million viewers per night in 2003 (and would go on to average 2 million viewers per night by 2008). A spin off, The Colbert Report , launched in 2005 to similar success. Cornering the market on âinfotainment,â the two programs are so popular with young audiences (median age of thirty-five), they have become the primary news source within that demographic.
In 2005, Donât Think of an Elephant became a must-read sensation among those frustrated with the Democratsâ chronic messaging misfires. Written by UC Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff, the 2004 book had progressives everywhere discussing the need for better âframingâ of liberal issues and for more sophisticatedcommunications overall. In hindsight, the pro-democracy movement was pre-adapting to rally around a national leader who could demonstrate the superior messaging skills and communications acumen that the party seemed to be lacking.
The same year, longtime Democratic Party stalwart Rob Stein helped to found the Democracy Alliance (DA), with major backing from heavy hitters Peter Lewis of Progressive Insurance, Herb and Marion Sandler, and George Soros. Through the DA, major liberal donors could join forces to fund progressive infrastructure to counter the well-funded and sophisticated conservative apparatus. Since its founding, the DA has helped direct nearly $150 million to progressive organizations.
Also in 2005, a powerhouse coalition called the Apollo Alliance, founded in 2001, came into its own. Its goals included American energy independence, as well as cleaner and more energy-efficient alternatives. Its model of alliance skillfully bridged once-oppositional groups, including businesses, environmental organizations, and more than thirty labor unions. Together they popularized the idea of clean energy jobs. (I later joined its board of directors; Apollo supported me in promoting green jobs for low-income people and people of color through my own organizationsâthe Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Green for All.)
With the Center for American Progressâfounded by John Podesta in 2003 and coming into force by 2005âprogressives finally had a think tank and policy center on par with the conservative Heritage Foundation. Existing heavyweights in the policy worldâPolicyLink, Demos, Campaign for Americaâs Future, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)âwere ramping up their efforts.
Within this larger re-invention, the Democratic Party went through a major overhaul. Ironically, the party found itself in thehands of two fighters who held opposing visions of the way forward. Firebrand Howard Dean was now running the Democratic National Committee (DNC). He advocated a fifty-state strategy, insisting the Democrats had to become a truly national party, and he invested organizing resources around the country to make that happen. On the other hand, U.S. representative Rahm Emanuel had taken the helm at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). His job was to expand the number of Democrats in the House of Representativesâwith a goal of taking over that body. He held the opposite view of Dean, vowing to focus party resources primarily on those purple districts where Emanuel thought Democrats could pick up seats. These two, strong-willed partisans fought bitterly and publicly over their divergent approaches. But in the end, perhaps both were right. By having a broad national strategy, complemented by areas of strategic focus, the Democrats were moving themselves into position for victory in 2006.
Bushâs presidency drowned in the floodwaters of Katrina. The smirking and the shirking in the White House just were not that cute any more.
But the most significant development in 2005 arose from tragedy. That August, Hurricane Katrina drowned an American city. Watching the predominately black residents of New Orleans struggle to survive
In 2005, Donât Think of an Elephant became a must-read sensation among those frustrated with the Democratsâ chronic messaging misfires. Written by UC Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff, the 2004 book had progressives everywhere discussing the need for better âframingâ of liberal issues and for more sophisticatedcommunications overall. In hindsight, the pro-democracy movement was pre-adapting to rally around a national leader who could demonstrate the superior messaging skills and communications acumen that the party seemed to be lacking.
The same year, longtime Democratic Party stalwart Rob Stein helped to found the Democracy Alliance (DA), with major backing from heavy hitters Peter Lewis of Progressive Insurance, Herb and Marion Sandler, and George Soros. Through the DA, major liberal donors could join forces to fund progressive infrastructure to counter the well-funded and sophisticated conservative apparatus. Since its founding, the DA has helped direct nearly $150 million to progressive organizations.
Also in 2005, a powerhouse coalition called the Apollo Alliance, founded in 2001, came into its own. Its goals included American energy independence, as well as cleaner and more energy-efficient alternatives. Its model of alliance skillfully bridged once-oppositional groups, including businesses, environmental organizations, and more than thirty labor unions. Together they popularized the idea of clean energy jobs. (I later joined its board of directors; Apollo supported me in promoting green jobs for low-income people and people of color through my own organizationsâthe Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and Green for All.)
With the Center for American Progressâfounded by John Podesta in 2003 and coming into force by 2005âprogressives finally had a think tank and policy center on par with the conservative Heritage Foundation. Existing heavyweights in the policy worldâPolicyLink, Demos, Campaign for Americaâs Future, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)âwere ramping up their efforts.
Within this larger re-invention, the Democratic Party went through a major overhaul. Ironically, the party found itself in thehands of two fighters who held opposing visions of the way forward. Firebrand Howard Dean was now running the Democratic National Committee (DNC). He advocated a fifty-state strategy, insisting the Democrats had to become a truly national party, and he invested organizing resources around the country to make that happen. On the other hand, U.S. representative Rahm Emanuel had taken the helm at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). His job was to expand the number of Democrats in the House of Representativesâwith a goal of taking over that body. He held the opposite view of Dean, vowing to focus party resources primarily on those purple districts where Emanuel thought Democrats could pick up seats. These two, strong-willed partisans fought bitterly and publicly over their divergent approaches. But in the end, perhaps both were right. By having a broad national strategy, complemented by areas of strategic focus, the Democrats were moving themselves into position for victory in 2006.
Bushâs presidency drowned in the floodwaters of Katrina. The smirking and the shirking in the White House just were not that cute any more.
But the most significant development in 2005 arose from tragedy. That August, Hurricane Katrina drowned an American city. Watching the predominately black residents of New Orleans struggle to survive
Similar Books
