NDN Blog

Using our blog: Site layout and comments

I wanted to post a quick overview for those who stumble upon the NDN blog:

  1. Blocks to the right - there are a number of "blocks" to the right that have different sets of content in them. At the top is the Search block, where you can check our posts which date back to June, 2006. (We have posts from before then that we're hoping to backfill.) Then you have our Upcoming Events block, which just highlights upcoming NDN events. Below that is where you can subscribe to our RSS feed, and below that are links to our Senior Bloggers' blogs. This is useful if you want to read one person's commentary and are looking for it fast. (You can also access these blogs by clicking on the user's picture, then clicking "View recent blog entries" or you can click "[User name]'s blog" at the bottom of each post. Then there's our Popular Content block, which updates automatically due to which posts you find most interesting. Below that is our Rock the Vote voter registration widget, our "Places We Go" block, and the YouTube video block, which gives you a sampling of our videos on YouTube.
  2. Comments - We love hearing what you think, so if you want to leave a comment, just create an account, log in and you'll be ready to go! If you have any troubles with this, I'd be glad to help you out. Just write me an e-mail at tvalentine@ndn.org.

That's all for today, but I'll be back to post more on this in the days ahead.

Thanks!

Come by the Phoenix Park

Hey everyone, in case you're reading this we're in the midst of a great panel on "The Evolving Model Using New Tools" at our New Tools, New Audiences Forum. We'll be joined in a bit by Joe Trippi, who you can see in the video below from an earlier event of ours.

So feel free to swing by the Phoenix Park Hotel if you're in DC. You can find out more about the event by going to our website or by clicking the link in the Upcoming NDN Events block to the right.

iHope

No doubt the Obama campaign is aware of their candidate's impressive oration. So it is no surprise that they are making his greatest speeches available on iTunes in both video and podcasts. Read more from Kate Albright-Hanna at the Obama HQ Blog.

For more on how new tools are reaching new audiences (like millennials), be sure to check out our forum tomorrow at the Phoenix Park Hotel in DC. More information.

What NDN Is Saying This Week About Obama, Clinton

Over the past two days, NDN has been quoted widely (both nationally and internationally) about the state of the presidential election.

- Starting it off, Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times offers a preview of Tuesday's primaries in IN and NC noting, Even if Hillary wins today, math in Obama's favor. If both candidates win one state, which is what happened, Simon explains that "is inconclusive and that benefits Obama." (5/6/08)

- Susan Milligan from the Boston Globe takes a deeper look at Tuesday's primaries, showing that Votes cast along racial fault lines, exit polls show. Simon adds his analysis to the piece, particularly on Obama's perceived elitism, which he believes was put to rest after NC and IN. He also said the campaign made the struggle of everyday people - a topic which he's written about on our blog - a priority in those states more than they have in any other preceding state. (5/7/08)

- Edward Luce of the Financial Times cites Simon, who explains how Resurgent Obama regains his voice by returning to the core message of his campaign, despite the heavy focus on Reverend Wright and the gas tax.

- The San Francisco Chronicle's Carla Marinucci reports as Obama wins North Carolina - Indiana nail-biter. Simon again says that the dynamic of the race is unchanged; however, he argues that Senator Obama has to go from winning the race to actually having won it, and that's the drama. He hasn't done it - in part Senator Clinton has run a ferocious and remarkable campaign.

- Carla then uses Simon's blog post from yesterday in her follow-up piece showing how a Defiant Clinton vows to battle on. (5/8/08) (The post was also picked up by Kos.)

- Susan Milligan from the Boston Globe also picked up Simon's post on the Michigan and Florida delegates in her piece, Obama camp plays it close to vest on tactics. (5/8/08)

- The necessary fundraising that she must do as Clinton's options dwindle, Democrats hope for exit strategy is Simon's focus in Bill Lambrecht's piece from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. (5/8/08)

- Simon's money argument surfaced again in an article by Liz Sidoti, Beth Fouhy, and Jim Kuhnhenn from the AP in their piece, Clinton pushes ahead with White House bid. (5/8/08)

- Looking on as Obama will need to unite divided party, USA Today's Susan Page quotes Simon as to whether or not reuniting the Democratic party once a nominee is chosen will be difficult. (5/9/08)

- Taking a different note as we look ahead is Adam Nagourney from the New York Times. His piece, For the Democrats, Signs of a Possible Changing of the Guard, shows how an Obama administration would be different and cites Simon first, saying, "There is going to be a new set of people running the show. The Clintons and their allies have been running the show for 16 years. You’re going to see a new generation of political leaders coming to the fore. It’s going to create an upheaval." (5/8/08)

- Nagourney's piece also was picked up by the IHT and Australia's The Age.

- Toby Harnden from the Telegraph titled his piece bluntly: Clinton refuses to quit, but battle 'is over'. Simon's commentary on the financial outlook of Senator Clinton's campaign is perhaps not as blunt as Harnden's title, but offers a reality check nonetheless. He said, "What usually drives candidates out of an election in the United States is not a sense that they're losing but when the money runs out." (5/8/08)

- In his article, Gas tax battle was a political gift to Obama, Reuters' John Whitesides quoted Simon as saying, "The game changer in the last week was when Clinton went after him on the gas tax...Obama pivoted very well to the economy and figured out how to talk about the struggles of everyday people." (05/08/08) (Also featured on Comcast.net)

- Simon was asked by Newsday's Craig Gordon what he thought about an Obama-Clinton ticket. In the article, 'Clinton, Obama hesitate to build 'Dream Team,' Simon offers his thoughts: "If Senator Obama is the nominee, it will be a very serious option that he has to give serious consideration to...She's won a lot of delegates, she's raised a lot of money, she would bring a lot to the ticket." (5/08/08)

Their speeches

Below are the speeches from Senators Obama and Clinton in order of their delivery last night. One quick comment: I wonder why former President Clinton was in camera view during Senator Clinton's speech. It was hard not to watch his reaction to every word she spoke. And with that, here are the videos:

Barack Obama:


Hillary Clinton:

Schaller: Clinton botched the black vote

Tom Schaller - a panelist at our upcoming event on Friday, May 9, New Tools and New Audiences (RSVP here) - has an analysis of the Clinton campaign's strategy in the election thus far that is very much worth reading. The lede from Slate:

If Hillary Clinton fails to wrest the Democratic presidential nomination from Barack Obama, there will be plenty of second-guessing about how she ran her campaign. What if her loyalty to campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle and chief strategist Mark Penn had not prevented her from demoting them sooner? What if her electoral strategists had better understood the power of caucus states and the way in which votes cast there translated into delegates? What if she had actually planned for the month following Super Tuesday, thereby preventing Obama from posting the 11 straight wins after Feb. 5 that provided him the pledged delegate lead he enjoys today? But beyond these questions, one little-discussed factor (with direct or indirect relation to all of the above) appears to have had fatal consequences for Clinton's campaign: She failed to mount a strong enough challenge to Obama's claim on the African-American vote.

For similar commentary, be sure to check out Schaller's prior post on our blog, as well as Simon's post On Obama, race and the end of the Southern Strategy.

Obama's "Minute" not yet up

Barack Obama will run state specific iterations of his two minute ad, "Minute", in IN and NC. Check them out below:

Indiana - "Minute":

North Carolina - "Minute:

NDN News Round Up

- NDN received a few shout outs in the Huffington Post over the past few days. First, Tom Edsall quotes Simon on Obama's Dilemma: To Debate or Not Debate. (04/29/08) Second, Sam Stein quotes Dr. Robert Shapiro, Chair of NDN's Globalization Initiative and author of Futurecast, in his piece on Hillary Clinton's gas tax showing Expert Support For Gas Tax Holiday Appears Nonexistent. (04/30/08)

- Tom Abate of the San Francisco Chronicle focused on Dr. Robert Shapiro as a Trade expert makes the case for globalization. (Abate highlights Shapiro's talk from an NDN event at the Fairmont on April 10.) (04/11/08)

- In NDN-related news, Morley Winograd and Mike Hais, coauthors of Millennial Makeover, were featured in TelephonyOnline (04/28/08), the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (04/27/08), the San Jose Mercury News (04/27/08), and KGTV 10News.com (04/23/08) in San Diego. Also, NDN Chairman Joe Andrew's superdelegate decision made news today. (05/01/08)

More participation

Eli Saslow's article from the Washington Post shows that Democrats are bringing many more new voters into the process than Republicans, validating our argument that Democrats have the lead in what we call the virtuous cycle of participation. From the article:

The past seven states to hold primaries registered more than 1 million new Democratic voters; Republican numbers mainly ebbed or stagnated. North Carolina and Indiana, which will hold their presidential primaries on May 6, are reporting a swell of new Democrats that triples the surge in registrations before the 2004 primary.

The contest between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has engaged enough new voters to change the political makeup of the country, experts say. The next several months -- and the general election in November -- will reveal the extent of the shift. Is it a temporary increase in interest resulting from a close election between historic candidates? Or is it a seismic swing in party realignment that foretells the end of the red-blue stalemate?

NDN round up: In the news, around the blogs

Before I get to my press round up, let me first say that this is awesome. Okay, now that that's covered, let me jump right into our recent press coverage. Simon's analysis that Senator Clinton might not have the power to alter/win the race despite her success is a feature in many articles:

- Michael Tackett from the Chicago Tribune continues to help spread Simon's realistic narrative on the 2008 campaign with his News analysis: Democrats' epic movie now on final reel. (04/23/08)

- Despite the fact that Clinton gets make-or-break win in Pennsylvania, Scott Helman and Susan Milligan from the Boston Globe have Simon offer his realistic look at the broader election narrative. (04/22/08)

- Bill Lambrecht of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had two great pieces that featured NDN commentary. Reflecting on her most recent win, he argues that Clinton faces uphill battle despite win in Pennsylvania primary, then looks on With Clinton win, spotlight falls on Indiana. (4/23/08)

- Holly Yeager also cites NDN in numerous pieces. She reflects on PA as The Campaign Marches On and then looks more at the crystal ball, showing Why the Pennsylvania Primary Will Register in November. She also blogs about the lack of contests we saw up until PA in Six Long Weeks. (04/23/08, 04/22/08, 04/22/08)

- NPI Director Peter Leyden was also quoted in Magdalena Rittenhouse's piece in the Polish news on the 2008 election. Read a PDF of the article (in Polish) on our website.

- In the Financial Times, Edward Luce pays attention to another potential narrative emerging in this election - that Doubts grow over 'elitist' Obama. (04/28/08)

- Representing one of two cities in PA finding success in hockey, Frank Visco from the Philadelphia Inquirer cites Simon in his piece, showing that If candidates want to win, they better get Web wise. (04/24/08)

- Building off a post of his from a while back, Carolyn Lochhead from the San Francisco Chronicle has Simon reflect on the "bigger state" argument as
Party leaders don't seem to care Clinton has taken the big states
. (04/23/08) (Anita Marie covers this piece in her post on The Bitter Taste of Victory.)

- With more from the San Francisco Chronicle on the PA primary, Carla Marinucci folds Simon's realism into her piece, regardless of the fact that Pennsylvania win a vital boost for Clinton. (04/23/08) (Carla's piece is also featured on the Hillary Clinton Club)

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