The Social Democratic Movement
“Liberalism is, I think, resurgent,” John Kenneth Galbraith once said. “The reason is so many people are aware of the alternative.” Among the many forces contributing to a progressive resurgence is the simple realities of the situation: the underlying facts of the economy, of the health system, of our financial system demand a return of communally guaranteed security, rather than continued increases in risk. To understand this shift in the underlying dynamics, and how far it’s gone, is to take a very different view of what’s possible for progressives in the coming years.
Christopher Hayes is the Washington DC editor of The Nation and a fellow at the New America Foundation. His essays, articles and reviews have appeared in The Nation, The American Prospect, The New Republic,The Washington Monthly,The Guardian, and The Chicago Reader. Chris grew up in the Bronx, graduated from Brown University in 2001 with a BA in Philosophy and now lives in Washington with his wife, Kate.
Ben Brandzel is Director of New Media Campaigns and Fundraising for the Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America. OFA mobilizes millions of grassroots supporters to fight for President Obama's agenda, with a current focus on passing health care reform in 2009. A veteran of three presidential campaigns, Ben also served as the Director of Advocacy at MoveOn.org and has advised major major international NGO's and progressive grassroots campaigns on 4 continents.
Elisabeth Jacobs is the co-founder/director of New Vision: an institute for policy and progress, a national network of scholars committed to charting the next generation of progressive public policy. Her interests include economic security and social insurance policy. She is currently at work, with Katherine Newman, on a manuscript detailing the history of public opinion toward social welfare policy from the New Deal to the present. Tentatively titled "Brothers' Keeper," the book will be published by Princeton University Press in Winter 2009. Elisabeth holds a bachelor's from Yale and PhD from Harvard.
Ezra Klein is an associate editor at The American Prospect. His work has appeared in the LA Times, The Guardian, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Slate, The Columbia Journalism Review, and other outlets. He's been a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more. He cooks a mean kung pao, and likes to talk about health care policy.
