Representative Harold Ford Jr.
Representative Harold Ford Jr.
Former U.S. House Representative from Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District
Representative Harold Ford Jr. is an American politician and was the last chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). He was a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee’s 9th congressional district, centered in Memphis, from 1997 to 2007. Ford did not seek re-election to his House seat in 2006 when he unsuccessfully sought the Senate seat vacated by retiring Bill Frist.
Between 2011 and 2017, Ford worked for Morgan Stanley as a managing director. He also regularly appeared on television on political-related programs, such as NBC's Meet the Press, MSNBC, CNN, and CNBC. He wrote the book, More Davids Than Goliaths: A Political Education, published in 2010.
Ford spoke at The Common Good as part of the 2008 Democratic National Convention Panel.
Twitter: @HFord2
Richard Wolffe
Richard Wolffe
Journalist, political analyst
Richard Wolffe is an award-winning journalist and political analyst. He covered the entire length of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign for Newsweek magazine, traveling with the candidate and his inner circle from his announcement through election day, Wolffe is currently a columnist at The Guardian.
Wolffe began writing about American politics as a senior journalist at the Financial Times, serving as its deputy bureau chief and U.S. diplomatic correspondent in Washington D.C. In that capacity, he managed coverage of business and political affairs in the nation’s capital, and reported on U.S. foreign policy at the State Department and National Security Council. He first started reporting on George W. Bush and his Texas team in 1999, at the start of the presidential campaign. He traveled with then-Governor Bush for more than a year. Wolffe spent eight years with the Financial Times including four years in the United Kingdom. He joined Newsweek magazine in November 2002 as diplomatic correspondent, covering foreign policy and international affairs. In the 2004 presidential election, he covered the chaotic Howard Dean campaign before switching to John Kerry’s campaign.
His book about the Obama campaign, entitled Renegade: The Making of a President, was published by Crown in June 2009 and became an instant New York Times bestseller. On NBC, he has been featured as a political commentator on Meet The Press and TODAY.
Wolffe spoke at The Common Good as part of the 2008 Democratic National Convention Panel.
Twitter: @richardwolffedc
Governor Mark Warner
Mark Warner
American politician
Mark Robert Warner is an American politician and businessman, currently serving as the junior United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Warner was the 69th governor of Virginia from 2002 to 2006 and is the honorary chairman of the Forward Together PAC. Warner delivered the keynote address before the nation at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Mark Warner’s experience as a congressional staffer and Democratic Party fundraiser in the 1980s prompted his involvement in telecommunications venture capital; he founded the firm Columbia Capital.
In 2006 he was widely expected to pursue the Democratic nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential elections; however, he announced in October 2006 that he would not run, citing a desire not to disrupt his family life. Warner was considered to be a potential vice presidential candidate, but upon receiving the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, he announced that he “will not accept any other opportunity.”
Warner was hosted by The Common Good in 2008: Meet & Greet: Governor Mark Warner.
Twitter: @MarkWarner
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Paul Glastris
Paul Glastris
Editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly
Paul Glastris is the editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly and a senior fellow at the Western Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
From September 1998 to January, 2001, he was a special assistant and senior speechwriter to President Bill Clinton. He co-wrote the President’s address to the Democratic convention in Los Angeles in August, 2000, and contributed to his 1999 and 2000 State of the Union addresses. Glastris created the President’s “DC Reads this Summer” program, which has put over 1000 federal employees as volunteer reading tutors in Washington, D.C. public schools.
Before joining the White House, Glastris spent ten years as a correspondent and editor at U.S. News & World Report. There, he conceived of and edited two end-of-the-year issues consisting of “solution-oriented” journalism in 1997 and 1998. As Bureau Chief in Berlin, Germany (1995/1996), he covered former Yugoslavia during the final months of the Bosnian War. Prior to that, he covered the Midwest from the magazine’s Chicago bureau during two presidential campaigns, the Mississippi floods of 1993, and the rise of the Michigan Militia. He produced profiles of Midwest mayors, governors and other personalities, from Jesse Jackson to then-Presidential candidate Bill Clinton.
Glastris moderated a talk on The Role of Religion in the 2008 Campaign at The Common Good with Jon Meacham, Amy Sullivan, and Steven Waldman, introduced by Richard Feigen.
Twitter: @glastris
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington
Author, businesswoman
Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, a nationally syndicated columnist, and the author of thirteen books. She is also co-host of Left, Right & Center, public radio’s popular political roundtable program, as well as Both Sides Now, a weekly syndicated radio show with Mary Matalin, moderated by Mark Green.
In May 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, a news and blog site that has quickly become one of the most widely-read, linked to, and frequently-cited media brands on the Internet. In 2006, she was named to the Time’s 100, Time Magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. She serves on several boards that promote community solutions to social problems, including A Place Called Home, which works with at-risk children in South Central Los Angeles. She also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Archer School for Girls.
In 2011 AOL announced it would acquire The Huffington Post for $315 million. As part of the deal, Arianna Huffington became president and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post Media Group.
The Common Good hosted Huffington in July of 2007: The Impact of the Internet.
Twitter: @ariannahuff
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Gerald Rafshoon
Gerald Rafshoon
Television producer
Gerald Rafshoon is an American television producer and political operative. He is one of the four founding members of Unity08, and was the White House Communications Director under the presidency of Jimmy Carter. (1)
Rafshoon has spent over 40 years in various aspects of communications including advertising, publicity, politics and film. His experience includes running a successful advertising agency, serving as White House Communications Director and as Producer and Executive Producer of motion pictures for television and cable. In 1976, Rafshoon was the architect of the advertising and public relations campaign that helped Jimmy Carter in his drive to become the 39th President of the United States. Following his White House years, Rafshoon began producing motion pictures and television programs. (1)
Rafshoon spoke in a discussion on The Politics of Polarization alongside Doug Bailey at The Common Good in 2007.
(1) Material from Wikipedia.
Ambassador Dan Gillerman
Ambassador Dan Gillerman
Israel’s 13th Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Dan Gillerman was Israel’s 13th Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He was appointed in July 2002 and assumed his post on January 1, 2003, serving through 2008. On June 14, 2005, he was elected to the position of Vice-President of the 60th UN General Assembly. In this position, Gillerman played a central role during the initial negotiation stages of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.
Gillerman served as the CEO of several Israeli companies, Chairman of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, member of the board of the First International Bank of Israel and Director of Bank Leumi and the Bank of Israel. He also served on the Prime Minister’s National Economic and Social Council, the President’s Committee of the Coordinating Council of Israel’s Economic Organizations, as Chairman of the Israel-British Business Council, and as member of the executive board of the International Chamber of Commerce of the World Business Organization.
Gillerman has played a prominent role in helping steer Israel towards economic liberalization and a free market economy. He is actively engaged in the economic aspects of the peace process and has engaged Palestinian and other Arab leaders in an attempt to further economic cooperation within the region.
The Common Good hosted Mr. Gillerman in June of 2006: Middle East Policy with Ambassador Dan Gillerman.
Twitter: @DanGillerman