Progress Matters Draft Agenda
current as of Februrary 25, 2010
Tuesday, March 2
Welcome Luncheon
12:00 P.M.–1:15 P.M.
Welcome remarks: Marcy Carsey & David Friedman and Co-Chairs, Progress Matters
Opening remarks: John Podesta, President & CEO, Center for American Progress and David Brock, Founder and
CEO, Media Matters for America
Speaker: Paul Begala, Political Strategist and CNN Contributor
Overcoming the Challenges of Change
1:30 P.M.–3:00 P.M. Panel Discussion
From the economy and deficit reduction to job creation, equal rights, and health care reform, the American
people are frustrated with the inability of Washington to attend to the needs of the public and improve the lives
of everyday Americans. What is standing in the way of the change that we so desperately need and how do we
traverse the political divides?
Speakers: Melody Barnes, White House Director of the Domestic Policy Council, Governor Howard Dean,
M.D., former DNC Chairman, John F. Harris, Editor-in-Chief, The Politico, and Moderator John Podesta.
Safe and Sustainable—America’s Role in the World
3:15 P.M.–4:30 P.M. Panel Discussion
America today must simultaneously prevent and defend against real-time threats, reduce the sweeping human insecurity around the world and manage long term threats to our collective, global security. All the while our nation
must also lead in a new world of rising powers and shrinking resources. This panel will address a critical shift from
the outdated notion of national security to the more modern, pragmatic concept of sustainable security—that is,
our security as defined by the contours of a world gone global and shaped by our common humanity.
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Speakers: Rudy deLeon, Senior Vice President of National Security and International Policy, Major General
Paul Eaton (U.S. Army, ret.), Senior Advisor National Security Network, Center for American Progress and
Moderator, George Packer, Contributor, The New Yorker. Invited: Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to the President
and Senior Director, National Security Council.
Conversations with the Experts
4:30 P.M.–6:30 P.M. Site Visits
Participants are invited to visit with experts, policy leaders, and message makers at both CAP and Media Matters
to better understand the work that is done by both organizations. You will explore the inner workings, see their
facilities, and meet the leaders who shape the progressive movement every day.
On the Road to Repeal—Where We are Today and How We Got Here
Center for American Progress
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen will testify for the
second time on March 3rd in support of repeal of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell ban on openly gay service. After
statements of support from Colin Powell and Adm. Jim Jones and mention of repeal in the State of the Union, it
is clear that momentum is building for repeal of this discriminatory policy. But repeal is not yet a sure bet. Join
CAP’s Lawrence Korb, Amanda Terkel, and Winnie Stachelberg, with Human Rights Campaign legislative director Allison Herwitt, as we discuss the next steps to ensure repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and examine the ways
that CAP has deployed its unique capacities, from military expertise to messaging and rapid response, to get us
where we are today.
Progressive Talent Initiative Training
Media Matters for America
Media Matters will offer a short version of an exclusive messaging and media skills workshop–Progressive Talent
Initiative training, which gives participants the skills to effectively articulate progressive messages, confront rightwing attacks, and fight back against conservative dominance of the media discourse. This mini-training, which
will be held in Media Matters’ new office, will begin with a presentation and discussion led by Dr. Drew Westen,
author of The Political Brain, on effective messages for conveying progressive values and swaying public opinion.
This will be followed by media skills training led by nationally recognized media trainer John Neffinger, who will
provide useful techniques and tips for speaking with the media on progressive issues.
Looking Ahead­—Politics 2010
7:00 P.M. Cocktails and Dinner at Sweden House
Washington’s foremost political prognosticator Charlie Cook will lead a lively discussion on the outlook for the
2010 midterm elections. Charlie won’t hold back in giving his views on House and Senate Races, the likely factors contributing to different outcomes, and the state of the major parties.
Speakers: Charlie Cook, Editor and Publisher, The Cook Political Report, and Moderator, Eric Burns, President of
Media Matters for America. Invited: Mark Mellman, President and CEO of the Mellman Group.
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current as of Februrary 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 3
Rebuilding the American Economy
8:30 A.M.–10:00 A.M. Breakfast Plenary
After a legacy of neglect from the previous administration, how should progressive policy makers proceed? This
panel will address the structural challenges facing the economy, the effects upon critical populations, and offer
ideas and solutions to get the economy moving again.
Speakers: Senator Mark Warner, Senator from Virginia, Heather Boushey, Senior Economist, Center for
American Progress, Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO, NAACP, and Moderator Sarah Rosen Wartell,
Executive Vice President, Center for American Progress.
The Press and the Presidency
10:30 A.M.–12:00 P.M. Panel Discussion
Exploring the relationship between two institutions integral to the proper functioning of our democracy–the
White House and the Fourth Estate–and the responsibilities of each toward the other. Complicating the dynamic
is a resurgent Right, with an agenda that Fox News programs have to varying degrees embraced and even led.
What are the administration’s responsibilities with respect to the media, whose obligation is to hold the government accountable? Do those responsibilities differ in dealing with the national mainstream media and the
conservative media? How have changes in the media landscape–for example, the emergence of web-based
media–affected the conduct of the White House and the press corps with respect to the other? How can the
media covering the White House do their jobs better?
Speakers: Dean Baker, Co-Director, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Anita Dunn, former White House
Communications Director, Ken Mehlman, Head of Global Public Affairs, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and former
RNC Chairman, Dan Rather, Anchor and Managing Editor, Dan Rather Reports, and Moderator David Brock.
Keynote Luncheon
12:30 P.M.–2:15 P.M.
The 42nd President of the United States of America, William Jefferson Clinton will offer his keynote address.
Managing the West Wing
2:30 P.M.–4:00 P.M. Panel Discussion
Managing and executing the president’s agenda as White House Chief of Staff is a behind the scenes job with
extraordinary consequences. From policy development to strategic implementation and deal brokering, the
chief of staff and his deputies must multi-task, manage up, down and sideways, and master the art and science of
advancing a successful political agenda. We bring together three experts from both sides of the aisle to join us in
conversation about setting and executing the president’s agenda.
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Speakers: Ken Duberstein, former White House Chief of Staff under President Ronald Reagan, Mona Sutphen,
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, and Moderator John Podesta.
The Next Generation—A Conversation with Young Progressive Leaders
4:30 PM–5:45 P.M. Panel Discussion
Speakers: Matt Yglesias, Fellow, Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Moderator Ari Rabin-Havt,
Vice President of Research and Communications, Media Matters for America. Invited: Van Jones, Senior Fellow,
Center for American Progress, and Ilyse Hogue, Field Director, MoveOn.org.
An Evening with The Cabinet
7:30 P.M. Cocktails and Dinner
Invited speakers: Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, Janet Napolitano, U.S. Secretary of Homeland
Security, and Carol Browner, Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy and
Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy, and Moderator Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust.
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