Middle class isn't middle of the road: Take politicians’ populist shpeil and make it real
We know that populism wins elections, but once a politician wins how do we make sure that pro-middle class policies are actually implemented? Blue Dogs and the media conflate being pro-middle class with being “centrist”.
The debt stricken, under-insured public's realization that their personal economic struggles are really political struggles presents an opportunity for lasting progressive change. Barack Obama's agenda includes healthcare and transportation among other investments in our country that the middle class needs-- but these aren't free. How can the netroots mobilize to make it politically possible to pass Obama's domestic agenda in a Grover Norquist-shaped world?
Since 2002, Andrea Batista Schlesinger has applied her background in public policy, politics and communications to turn the Drum Major Institute (DMI), originally founded by an advisor to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement, into a progressive policy institute with national impact. Under Andrea's leadership, DMI released several policy papers including "TheMiddleClass.org 2007 Congressional Scorecard” and “Election '08: A Pro-Civil Justice Presidential Platform." Andrea studied public policy at the University of Chicago, is on the Editorial Board of The Nation and a contributor to Huffington Post. Andrea diarys at: www.dmiblog.com/archives/authors/4.html
Julia Rosen is the Courage Campaign's Online Political Director. She is a regular contributor to Crooks and Liars, when she isn't blogging at her personal site Ruck Pad. She got her start in politics working for Common Cause in DC. She moved out to California to work for the Alliance for a Better California, where she wrote over 2,000 posts on why Schwarznegger isn't a Democrat. Julia continued her work within the labor movement serving as the Online Communications Director for Working Californians. Her background is in connecting the netroots and the labor movement to bring about progressive change.
Elana Levin is an Assistant Director of Communications for UNITE HERE, a labor union representing 465,000 workers in the hotel, food service, gaming, laundry, apparel and textile industries. Previously Elana ran communications at the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, developing their renowned public policy blog, DMIBlog and helping to launch numerous Web 2.0 projects such as TheMiddleClass.org and MayorTV.com. She has consulted on netroots communications for the Writers Guild of America, East and was a founder of the progressive NYC bloggers group, Blogging Liberally.
At DMI her Kos handle was "DMIer"
http://www.dailykos.com/user/DMIer
David Goldstein is an accidental activist who stumbled into politics in 2003 with a satirical statewide initiative to officially proclaim Washington's serial anti-tax initiative sponsor, Tim Eyman, "a horse's ass." A year later, Goldstein transformed his campaign website into a local, political blog. A mix of snark, satire, muckraking and surprisingly thoughtful analysis, HorsesAss.org quickly became the most influential political blog in Washington state. Goldstein also blogs at Huffington Post, has been published in The Nation and The Stranger, and is a fill-in host on Seattle's News/Talk 710-KIRO.
David Sirota is a political journalist, nationally syndicated weekly newspaper columnist and bestselling author living in Denver. His most recently published book, The Uprising, was recently named to the New York Times Best Seller list, joining its predecessor, Hostile Takeover. He is widely known for his reporting on political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties. His weekly column, which was launched by Creators Syndicate in the Fall of 2007, now appears in newspapers with a combined daily circulation of more than 1.6 million readers.
