Let’s Find Common Ground

Latest Episodes:

Women Voters and the Future of the Democratic and Republican Parties Mar 08, 2021

Show notes

Spring 2021 Center Fellow Shaniqua McClendon is joined by North Carolina Representative Rachel Hunt and Former U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Comstock to discuss the importance of electing more women to national, state, and local offices, and how political parties are addressing issues important to women voters.

Featuring: Barbara Comstock - Former U.S. Representative (R-VA) and Spring 2021 Fellow, Center for the Political Future

Rachel Hunt - North Carolina Representative (D-Mecklenburg)

Shaniqua McClendon (Moderator) - Political Director at Crooked Media and Spring 2021 Fellow, Center for the Political Future

Depolarizing America: Finding Common Ground in Congress. Betsy Wright Hawkings and Tamera Luzzatto Mar 04, 2021

Show notes

By almost any measure, Congress is much more rigidly divided along partisan lines than it was 30 years ago. Politicians run nationalized campaigns, not local ones, and frequently demonize the other side.

We examine ways to find common ground among lawmakers, and those who work on Capitol Hill, with two deeply experienced Washington insiders.

Betsy Wright Hawkings served as chief of staff for four Republican members of Congress over 25 years and helped build bipartisan coalitions on a range of vital issues. She is now Managing Partner of Article One Advisors, a consulting firm focused on giving organizations strategic advice on how Congress functions.

Tamera Luzzatto served as former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s chief of staff in the U.S. Senate from 2001 to 2009. Before that, she was on the staff of Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV for 15 years. Today, she is Senior Vice President of government relations at Pew Charitable Trusts.

The Future of California - Herb Klein Lecture Feb 27, 2021

Show notes

Former California Republican Party Chairman James Brulte is joined by current and former California Treasurers Fiona Ma and John Chiang to discuss the future of California’s economy post-COVID, homelessness, transportation, climate change, and other major issues affecting California’s future.

Featuring:

James Brulte (moderator) - Former California Republican Party Chairman; former CA State Senator and Assembly member
John Chiang - California State Treasurer (ret.) (D-CA); former California State Controller; Fall 2020 Fellow, Center for the Political Future
Fiona Ma - California State Treasurer (D-CA); former CA State Assemblymember and Speaker Pro Tempore of the Assembly

The 74 Million Voter Question: Are People of Color Becoming Swing Voters? Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

Center Co-Director Mike Murphy is joined by a group of experts to discuss how both parties should reorient their platforms to speak to minority voters as they become the majority in the U.S. and the higher numbers of voters of color who voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Featuring:

Musa al-Gharbi - Paul F. Lazarsfeld Fellow in Sociology at Columbia University Robert A. George - Columnist, Bloomberg Opinion Mike Madrid - Republican strategist; Spring 2019 Fellow, Center For the Political Future Shaniqua McClendon - Political Director, Crooked Media and Spring 2021 Fellow, Center for the Political Future

CPF Fellows Roundtable Series: American Democracy and Its Institutions Feb 20, 2021

Show notes

In the first installment of the CPF Fellows Roundtable Series of 2021, CPF Fellows Barbara Comstock, Shaniqua McClendon, and Todd S. Purdum discussed the institutional aspects of American democracy from the Senate and the filibuster to gerrymandering and political parties. This discussion was moderated by CPF Fellows Manager, Harry Burke.

Featuring: Barbara Comstock: Former U.S. Representative (R-VA) and CPF Spring 2021 Fellow Shaniqua McClendon: Political Director, Crooked Media and CPF Spring 2021 Fellow Todd S. Purdum: Former New York Times Reporter and Staff Writer at The Atlantic; CPF Spring 2021 Fellow

The Case for Black Lives Matter: Hawk Newsome Feb 18, 2021

Show notes

"All lives will matter when Black lives matter," says our guest, Hawk Newsome, in this passionate, challenging, and fascinating podcast episode.

The co-founder and Chair of Black Lives Matter Greater New York answers the skeptics and makes the case for a movement that has grown in scale and significance since widespread protests erupted last summer after the killing of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis.

A devout Christian who has spent much of his life campaigning for racial and social justice, Hawk Newsome, discusses his views on love vs. violence, systemic racism, and how he reached out to Trump supporters during a tense rally in Washington in 2017.

The conversation transcends the simple designations of left and right and seeks to find meaningful solutions that respond to the realities faced by people and communities.

In our podcast, we mentioned this story about what Hawk does during weekends.

The 74 Million Voter Question: Why Did Trump Get So Many Votes? Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

Center Director Bob Shrum is joined by authors Thomas Frank and Theodore R. Johnson, Strategist Patrick Griffin, and Former Congresswoman Mimi Walters to discuss how Donald Trump built the second-largest voting bloc in U.S. election history

Featuring: Thomas Frank - Political Analyst; Author of "The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism"

Patrick Griffin - Founding Partner and CEO, Merrimack Potomac + Charles (MP+C); Fall 2019 Visiting Fellow, Center for the Political Future

Theodore R. Johnson - Fellows Program Director at the Brennan Center for Justice; Author of "When the Stars Begin to Fall: Overcoming Racism and Renewing the Promise of America”

Mimi Walters - Former U.S. Representative (R-CA) and Fall 2020 Fellow, Center for the Political Future

Depolarizing America: Building Consensus Step-by-Step: Rob Fersh and Kelly Johnston Feb 04, 2021

Show notes

Kelly Johnston and Rob Fersh disagree strongly on many issues and voted differently in the 2020 election. But they are friends and wrote recently that they "agree on major steps that must be taken for the nation to heed President-elect Biden’s welcome call for us to come together."

Both believe that constructive steps must be taken to help build trust among Democrats and Republicans, despite deep polarization and a firm resistance to bipartisanship from both ends of the political spectrum. They encourage open dialogue between sectors and interest groups whose views diverge in an effort to deal with divisive political discourse.

Kelly Johnston is a committed Republican and a former Secretary of the U.S. Senate. Rob Fersh founded Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, and previously worked for Democrats on the staffs of three congressional committees.

Both are guests on "Let's Find Common Ground". They discuss bridge-building and why this work is so urgently needed now in an era of political gridlock. Click on bonus audio as Rob describes the process at Convergence.

Biden 2021 and Beyond Jan 26, 2021

Show notes

CPF Co-Directors Bob Shrum and Mike Murphy are joined by the Center's Spring 2021 Fellows to recap President Joe Biden's inauguration and share their insights on the country’s future under the Biden Administration.

Featuring:

Barbara Comstock - Former U.S. Representative (R-VA) and CPF Spring 2021 Fellow Shaniqua McClendon - Political Director, Crooked Media and CPF Spring 2021 Fellow Todd S. Purdum - Former New York Times Reporter and Staff Writer at The Atlantic; CPF Spring 2021 Fellow

Depolarizing America. What Can All of Us Do? Tania Israel Jan 21, 2021

Show notes

The vital task of finding common ground in American politics became much more difficult in the traumatic days after the violence and mayhem at the U.S. Capitol. While many Americans viewed the pro-Trump crowd as thugs, others thought of them as patriots.

This podcast is the first in a new series on dealing with polarization. We speak with professor Tania Israel, author of "Beyond Your Bubble: How to Connect Across the Political Divide, Skills and Strategies for Conversations That Work." Dr. Israel is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and past-President of the Society of Counseling Psychology.

In this episode, we discuss practical, concrete steps listeners can take to have meaningful conversations that reach across deep divisions. In a time of anger, deep divisions, and even political violence, how do we begin to de-polarize America? What is our personal role in finding common ground? Are there practical steps all of us can take?

"One of the things I recommend is being curious. Try to find out more about what's behind what somebody says," Tania Israel tells us.

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