming from McCain, who has long enjoyed a sweetheart relationship with starstruck reporters who saw the Arizona Republican as a "maverick;" who couldn't wait to board the Staright Talk Express; who caused candidate George W. Bush to whine that the media was biased toward McCain.
The critique of the news media is particularly striking coming from McCain, R-Ariz., who has long enjoyed a cozy relationship with journalists. In 2000 and 2008, his Republican rivals accused members of the media of being too close to McCain, and McCain once jokingly referred to the political press corps as "my base."
McCain and Co. are incensed at the coverage that Obama is receiving abroad. He is meeting with heads of state, is being received as a head of state and sounds like a head of state.
According to a report from the Chicago Tribune's Mike Dorning:
Barack Obama has three months to go before voters decide whether he will become president, but on Tuesday he adopted much of the pageantry of a leader on the world stage as he completed an official visit of war zones and met up with the considerable media entourage waiting to accompany him on a tour of foreign capitals.
Obama's trip put him among ancient ruins on a hilltop, fielding questions on international issues in an outdoor news conference with the backdrop a majestic view of Jordan's capital.
He dined with King Abdullah II of Jordan at his palace and was chauffeured to his departing plane by the king, who drove Obama to the jet's stairs in his Mercedes 600...
The day's events provided the imagery of a candidate appearing poised and confident in the international arena, with no major gaffes to further a story line of inexperience.
But wait? Isn't foreign policy supposed to be McCain's strength? What's wrong with this picture? While Obama is preparing to deliver what promises to be an historic speech in Berlin tomorrow, McCain was left home alone to talk about gas prices in New Hampshire. This from the man who admitted he doesn't know much about the economy? Yes, it's true. McCain has become a one-note Johnny. The only things he talks about are offshore drilling and gas prices, backed up by ridiculous, creepy and blatantly false ads like the one Jake wrote about yesterday.
Again, McCain's campaign fell back on bizarre attempts at pathetic humor, issuing press credentials for the campaign's Wilkes-Barre visit today that read: "McCain Press Corps: JV Squad. 'Left behind to report in America.' " The credentials were complete with a picture of the Statue of Liberty, according to ABC's Bret Hovell.
And McCain is still smarting from his rejected New York Times op-ed piece. The Politico reports that a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives is circulating a letter among his colleagues asking them to sign on to a missive he will send to the paper asking whether it will run an ad that includes the text of the rejected op-ed. The hope is that a third-party will pay for the ad. Stay tuned.
And speaking of the New York Times, I'll wrap up with an excellent article by that paper's Alessandra Stanley. Some of the funnier snippets, in case you don't have time to read the whole piece:
On Tuesday, Mr. McCain held a town hall-style meeting in Rochester, N.H. In the shadow of the ancient Temple of Hercules in Amman, Jordan, Mr. Obama solemnly described his vision for peace in the region while standing at a lectern, the Middle East sprawling out behind him. Reporters were cordoned in front of him like the White House press corps — except that an audio snag kept their questions inaudible.
All three cable news networks carried Mr. Obama’s news conference live and in full. They showed only parts of Mr. McCain’s forum and focused mostly on his reaction to Mr. Obama’s statements. Even Fox News broke away from Mr. McCain midevent to cover the rescue of a bear cub wounded in a California fire and nicknamed Lil’ Smokey.
And more:
Touring ruins of the Citadel in Amman, Mr. Obama strode confidently with his jacket crooked over his shoulder in classic Kennedy style. He also practiced statesmanly restraint, telling reporters in Amman that he wouldn’t criticize his opponent while abroad.
Some images are so potent that Fox News, which hammers at Mr. Obama’s lack of foreign policy experience, uses its headline crawls as disclaimers: Shots of his arrival in Iraq were captioned, “Obama in Iraq: Second-Ever Trip There.”
McCain aides haven’t been nearly as creative on his behalf: their stagecraft has been notably unflattering to the candidate. While Mr. Obama was shown striding across military tarmacs and inspecting troops standing at attention, Mr. McCain on Monday was seen being driven around in a golf cart by former President George Bush in the resort town of Kennebunkport, Me. Later, the two men spoke to reporters side by side at a waterfront, and they looked more like fellow members of a Past Presidents’ Club than a party elder passing the torch to his political heir.
It has indeed been a bad press week for Old Man McCain. Even Lil' Smokey beat him out.
Back in April, Rolling Stone's very insightful Tim Dickinson reported on U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign and its Machinery of Hope, which has fueled its astonishing orbit.
Dickinson's article was a ground-level look at the new politics of the 21st century.
What's out? The old, top-down, endorsement-driven, party-controlled campaign of yesteryear that relies almost exclusively on television advertising and sound bites on the evening news.
What's in? A bottom-up campaign that weds the grassroots and netroots; a campaign in which television is still important but less so as New Tools such as the Internet, social netwroking, mobile phones and microtargeting have become de rigeur since the Howard Dean Revolution. (For more on these New Tools, check out our New Tools series here).
In his April piece, Dickinson quote Simon about this new type of politics:
"That's the magic of what they've done," says Simon Rosenberg, president of the Democratic think tank NDN. "They've married the incredibly powerful online community they built with real on-the-ground field operations. We've never seen anything like this before in American political history."
Dickinson is back in the latest issue of Rolling Stone with a new piece on Obama, and so is Simon.
In this report, Dickinson explores Obama's Brain Trust, a fascinating glimpse into Obama's inner circle of staff and advisers. It's clear that Obama's circle understands the new politics of the 21st century. As Simon says of the campaign in the article's lead quote:
"The size and scale and sophistication of the Obama enterprise — it's like a multinational corporation compared to the mom-and-pop nonprofits of previous Democratic campaigns," says Simon Rosenberg, president of the progressive think tank NDN and a veteran of Bill Clinton's 1992 run. "And it isn't just bigger — it's a better model, it's more democratic, it taps into the power and passion of everyday people."
And there you have it -- a summary of the new 21st century politics that Obama has so successfully tapped into. Here at NDN and NPI, we call it the "virtuous cycle of participation."
In a post from earlier this year, Simon defined this new phenomenon:
A Virtuous Cycle of Participation - Finally, Obama has one very powerful advantage in these final days that is hard to see and evaluate - the power of his virtual community across the country. We saw the power of this community with the truly extraordinary amount of money it raised for him in January. But equally important in these final days will be the virtual door knocking these millions of people will be doing - emails to their address books, actions on MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites, text messages sent to friends, viral videos linked too, and comments left on blogs, newspapers and call in radio shows. It is no exaggeration to say that this million or so impassioned Obama supporters will reach tens of millions of voters in highly personal ways in the next few days, providing a messaging and personal validation of Obama that may be equal in weight to the final round of TV ads, free media and traditional grassroots methods.
All the way back in 2003, I wrote an essay about this new era of participation in politics that argued the new Dean campaign model was changing the way we had to imagine what a Presidential campaign was all about. In the 20th century, a Presidential campaign was about 30 second spots, tarmac hits and 200 kids in a headquarters. In the 21st century, the race for the Presidency would be about ten million people going to work each day, wired into the campaign through the campaign's site, through email, sms, social networking sites etc acting as full partners in the fight not just passive couch potatoes to be persuaded.
This is a very different model of politics. One begun by Dean but being taken to a whole other level by Obama. It puts people and their passion for a better nation at the core of politics. When used correctly, it creates a virtuous cycle of participation, where more and more people engage, take an action and bring others in, creating a self-perpetuating and dynamic network of support. It is also why the endorsements of entities with large, active virtual communities - Kerry.org, MoveOn - is so meaningful for Obama. He has created an on-line ecosystem that can quickly take advantage of the support of the millions of people now doing politics in this new 21st century way and exponentially grow his dynamic community of change.
The Democratic Party is one entire Presidential cycle ahead of the Republicans in adopting this new model, and I will argue it is simply not possible for the Republican nominee to catch up this year. Too much experimentation, too much trial and error goes into inventing this new model for it to be easily and quickly adapted. It has to be invented, not adapted. I'm sure the GOP will catch up over time, but this year year the only GOP candidate who has taken this new model seriously has been Ron Paul - and they have paid the price. Obama raised almost as much money in January of this year as John McCain raised in all of 2007. Democrats are raising much more money across the board, seeing historic levels of voter turnout, increased Party registrations and millions more working along side with the campaigns - all of which is creating an extraordinary virtuous cycle of participation that continues to grow the number getting engaged in politics as never before. While there can be little doubt that anger towards Bush and disapointment with his government is a driving force behind this, the key takeaway is that the adoption of this new politics by Democrats allowed the Party to take advantage of this tidal wave in unprecedented ways, and will be one of the Democratic Party's most significant advantages going into the fall elections.
Much attention has been given to the money raised by this Obama network. Much more needs to be given to the power of it to deliver message, provide personal validation to friends, neighbors, colleagues and peers in ways so powerful, and ways never seen before in American history. I have no doubt that it has been the campaign's ability to foster and channel the passion of his supporters - creating a vrituous cycle of particpation - into an unprecedented national network - helping amplify and reinforce the power of Obama's argument - that is playing a critical role in Obama's closing the gap with Clinton in these final exciting and dramatic days before Super Tuesday.
Obama's camapign continues to grow -- through the Internet, through Facebook, through more and more people becoming involved in the campaign in ways they had never imagined. This election cycle may end on November 4, but the virtuous cycle of participation is here to stay.
Lots of activity and energy coming from NDN over the next few weeks. Today in San Diego, NDN Vice President for Hispanic Programs, Andres Ramirez, will be presenting NDN's lastest thinking on the Latino vote in the 2008 elections on a panel at the National Council of La Raza Conference.
Last week, NDN was proud to join up with other leading thinkers and and strategists to launch Immigration '08, a new initiative and Web site that will be tracking how the immigration issue plays in the elections this year. If you haven't seen it, make sure you check out our major new report on the growing importance of the Hispanic vote, Hispanics Rising II. Andres will be the featured guest on our weekly Members' Conference call this Friday, July 18, at 2:15 p.m. ET. To RSVP, click here. Also catch Simon in an excellent overview by NPR's insightful reporter Jennifer Ludden on the impact Latinos will have on the 2008 elections. Click here to listen.
In DC this week, we have two compelling events:
A discussion tomorrow, Wednesday, July 16, with Dr. Rob Shapiro about the new and important paper he co-authored. The paper is an important addition to a growing body of thought on creative ways to confront the challenge of climate change and details a strategy for shifting to a carbon-based tax through using 90 percent of the revenue to cut the payroll tax, thereby tackling climate change without placing undue burden on average Americans or the economy as a whole. To learn more or RSVP, click here.
And we follow with a very exciting event on Thursday, July 17 -- a conversation with Declan Ganley, the dynamic leader of the recent Irish "no" vote campaign, and head of the Libertas Institute, about the future of Europe. To learn more or RSVP, click here.
NDN travels to Texas this weekend as a major sponsor of Netroots Nation, an event that has become an important meeting of the new 21st century progressive movement. We will present two panels on Saturday, July 19. To learn more about our panels and what we'll be talking about, please click here.
Next week is just as busy. For our friends in New York, come have breakfast with Simon and NDN Green Project Director, Michael Moynihan, on Monday, July 21, to talk politics, presidential campaigns, energy and climate issues and the dramatic developments in our national economy. To RSVP, click here.
On Tuesday, July 22, we hold another in our series of events about the future of U.S.-Latin American relations, this one with Colombian Ambassador Carolina Barco. With all the controversy and interest in Colombia this year, this is certain to be an interesting event. Click here to read NDN's statement on President Bush's submission of the recent Colombia Free Trade Agreement. This event is the latest in our Latin American Policy Initiative (LAPI) series. Click here to learn more or RSVP.
Comments, thoughts, suggestions - send ‘em my way at mmerz@ndn.org.
Waking up to this morning's papers, I can't decide if it's worse to be someone who has to breathe or worse to be a spokesperson. I suppose I do both.
I usually don't blog about the environment. I leave that up to our Green Team and the incredibly whip-smart head of our Green Project, Michael Moynihan. You can read his much more technical and interesting blog posts here.
But, hey, I take my own bags to the grocery and recycle roughly the equivalent of a K2-sized mountain of Diet Coke cans (OK, and a few wine bottles) each week. So I have the street creds to write this blog.
So, down to the business at hand. Let me get this straight, because it's not easy. According to an article by the Washington Post's super sharp Juliet Eilperin (who has the somewhat crazy job of covering the weird, parallel universe beats of the envrionment and U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential bid), the U.S. EPA was ordered sometime last year by the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS, if you want to be really hip) to determine whether greenhouse gases were bad. Duh. EPA at first issued a report from its scientists and staff, saying, yeah, they're pretty bad. They hurt humans who breathe the air (like, all of us) and contribute to global warming, also bad. But wait. President Bush, the consumate oil man, got other federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Agriculture (who knew USDA was such a bully?) to gang up on EPA and say that Western civilization as we know it would end if EPA did anything to help us breathe easier under the Clean Air Act. Best to punt to Congress, which recently failed itself to do anything. And in another bizarre twist, the EPA decided that although it announced its own findings were DOA the day they were announced, they would open up the proposal for public comment. WHAT? WHY BOTHER? That's like getting people to sign a guest book at a wedding then tossing it before the end of the reception.
So, is it worse to be human and have to breathe or worse to be a press secretary when you have to lie through your teeth? Which is exactly what White House flak Dana Perino did yesterday when she said acting on greenhouse gases and global warming would cause gas prices and home heating costs to go up. You go, girl. Play on those fears of the average family when you get paid a zillion dollars a year to spin away. Oh, but wait. She said we should we should invest in alternative fuels. I suppose she means drilling in ANWR, which would provide enough oil to keep us going for about a nanosecond.
But there is hope. NDN and the Green Project ACTUALLY do believe in exploring different ways to reduce pollution and increase output from alternative energy sources. That's why we are hosting a lunch next week with the head of our Globalization Initiative, Dr. Rob Shapiro, who has co-authored a thought provoking paper on a carbon tax that would reduce the payroll tax. That's why Michael is hard at work on what promises to be a compelling paper on why extending the solar tax credit is a legisative no-brainer and that's why we were thrilled earlier this week when U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, spoke to the NDN Community. You can read his very insightful comments here.
And to conclude (while I can still draw enough breath to type), a separate front-page article in the Washington Post had more bad news for those of us who can't hold our breath until we die. A federal appeals courth has thrown out a Bush Administration effort to reduce unhealthy levels of soot and smog (read: black junk in the air that coats your lungs) because the court said EPA had overstepped its bounds. Call me zany, but if EPA itsn't supposed to reduce black crud in the air, what is it supposed to do?
So, in sum, we have the White House reject policy in favor of politics. The losers: humans who breathe. We have a White House press secretary who added considerable amounts of her own hot air into the atmosphere (bad). The losers: humans who breathe. And to top off this stellar day, we have a federal appeals court who thinks the EPA shouldn't do anything more than give awards to 5th graders who win the local science fair. The losers: humans who breathe.
As a human being and press secretary, I am ashamed. I have to go now. I'm feeling a little short of breath.
According to our recent NDN report, Hispanics Rising II, at 15% of the U.S. population today, Hispanics are now America's largest "minority" group, and are projected to be 29% of all those living in the United States by 2050.
A majority of Hispanic adults in the United States today are immigrants. Recognizing that it will be hard to build a 21st century political majority without this fast-growing electorate, Hispanics have become one of the most volatile and contested swing voting blocs in American politics. George W. Bush's success with this community was critical to both of his electoral victories.
In 2005, the immigration debate introduced a new dynamic in this electorate. The GOP rejected the more enlightened approach to Hispanics championed by the Bush family, and adopted a much more anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic approach. This approach was instrumental in swinging Hispanics significantly to the Democrats and increasing their turnout in the 2006 elections.
Initial data from 2008 show that these trends continue unabated. Hispanics have voted in record numbers, tripling their turnout from the 2004 primaries and increasing their share of the vote in the Democratic primaries by 66%. Seventy-eight percent of Hispanics who voted in the presidential primaries this year have voted Democratic.
This emergence of a new, highly energized and pro-Democratic Hispanic electorate could have an enormous impact on the presidential election. At least four of the most important battleground states have significant Hispanic populations. U.S. Sen. John McCain is not in a strong position to change this dynamic, given that he abandoned his support for immigration reform and arguably abandoned the Hispanic community. Indeed, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama has consistently polled ahead of McCain among Hispanics in recent polls.
Both candidates have been heavily courting Hispanics in recent weeks -- at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) conference a few weeks back, earlier this week at the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and next week at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) conference (which Andres Ramirez, NDN's Vice President for Hispanic Programs, and Zuraya Tapia-Alfaro, NDN's Advocacy Director, will attend).
McCain is known for his "Straight Talk Express," but when reading news accounts from his recent appearances at these events, you wouldn't know it. It seems as if McCain just doesn't know what to say about immigration -- does he stick to his original, courageous stance of comprehensive immigration reform and risk alienating the conservative element of his party, or does he turn his back on his own immigration bill (which he already did) and risk losing a voting bloc that may very well determine who our next president is? While the senator from Arizona seems to have chosen the latter (the result -- Obama consistently trounces McCain in polls of Hispanics), McCain seems to be trying to repair some of the damage with warm, fuzzy language ("There are 12 million people here and they are here illegally but they are God's children, they are God's children," McCain said, pounding the podium for emphasis as he repeated the words.) or just plain avoiding the subject.
So who are you going to call to help sort all of this out?
Just launched today, Immigration08.com is a team of four experts (including our own Simon Rosenberg) who have joined together to analyze the politics of immigration and serve as a resource for the media and others who are being bombarded fast and furiously with press releases and talking points on immigration from political candidates. Simon's teammates include Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America's Voice; Celinda Lake, President of Lake Research; and Pete Brodnitz, Principal of Benenson Strategy Group. This is a pretty heavy-hitting group who will be weighing in on a regular basis. The team also launched a new Web site today:
Be sure to check the Immigration08.com Web site often for new additions and articles on immigration. Also please check this blog daily for new content.
The Hispanic vote is going to have a huge impact this fall in races all across the nation and in seats that were once seemingly safe in GOP hands. In the latter instance, check out this article by Politico's Josh Kraushaar, who recently talked with Simon about races in southern Florida in which younger Cuban-Americans may very well help send a Democrat or two to the U.S. Congress, as a 2006 NDN poll suggested they might. Note of interest: one of those Democrats is Joe Garcia, who previously was NDN's Vice President of Hispanic Programs.
We are very excited to be part of Immigration08.com and hope that you will use it as a resource during what promises to be an incredibly interesting countdown to November 4.
Below is an announcement from Simon regarding the recent resignation of NPI Director Peter Leyden, who has moved on to tackle exciting new challenges. We all will miss Pete greatly and wish him well!
July 9, 2008
After more than two years of collaboration, I announce, with great regret, that Peter Leyden, Director of the New Politics Institute, is stepping down from his post this month.
With Pete as Director, NPI has done significant things. It produced a powerful set of papers, our "New Tools" series, which have helped and continue to help, progressives navigate the new tech and media landscape. It produced a series of compelling looks at emerging parts of the American electorate, from those who live in the Exurbs to Hispanics and to one of the most important emergent groups, the Millennials. Our "Dawn of a New Politics" PowerPoint presentation has been seen by thousands of leaders from across the country, and was brought to thousands more through our forward-looking major magazine essay, The 50-Year Strategy. NPI engaged dozens of thought leaders from across the country, which helped craft our narratives, inform our work, write our papers and participate in dozens of teaching videos and events. Pete's leadership ensured NPI a secure and meaningful place in the constellation of new entities started in recent years to help lead the progressive movement successfully into the 21st century.
Pete's contribution to NPI has been significant indeed. He has grown NPI and greatly extended its influence. He is leaving NPI well-positioned to continue its critical work and grow well into the future.
To ensure that NPI's important work continues uninterrupted, I am pleased to announce that NPI associate and blogger, Aaron Jacobs Smith, will be staying on as a consultant. In the coming months, NDN also will be hiring a new position, a West Coast Director, as well as a Washington, DC-based, Executive Director for NPI - essentially hiring two people to make up for Pete's across-the-board strong and significant contribution to NDN and NPI.
On a personal note, I have learned a great deal from Pete and am sorry to see him go. I and the whole NDN team wish him well as he takes on what will be sure to be exciting new challenges at this very critical time for our nation. Feel free to send Pete a congratulatory note at peter@leyden.org.
NDN friend, frequent panelist and contributor Tom Schaller had an excellent op-ed in yesterday's New York Times. The op-ed, entitled, The South Will Fall Again, argues that the South will not be returning to the Democratic political fold anytime soon. Schaller, a very well-respected political scholar at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has wriiten extensively on this subject, including at length in his book, "Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South."
Schaller is in good company.
As Simon wrote in January of this year in his essay, "On Obama, race and the end of the Southern Strategy," this election is the first post-Southern Strategy election since 1964. The Southern Strategy was the strategy used by Conservatives and the GOP to use race and other means to cleave the South from the Democrats. This strategy – welfare queens, Willie Horton, Reagan Democrats, tough on crime, an aggressive redistricting approach in 1990 – of course worked. It flipped the South (a base Democratic region since Thomas Jefferson’s day) to the GOP, giving them majorities in Congress and the Presidency. 20th century math and demography and politics dictated that without the South one could not have a majority in the United States. But the arrival of a “new politics” of the 21st century – driven to a great degree by the new demographic realities of America - has changed this calculation, and has thankfully rendered the Southern Strategy and all its tools a relic of the 20th century.
Simon and Peter Leyden also wrote about winning the presidency without the South in their winter 2007 Mother Jones article, The 50-Year Strategy.
Most recently, NDN issued an important report, Hispanics Rising II, which presents critical voting and demographic data showing that southwest states with heavy Hispanic populations such as Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona could be the new key to electoral victory for the Democrats.
This is not to say that the South does not matter. As Schaller noted yesterday, Virginia is very much up for grabs. But Democrats should no longer pin any hopes on a region of the country that has been solidly red for decades when so many opportunities to recolor the electoral map are opening up thousands of miles away.
Submitted by Melissa Merz on Tue, 06/10/2008 - 10:44am.
NDN is growing! Below, please find four descriptions of jobs we are looking to fill. We are pleased to share these openings with NDN family and friends who might just know the perfect person for the job:
Director, West Coast Office of NDN Location: San Francisco
NDN is looking for an experienced advocacy, political or non-profit professional to manage its West Coast Office in San Francisco. Position will be responsible for managing NDN’s interests on the West Coast, including interaction with Fellows and other intellectual contributors, key elected officials and other progressive leaders, media and supporters. Six years experience and strong interpersonal skills required. Salary and benefits commensurate with experience. Please submit resume, references and a cover letter to: jobs@ndn.org. For more information on NDN, please visit: www.ndn.org.
Deputy Communications Director/ Director of On-Line Strategy at NDN
Location: Washington, DC
The Deputy Communications Director will support the efforts of the President and Vice President, Communications, to raise and spread awareness of NDN’s agenda to targeted audiences. Specific responsibilities include helping to draft, edit and send out press advisories and membership e-mails, assist in the data management of the institution’s press lists, and provide input on the institution’s broader communications strategy. Other responsibilities include maintaining the internal and external Web presence of the organization. This includes, but is not limited to, managing and editing the content on NDN’s various websites (ex: www.ndn.org, www.newdem.org, www.newpolitics.net, www.ndnfutbol.org), blog, and Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts. Also important to this process is analyzing and evaluating the organization’s online metrics using tools like Google analytics. Applicants should have relevant communications experience (experience in member-based programs highly valued), as well as competency in data management systems (NGP) and Internet research, strong writing and editing skills and the ability to work in a competitive environment. Applicants should be comfortable and effective in reaching out to members of the press via phone or e-mail. Three to five years of communications experience preferred. The position reports to the Vice President, Communications. Salary and benefits package commensurate with experience. Please submit resume, two writing samples, references and a cover letter to: jobs@ndn.org. For more information on NDN, please visit: www.ndn.org.
Manager, New Politics Institute
Location: Washington, DC
NDN is looking for an experienced professional to manage the day-to-day operations of the New Politics Institute (NPI), NDN’s think tank for politics. The position will jointly report to a West Coast-based Director and NDN President, and be based in Washington. The position will oversee interaction with Fellows and other intellectual contributors, manage external relations and marketing of NPI and its strong product line and help raise money for the think tank. Six years of relevant professional experience required. Time spent in professional advocacy or political campaign work a plus. Please submit resume, references and a cover letter to: jobs@ndn.org. For more information on NDN, please visit: www.ndn.org. For more information on NPI, please visit: www.newpolitics.net.
Writer/Researcher for President of NDN
Location: Washington, DC
The Writer/Researcher will be a talented writer who will work directly with NDN President/CEO. Strong writing and academic training in political science or American history are necessary for consideration. One to two years experience in politics or advocacy required. This position reports to the Vice President, Communications. Salary and benefits package commensurate with experience. Please submit resume, two writing samples, references and a cover letter to: jobs@ndn.org. For more information on NDN, please visit: www.ndn.org.
