Demos Offers Resources for Election and Convention News Reporting

New York, NY—Demos, a national public policy and research organization, is making a wide array of research and experts available to the media for interviews on issues central to Election 2008--from the mechanical challenges of the election process to economic and social issues driving voters' choices at the polls. 

Key Demos experts will be at the Democratic National Convention, including Distinguished Senior Fellow Robert Kuttner, author of "Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of Transformative Presidency"--a surprise new book to be launched and distributed at the convention. The renowned theorist and author Benjamin R. Barber, who is a Distinguished Senior Fellow and President of CivWorld at Demos, will also be among those in attendance. Barber was also an advisor to President Clinton in the 1990s. Other Demos Fellows at the convention include Allison Fine, author of "Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age," and Demos Senior Fellow Rich Benjamin.

DEMOS' EXPERTS AND RESEARCH COVER TOPICS SUCH AS:
 

RECENT RESEARCH REPORTS INCLUDE:

• Challenges facing voters on Election Day, problems with election mechanics, fraud, registration, as well as best practices in states where turnout is expected to be highest.
• Economic security issues facing voters in a troubled economy, including the housing market crisis, credit card industry practices and spiraling credit card debt, challenges facing the middle class, economic concerns of young adults, and financial challenges and opportunity barriers faced by African Americans, Latinos, and others.
• Public policy issues like health care reform, regulation, taxes and trade.
• The role of government in American life.
• Values, ethics and "cheating" in America.
• Global realities in an ever-changing world, including increasing international interdependence, expansion of the global economy, and responsible U.S. foreign engagement.
• Demos experts conduct wide-ranging research, policy reform efforts, and produce reports, books as well as commentary, analysis and frequent Congressional testimony.
   
• "Beyond the Mortgage Meltdown: Addressing the Current Crisis, Avoiding a Future Catastrophe" 
• "Economic State of Young America," a comprehensive databook examining the financial conditions of today's young adults
• "By a Thread: The New Experience of America's Middle Class," and "Economic (In)Security: The Experience of the African-American and Latino Middle Classes" 
• "An Analysis of Voter Fraud in the United States"
• "The Challenges to Fair Elections" briefing paper series

RECENT BOOKS INCLUDE:

• "The Samaritans Dilemma: Should Government Help Your Neighbor?" by Deborah Stone 
• "Up to Our Eyeballs: How Shady Lenders and Failed Economic Policies are Drowning Americans in Debt," by Jose Garcia, James Lardner and Cindy Zeldin, with a foreword by Tamara Draut 
• "SICK: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis-and the People Who Pay the Price," by Jonathan Cohn

Demos' analysts and experts have appeared in a wide variety of print and broadcast media over the years, including CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, NPR, Fox News, PBS, Rolling Stone, Businessweek, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Time, The Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos, Huffington Post, and many others. Some of those seasoned experts, available for print, television, radio and online outlet interviews, are listed here. For a full list visit www.demos.org.

MILES RAPOPORT is President of Demos and former Secretary of the State of Connecticut. Miles has an extensive record of speaking and writing on issues of democracy, election reform, economic inequality, voter access and voter disfranchisement.

TAMARA DRAUT is Director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos and author of "Strapped: Why America's 20 and 30 Somethings Can't Get Ahead," published by Doubleday in January 2006. www.strappedthebook.com

DAVID CALLAHAN has written extensively about American history, business and public policy. He is author of "The Moral Center (Harcourt, Sept 2006) and "The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead" (Harcourt, Jan. 2004). www.thecheatingculture.com

JOSE GARCIA is the Senior Research and Policy Associate for the Economic Opportunity Program, working on issues such as household debt and assets. He is co- author of "Up to Our Eyeballs: How Shady Lenders and Failed Economic Policies are Drowning Americans in Debt," published by Demos and the New Press in April 2008. www.uptooureyeballs.com 

STUART COMSTOCK-GAY serves as the Director of Demos' Democracy Program and Stuart has an extensive record of speaking and writing on issues of democracy, foundation practices and civil liberties.

BRENDA WRIGHT is the Legal Director in Demos' Democracy Program. Before joining Demos, Brenda served as Director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington, D.C., litigating cases throughout the country to protect the voting rights of citizens of color. She recently argued a campaign finance case in front of the Supreme Court.

ROBERT KUTTNER, a long time journalist and analyst writing about the economy, is co-founder and co-editor of "The American Prospect" magazine, as well as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos. He is author of the recent books "Obama's Challenge" and the "Squandering of America", and was a longtime columnist for "Business Week", and continues to write columns in the "Boston Globe." www.obamaschallenge.com 

LINDA TARR-WHELAN is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos, working on Women's Leadership and is currently writing a book on the topic. Ms. Tarr-Whelan served as Ambassador to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in the Clinton Administration and as Deputy Assistant for Women's Concerns in the Carter White House.

JONATHAN COHN is a senior editor at "The New Republic," where he has been since 1997 and served previously as executive editor. Jonathan's writing on domestic policy and politics--particularly health care--have appeared in many magazines and newspapers. He is also the author of "Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis and the People Who Pay the Price" (Harper Collins, April 2007).

BENJAMIN R. BARBER is internationally renowned political theorist and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Demos. He is President of the CivWorld program at Demos, the international NGO that sponsors Interdependence Day and the Paradigm Project, and was Walt Whitman Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University for 32 years, and then Gershon and Carol Kekst Professor of Civil Society at The University of Maryland. Barber is the author of 17 books and many articles and op-eds. He was a founding editor and for 10 years editor-in-chief of the distinguished international quarterly Political Theory. In the 1990s, Barber was an advisor to President Clinton. www.benjaminbarber.com 

LORRAINE MINNITE has taught American and urban politics at Barnard College since 2000. Prior to that she was the Associate Director of the Center for Urban Research and Policy at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs. Her research is concerned with issues of equality, social and racial justice, political conflict and institutional change. Prof. Minnite has consulted with various labor, advocacy, and governmental organizations, and political campaigns which have relied on her expertise in public policy and demographic patterns in New York City.

RICH BENJAMIN is a Senior Fellow at Demos with a background is in media, politics and academia, and is a frequent lecturer on these topics in the US and Europe.  His social and political commentary is featured in newspapers nationwide.  This scholarship earned professional support from Brown University and the National Endowment for the Humanities. From 2001-2, he was Visiting Scholar at Columbia University Law School. Rich's public service includes operating as a senior advisor to Why Tuesday?, a bi-partisan grassroots campaign to increase civic participation, chaired by Jack Kemp, Bill Bradley, and Andrew Young. He also serves on the Advisory Board of The Roosevelt Institution. He is currently working on a book, due out in March 2009 by Hyperion.

ALLISON FINE is a Senior Fellow at Demos whose work focuses on "unleashing broad participation in our democracy." Her first book, "Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age," was published in 2006 (Wiley & Sons). Allison's writing focuses on the use of social media and interactive digital tools for positive social change. Allison was the Founder of Innovation Network, Inc. (InnoNet) and served as Executive Director and President from 1992-2004, and was C.E.O. of The E-Volve Foundation in 2004-2005. Allison will be live-blogging the conventions at http://afine2.wordpress.com/.

Members of the Press: 

To schedule an interview with key Demos staff, or to book an interview at the convention, please contact Tim Rusch, [email protected], 917-399-0236, or Gennady Kolker, [email protected], 212-389-1408.