At the beginning of his Monday night Crain lecture, political writer Ari Berman said it was “surreal” to see posters of his face plastered on the walls of a building where he was a student not long before.
Berman, Medill ‘04, spoke to the crowd in a presentation titled “Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics.” His speech was held in the McCormick Tribune Forum as part of the Crain Lecture Series, which allows speakers to reach out to the Medill community and beyond to talk about their experiences as journalists, as well as relevant topics in today’s news.
A political writer for The Nation magazine, Berman has also written for publications including The New York Times and The New Republic. The title of his speech hails from his newly released book, which outlines how the grassroots movement of recent political campaigns has proved of key importance in mobilizing the Democratic Party. Interspersed with his commentary on today’s politics, Berman told of his personal experiences as a Medill student, a member of a political campaign and eventually a political journalist.
“I was always a curious guy and a bit of a smart ass,” Berman said.
He said his decision to become a writer originally stemmed from a love of music, but on a study abroad venture to Geneva in 2003, his interests changed decidedly. Amidst the escalation of the war in Iraq, he became “enraged by the lack of debate at home.”
After returning to Medill, Berman took a class with current White House senior adviser David Axelrod in which he and his fellow classmates were prompted to go out and join a political campaign. Many of his fellow classmates were jumping on what was the initial formation of the Barack Obama bandwagon.
“Obama became our pet project,” Berman said.
However, Berman went on a different path and chose to join the Howard Dean campaign. A great portion of the lecture and the book “Herding Donkeys” outlined Howard Dean’s effect on the Democratic Party, both as a candidate in the 2004 election and eventually as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
Berman went on to describe in even more detail his perspective on current politics, including the urgent need for Democrats to remain strong and connected. He described the problem as being rooted in the fact that “the right has been very engaged and the left has been less engaged.”
Although he originally considered Berman as looking rather young for his age and experience, Medill freshman Mike Mallazzo said that once Berman began speaking, he could tell he was an intelligent lecturer.
“He certainly knows a lot,” Mallazzo said.
The lecture also drew a large portion of its audience from outside the Northwestern community, some of whom have been regular attendees of past Crain lectures. Evanston resident Davis Fisher attended the previous lecture by Gwen Ifill and described Berman as being “comparably articulate” and “very knowledgeable.”
