An idea factory for the democrats: the center for American progress was conceived as the democratic answer to the heritage foundation. But so far, its boldness doesn't match its billing.(John Podesta, Heritage Foundation)

Nation, The, March, 2004 by Dreyfuss, Robert

For Democrats suffering from Scarecrow Syndrome ("if we only had a brain"), John Podesta, the man behind the curtain at the Center for American Progress, thinks he has the cure: a $10-million-a-year think tank now taking shape in Washington. In a city heavy with well-funded right-wing think tanks (Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Hudson Institute, Federalist Society), the center is designed to provide some ballast for the other side. Starting in the 1970s, the conservative tanks have forged the ideas that built Fortress GOP. Podesta believes that what the Democrats need to "balance the national debate" is a Heritage Foundation of their own. Finally, the Democratic Party will have a "brain."

As yet barely known outside...

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