Biden Year 1 Review
with
Ronald Brownstein, David Gergen, and Tara Setmayer
Thursday, March 10th
5:00-6:30pm ET
We are thrilled to have former presidential advisor David Gergen, journalist Ron Brownstein, and former GOP communications director Tara Setmayer join us for an important look back at Joe Biden’s first year as president, examining the successes and failures, low points and the highlights of the administration so far. Our expert panel will discuss how America has changed under President Biden, and share their thoughts on what is to come in 2022 and beyond.
What are we likely to see from the next 3 years of the Biden Presidency? What is the outlook for 2022? Join The Common Good for a smart and substantive discussion about how Biden is doing, how it fits in the historical context, and how he can do better.
About the Speakers:
David Gergen is an expert on politics and leadership who has served as a White House adviser to four U.S. presidents of both parties: Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. He currently serves as a professor of public service and founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, positions he has held for over a decade. In addition, he serves as a senior political analyst for CNN and works actively with a rising generation of new leaders.
In the 1980s, he began his career in journalism. Professor Gergen has been a regular commentator on public affairs for over 30 years. Twice he has been a member of election coverage teams that won Peabody awards, and he has contributed to two Emmy award-winning political analysis teams. In the late 1980s, he was chief editor of U.S. News & World Report, working with publisher Mort Zuckerman to achieve record gains in circulation and advertising.
Ronald Brownstein s Atlantic Media's Editorial Director for Strategic Partnerships, in charge of long-term editorial strategy. He is also a CNN senior political analyst, regularly appearing across the network's programming and special political coverage. He writes a weekly column and regularly contributes other pieces for the National Journal, contributes to Quartz, and The Atlantic, and coordinates political coverage and activities across publications produced by Atlantic Media.
Brownstein was twice named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, receiving that recognition for his coverage of both the 1996 and 2004 presidential campaigns. In addition, he is the recipient of several journalism awards, including the Exceptional Merit in Media award from the National Women's Political Caucus, and the Excellence in Media award from the National Council on Public Polls in 2005.
In his sixth and most recent book, The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America. Brownstein diagnoses the electoral, demographic, and institutional forces that have wreaked such change over the American political landscape, pulling politics into the margins and leaving precious little common ground for compromise.
Tara Setmayer is an expert on political communications, and currently serves as a University of Virginia Center for Politics Resident Scholar. Setmayer focuses her "tell it like it is" commentary and analysis on political issues that impact America's democracy. She is a former CNN political commentator, a former contributor to ABC News and the former GOP Communications Director on Capitol Hill. In 2020, Setmayer was named as a Harvard Institute of Politics Spring 2020 Resident Fellow. Also 2020, she joined The Lincoln Project as a senior advisor and hosts the live show "The Breakdown" along side co-founder Rick Wilson. Prior to joining ABC, Tara became a household name for her no-nonsense commentary as a CNN political commentator during the 2016 presidential election cycle where Vulture.com recognized her as one of 2016's "Top 20 Election Coverage Stars". From 2006 to 2013, Setmayer worked in the U.S. House of Representatives as the Communications Director for the Republican Representative of California's 48th District, during which she handled immigration and federal law enforcement policy issues, and led the successful national effort to free Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean through a presidential commutation. She's appeared on The View, Good Morning America, and on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher. After spending 27 years with the Republican Party, Setmayer publicly left the GOP in November 2020 after Donald Trump refused to concede the election to Joe Biden after losing the electoral vote. She now identifies as a conservative independent.
