Backbone Campaign: Progressive Leaders Gather at Carter Center for Progressive Cabinet Summit, Tuesday, June 26
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 23, 2007
8:06 AM
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CONTACT: Backbone Campaign
Bill Moyer: 206.356.9980,
bill@backbonecampaign.org
Diane Wittner: 401-245-3637
diane@backbonecampaign.org
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Progressive Leaders Gather at Carter Center for Progressive Cabinet Summit, Tuesday, June 26
Video Preview: Prof. Zinn Opening Greeting (Click to play)
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Seattle, WA/Atlanta, GA - JUNE 23 - The
Progressive Cabinet Summit, a unique
gathering of over forty-five progressive
policy, movement, and media leaders will take
place at the Carter Center in Atlanta next
Tuesday, June 26. It is being co-convened
by the Backbone
Campaign and the Institute for Policy
Studies. Scheduled to compliment and prepare
for the first ever US Social Forum, its
purpose is to be a strategy session for
advancing the message that progressives
belong to a propositional movement with the
leaders and ideas to run the country. (Download
Summit program with attendee bios and photos.)
Beginning with a video welcome from Professor
Howard Zinn, and facilitated by Adrienne
Maree Brown, (executive director of the
Ruckus Society and co-founder of the League
of Pissed Off Voters), the Progressive
Cabinet Summit will build on work of the
Backbone Campaign its partner project Progressive
Government over the past four years:
- In 2003 the then Progressive
Government
Institute created an extensive map of the
federal executive branch.
- In 2004 Backbone
Campaign, Progressive Government Institute
and a small
coalition created an interactive Cabinet
Roster and nomination process.
- In 2005-Present the
organizations merged to produce
a series of podcast/webcast conference calls
(61 so far) called Conversations
with the
Cabinet. That interview series drew from the
roster to feature some of Americas most
effective progressive policy and movement
leaders.
Summit attendees will explore the formal
creation of a Progressive Cabinet and its
potential as both a communications and
movement-building tool. They will begin the
design process for evolving the work Backbone
Campaign and its partner project Progressive
Government began. They will discuss the
design of the Cabinet, exploring how it might
be structured to balance local and national
expertise, and how to maximize participation
and capture the attentions of progressive
leaning citizens throughout the country
through creative use of the media.
Similar to "shadow cabinets" in Europe and
elsewhere, this cabinet would "shadow"
current policy makers, offering critique, but
also articulating progressive alternatives. As Bill Moyer, director of
the Backbone
Campaign says, " The Progressive Cabinet
would be designed to demonstrate that
progressives are not content perpetually
organizing protests, but are prepared to run
the country."
Unlike the infamous Cheney "shadow
government," operating in an "undisclosed
location," the purpose of the Progressive
Cabinet would be to create greater
visibility, accountability, and grassroots
influence over policy priorities. "As we
have seen in the past six years, the fox is
far too often put in charge of the hen house,
and by the time there is any accountability
all the chickens are dead," says Moyer.
"Equally problematic is that opinion polls
repeatedly reflect that American citizens are
far more progressive than our politicians,
whose need to fundraise impedes their
independence, innovation, and ability to
propose bold solutions to solve current
crisis." Moyer goes on “Despite their failure to lead – DLC and DCCC
type Democrats like Rahm Emanuel, Steny Hoyer, and Maria Cantwell are
all too eager to assume the mantle of “progressive,” but run to K
Street (corporate lobbyists) for marching orders and campaign dollars.
We must not allow them to corrupt a term that reflects the uncorrupted
hopes and hard work of dedicated advocates for human dignity,
ecological sanity, and international cooperation."
"We feel that a Progressive Cabinet can help
citizens overcome their sense that the
current madness is inevitable. The Backbone
Campaign hopes that the Summit will propel
the Progressive Cabinet project as a vehicle
for communicating our innovative capacity,
aspirational vision and the brilliance of
our leaders." Moyer continues, "Americans
deserve to have confidence that progressives
have the leaders and ideas to run the
country. We must build a movement that fills
them with that confidence."
In preparation for the Summit a number of
progressive policy leaders have prepared
"First 100 Days" statements as nominees for
Secretaries of:
Commerce - Hunter Lovins, co-author with Paul
Hawkins of Natural Capitalism
Energy - Prof. Dan Kammen of UC Berkeley's
Renewable & Appropriate Energy Lab
Education - Eric Cooper of the National Urban
Alliance for Effective Education
State- Emira Woods of the Institute for
Policy Studies
Interior - Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous
Environmental Network and
Justice - Jakada Imani of the Ella
Baker Center for Human Rights
US Trade Rep. - Lori Wallach of Global Trade Watch
"Bush and Cheney are leaving in eighteen
months, hopefully sooner. It is time for
progressive leaders to take control of how
progressives are seen and how we see
ourselves. We must demonstrate that
progressives belong to a unified,
propositional movement, that transcends party
affiliation with the leaders and ideas to run
the country. Creating a Progressive Cabinet
is a great next step."
As Stephen Zunes, Professor of Political
Science at the University of San Francisco
and a Cabinet nominee says "The Progressive Cabinet is an essential
project at a critical time."
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Notes of Interest to Media Professionals: The Summit will offer
bi-lingual (Spanish)
translation during the event and live Spanish
language interviews are available with many
of the speakers and attendees.
JPG and TIF headshot images are available for
all attendees and media may also request
photo opportunities during the event itself.
For pre-event interviews, please see the two
contacts listed at the top; for day-of-event
media needs, please contact event co-producer
Diane Wittner, 410-245-3637.
This press release can be made available en
Español on request.
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