Former party chairpersons Donna Brazile and Michael Steele explored ways to find common ground on election reform in a free online conversation moderated by Jacqueline Adams

Wilton, CT, June 7, 2022 – Common Ground Committee (CGC), a nonpartisan, citizen-led nonprofit dedicated to reducing polarization, and 92NY’s Newmark Civic Life Series, an initiative to educate and galvanize audiences around pro-democracy efforts, hosted a virtual event on election reform. Former Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele came together for this free online discussion exploring ways to find common ground on elections and election reform. This special conversation was moderated by former CBS News Correspondent and author, Jacqueline Adams. Donna Brazile and Michael Steele found agreement on topics including:

• That democracy and access to voting should be seen by all Americans as a point of pride in our country — “we the people” all get to have our say
• We must take the redistricting process out of the hands of elected officials and into those of everyday citizens
• Voting shouldn’t be a partisan issue, where each side hopes the other side’s supporters won’t vote. Instead, both sides should hope all Americans vote, and prioritize convincing voters of their platform

You can find highlight quotes from the event here, and the full recording of the event here.

This was Donna Brazile and Michael Steele’s second event for Common Ground Committee. Their previous Common Ground conversation was in 2018, about finding consensus about the government’s role in bridging racial divides.

“At a time when division is at an all-time high and with the midterm elections approaching, we desperately need to find common ground on elections and rebuild Americans’ faith in our democratic systems,” said Bruce Bond, co-founder, and CEO of CGC. “We are grateful that Michael and Donna took the time to share their expertise with us all. We hope attendees saw how often they agreed despite strong philosophical differences on key issues such as voter ID and HR 1, and that we will all advocate, along with Donna and Michael, for an approach that is secure, inclusive, and reflects how important it is for citizens to vote.”

The virtual event was co-presented by the Newmark Civic Life Series, which is a part of 92NY’s Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact, and Common Ground Committee, whose mission it is to bring healing to the challenges of incivility and polarization in American politics. It was hosted by the 92nd Street Y, New York.

Following the event, participants were also invited to join the effort to combat polarization by signing up for the Unify Challenge, a guided video conversation with another American who may vote differently, encouraging all of us to help close our national divide. This will occur on June 15 at 7PM ET and is a part of the nonprofit grassroots organization, Unify America. Those interested can register here: https://www.unifyamerica.org/92ny

Donna Brazile and Michael Steele are both available for interviews following the event. For interview requests, please contact Emily Cooper at ecooper@momentum-cg.com or 212-671-2086

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About Common Ground Committee
Common Ground Committee (CGC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)3 citizen-led organization dedicated to fostering more progress and less division in politics. Since its founding in 2009, CGC has held 16 public forums featuring panelists who have reached over 200 points of consensus. Panelists have included such notable pairings as John Kerry and Condoleezza Rice, David Petraeus and Susan Rice, Michael Steele and Donna Brazile, and Larry Kudlow and Barney Frank, exploring issues ranging from race and income inequality to foreign policy. CGC produces the “Let’s Find Common Ground” podcast series, which has had over 100 thousand downloads. CGC also created the Common Ground Scorecard, a voting tool that scores politicians and candidates for public office on their likelihood to find common ground with the opposite party. Free of political agenda and financial influence, CGC has a singular focus on bringing light, not heat, to public discourse.

About The 92nd Street Y, New York
The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a world-class center for the arts and innovation, a convener of ideas, and an incubator for creativity. 92NY offers extensive classes, courses and events online including live concerts, talks and master classes; fitness classes for all ages; 250+ art classes, and parenting workshops for new moms and dads. The 92nd Street Y, New York is transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action all over the world. All of 92NY’s programming is built on a foundation of Jewish values, including the capacity of civil dialogue to change minds; the potential of education and the arts to change lives; and a commitment to welcoming and serving people of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities. For more information, visit www.92NY.org.

Part of the National Week of Conversation, former Fox News anchor and ABC Chief Washington correspondent discuss the impact of the media on America’s views.

Wilton, CT, April 25, 2022 – Last night Common Ground Committee (CGC), a nonpartisan, citizen-led nonprofit dedicated to reducing polarization, held their fifteenth public forum – Media, Politics and Polarization – that brought Chris Wallace, formerly of Fox News, for his second appearance with CGC, having last participated in 2020 alongside New York Times’ Maggie Haberman. This time he was joined by Jonathan Karl, ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent and co-anchor of This Week with George Stephanopoulos. The two media personalities engaged on the media’s impact on American attitudes, and how public trust can be restored as news outlets navigate a changing landscape. Former CBS news correspondent and author Jacqueline Adams moderated the conversation.

This virtual panel discussion was presented in partnership with the Bridge Alliance as part of the National Week of Conversation 2022.

“Americans trust in the news media is at an all time low,” said Bruce Bond, co-founder of Common Ground Committee. “Last night, Chris Wallace and Jonathan Karl reminded us that there is hope for the future. Journalists like Chris and Jonathan remain committed to sharing facts with the public. We look forward to seeing our audience and all Americans reading news that challenges them and finding common ground.”
Over the course of the evening, Wallace and Karl discussed their individual experiences with their respective networks, and what it takes to tell the news objectively and without political agenda. Specific points brought up during the evening include:

• The media does not create polarization it reflects it
• The media should prioritize its own credibility over day-to-day rating fluctuations
• There is a huge range of information and news available in “the media” — Americans need to avoid getting caught up listening to or reading only things which support their biases
• News should focus on facts and journalists have a responsibility to the public to interview a wide variety of people, even if audiences don’t all like interviewee’s views

During the event, Wallace expressed optimism for the future of journalism despite intense polarization. “I don’t think we should be too depressed or downcast. There’s a lot of great reporting happening on the left and the right,” he said. “To a certain degree, the focus is in the wrong direction, it’s not the institutions. It’s not on the media or the government to change. It’s on individuals. It’s on us as individuals to demand that change.”

Karl, too, expressed hope for the future while also calling for a rededication to facts over ratings. “We need to have news organizations that are dedicated to nothing more than pursuing the facts,” he declared. “We have gone through intensely polarized periods, perhaps some worse than this. I sense in the people I speak to that the pendulum will swing. I am cautiously optimistic we will get through all of this.”

This was CGC’s fourth live virtual event and first this year, following a virtual forum last year with Gov. John Kasich and Sec. Julián Castro, and racial reconciliation activists Darryl Davis and Ryan Lo’Ree.

For interview requests, please contact Emily Cooper at ecooper@momentum-cg.com or 212-671-2086

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About Common Ground Committee
Common Ground Committee (CGC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)3 citizen-led organization dedicated to fostering more progress and less division in politics. Since its founding in 2009, CGC has held 14 public forums featuring panelists who have reached over 200 points of consensus. Panelists have included such notable pairings as John Kerry and Condoleezza Rice, David Petraeus and Susan Rice, Michael Steele and Donna Brazile, and Larry Kudlow and Barney Frank, exploring issues ranging from race and income inequality to foreign policy. CGC produces the “Let’s Find Common Ground” podcast series, which has had over 100 thousand downloads. CGC also created the Common Ground Scorecard, a voting tool that scores politicians and candidates for public office on their likelihood to find common ground with the opposite party. Free of political agenda and financial influence, CGC has a singular focus on bringing light, not heat, to public discourse.

USA Today has published a joint op-ed written by CGC’s CEO and co-founder, Bruce Bond, along with other members of the bridging movement.

In the piece, Bruce and his co-authors – Pearce Godwin, David Eisner and Kristen Hansen – write that we’ve reached an “inflection point” when it comes to political polarization. Yet despite the rising levels of division, they believe there is still time to save ourselves:

The rapidly growing bridging field has built the evidence-base that this work can consistently succeed in building understanding and increasing trust among Americans of diverse backgrounds and beliefs. These programs bridge divides every day among grassroots Americans and leaders. The situation is dire, yes, but through the efforts of the movement, significant change is underway.

The recently introduced bipartisan Building Civic Bridges Act would provide grants for community organizations working to heal toxic polarization. And over the past 18 months, there has been more media coverage of the work to find common ground than ever before.

An end to toxic polarization does not mean eliminating disagreement. Nor does it mean asking people of strong viewpoints to compromise their values in the name of civility. Given the long-term presence of polarization, it may seem that the country is impervious to change.

Read the complete op-ed piece here.

FINANCIAL TIMES, DECEMBER 15, 2021

Murdoch is deliberately backing “people of both parties who have principles”, including moderate conservatives, she says. This week, she and James invested in The Bulwark, a digital news outlet founded by anti-Trump Republican commentators Bill Kristol and Charlie Sykes. For all Murdoch’s efforts to advance moderates, she admits that she is swimming against a stronger partisan tide than when she The Financial Times – 12.15.2021 started. Polls show that Republican and Democratic voters’ views on climate change diverged further under Trump, and 81 per cent of voters now fear that US democracy itself is under threat, with each side blaming the other. Trump left people working on democracy reform “destroyed [and] distracted”, Murdoch says. But he also helped convince more people that there are fundamental flaws to fix in the system. Murdoch is not alone in hoping that this fear galvanises centrists. Opportunity lies in the “exhausted majority” tired of polarisation, says Bruce Bond, co-founder of reform group the Common Ground Committee, who sees “a tipping point coming” akin to the Civil Rights movement. Recommended Fund management James and Kathryn Murdoch back $250m BlackRock climate fundraising Yet the severity of the perceived risk leaves even some allies questioning whether Murdoch’s approach is enough.

Read the full Financial Times article here. You may experience a paywall if you are not a subscriber to the Financial Times.

Common Ground Committee updates their voter assistance tool, which scores politicians on working across the aisle

Wilton, CT, October 28, 2021 – Common Ground Committee, Inc (CGC), a nonpartisan, citizen-led organization devoted to improving public discourse in politics, recently updated its Common Ground Scorecard. The average score for members of the House, Senate, and State governors increased to 29/110 from 26/110. Common Ground Committee designed the Scorecard as a tool for Americans. It is designed to show which lawmakers are most committed to working across the aisle in solving the issues that matter to their constituents. They can see how those representatives have performed on finding common ground and making bipartisan progress.

“Legislation requires cooperation just to get out of committees in Congress and be considered for a vote. That means partisanship gets in the way of solutions to the very real issues facing our nation,” said Bruce Bond, co-founder and CEO of Common Ground Committee. “We are delighted that since we launched the Scorecard in 2020, the average score has gone up by 3 points. This small increase is a sign we are moving in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go. Our hope is that Americans will use the Scorecard to assess their lawmakers’ performance on seeking common ground when deciding for whom to vote, and will push their representatives to continue moving towards a more collaborative culture.”

The highest-profile politicians have been scored, including the President and Vice President, Members of the United States Congress and state governors have been scored. Notable scores are as follows:

Key Political Figures:

●      President Joe Biden, 41/110 (down from 43/110)
●      Vice President Kamala Harris, 20/110 (no change since 2020)
●      House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 0/110 (down from 29/110)
●      House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, 37/110 (up from 36/110)
●      Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, 30/110 (up from 29/110)
●      Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 32/110 (up from 29/110)

Highest Scores Nationwide:

●      Representative Don Bacon (NE-2), 108/110
●      Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1), 100/110
●      Governor Spencer Cox (UT), 95/110
●      Representative Fred Upton (MI-6), 94/110
●      Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19), 94/110
●      Representative Elaine Luria (VA-2), 93/110
●      Representative Dean Phillips (MN-3), 90/110
●      Representative Abigail Spanberger (VA-7          H), 90/110
●      Representative John Katko (NY-24), 90/110
●      Representative David Trone (MD-6), 90/110

Largest Improvement since October 2020:

●      Up 67: Representative David Trone (MD-6) 90/110
●      Up 64: Representative Ed Case (HI-1),  88/110
●      Up 59: Representative Kim Young (CA-39), 59/110
●      Up 55: Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19),  94/110
●      Up 51: Representative Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-2),  80/110
●      Up 50: Governor Spencer Cox (UT) 95/110
●      Up 41: Representative Dean Phillips (MN-3),  90/110
●      Up 39: Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-7), 39/110
●      Up 36: Senator Todd Young (IN),  69/110
●      Up 35: Representative Kim Schrier (WA-8) 38/110
●      Up 33: Representative Dusty Johnson (SD-0),  70/110
●      Up 30: Senator Mitt Romney (UT), 55/110
●      Up 30: Representative Cindy Axne (IA-3), 39/110
●      Up 28: Representative Van Taylor (TX-3), 75/110
●      Up 27: Representative Jared Golden (ME-2), 56/110
●      Up 26: Senator Maggie Hassan (NH),  79/110
●      Up 25: Representative Tom Malinowski (NJ-7),  51/110
●      Up 25: Representative Angie Craig (MN-2), 64/110
●      Up 24: Senator Kevin Cramer (ND),  42/110
●      Up 24: Representative David McKinley (WV-1),  75/110
●      Up 23: Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-8),  63/110
●      Up 22: Representative Scott Peters (CA-52),  79/110
●      Up 21: Representative David Cicilline (RI-1),  50/110
●      Up 21: Senator Joni Ernst (IA), 35/110
●      Up 20: Representative Donald Payne, Jr. (NJ-10), 46/110
●      Up 20: Representative Chrissy Houlahan (PA-6),  44/110
●      Up 19: Representative Val Butler Demings (FL-10), 30/110
●      Up 19: Representative Don Bacon (NE-2),  108/110
●      Up 19: Representative John Curtis (UT-3),  58/110
●      Up 18: Senator Bill Cassidy (LA),  78/110
●      Up 18: Senator Ed Markey (MA), 41/110
●      Up 17: Governor Gretchen Whitmer (MI), 42/110
●      Up 17: Senator Chris Coons (DE),  64/110
●      Up 17: Representative Susan Wild (PA-7), 41/110
●      Up 17: Representative Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14), 25/110
●      Up 16: Representative Joe Neguse (CO-2), 41/110
●      Up 16: Senator Jerry Moran (KS),  77/110
●      Up 16: Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-0),  71/110
●      Up 16: Representative Stephanie Murphy (FL-7),  74/110
●      Up 16: Representative Conor Lamb (PA-17), 50/110
●      UP: 16: Representative Jack Bergman (MI-1), 42/110
●      Up 15: Representative Lucy McBath (GA-6),  39/110
●      Up 15: Representative Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), 54/110

This video provides a short walkthrough of the Scorecard and how to use it. A summary of the highest and lowest scorers can be found here.

Common Ground Committee does not endorse political candidates. The organization’s only goal in providing the Common Ground Scorecard is to provide Americans with an objective, up-to-date and easy-to-understand tool to discover how likely their elected officials or candidates for public office are to work with the opposite party to find common ground.

Using the Common Ground Scorecard, Americans can search for public officials by name, state, or office held. They can also search using their own zip code to get a list of all the officials that represent them. The scorecard is the first-ever model to assess the degree to which elected public officials and candidates for office seek points of agreement on social and political issues through listening and productive conversation, ranking politicians up to a maximum of 110 points, using aggregated data from many sources including the Lugar Index, GovTrack, the Bipartisan Policy Center and others. Additional points can be earned via commitments to finding common ground going forward, which 23 lawmakers have made, or deducted for personal demonizing.

For interview requests, please contact Emily Cooper at ecooper@momentum-cg.com or 212-671-2086

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About Common Ground Committee
Common Ground Committee (CGC) (commongroundcommittee.org) is a nonpartisan, citizen-led organization that inspires action on polarizing issues by bringing prominent leaders with opposing views together in public forums to find common ground. Since its founding in 2009, CGC has held 14 public forums featuring panelists who have reached over 200 points of consensus. Panelists have included such notables as David Petraeus, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Condoleezza Rice, Michael Steele, Donna Brazile and Larry Kudlow, exploring issues ranging from race and income inequality to foreign policy. CGC is also responsible for the “Let’s Find Common Ground” podcast series and the Common Ground Scorecard, a voting tool which scores politicians and candidates for public office on their likelihood to find common ground with the opposite party. Free of political agenda and financial influence, CGC has a singular focus on bringing light, not heat, to public discourse.