Close… But No Answer
Posted by Jacob Soboroff on

Why Tuesday? is a 501c3 non-partisan organization founded in 2005 to find solutions to increase voter turnout and participation in elections in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. At the urging of Ambassador Andrew Young, Senator Bill Bradley and Congressman Jack Kemp joined together to ask a simple question: why do we vote on Tuesday? By asking a question that few knew the answer to and most, even our nation’s leaders, had never even thought of, Why Tuesday? set out to raise awareness about America’s low voter turnout and the broken state of our voting system.
Using social media, Why Tuesday? has for the past 6 years provided a platform for national dialogue about the current voting system, problems with our current voting system, and solutions that can directly improve the voting process, increase registration and drive turnout. The Why Tuesday? documentary video blog has been seen millions of times across online and traditional media channels, including national news outlets. Why Tuesday? was the recipient of the Film Your Issue Award as well as the only non-mainstream news outlet nominated for the 2008 Webby Award for Best Political Blog.
Why Tuesday? has inspired the introduction of the Weekend Voting Act in Congress. It has also prompted the passage of the Saturday Voting Act in San Francisco, and a study by the U.S. GAO about the feasibility of implementing Weekend Voting in the United States.
Mr. Wachtel is the founding partner of Wachtel & Masyr, a law firm comprised of approximately 30 attorneys specializing in domestic and international business transactions and litigations. He is also the founder of the progressive Drum Major Institute, originally the Drum Major Foundation, established by his father Harry Wachtel. He is a graduate of the University of Vermont (B.A. 1975, magna cum laude) and Columbia University (J.D., 1979); Phi Beta Kappa; Harlan Fiske Scholar. Mr. Wachtel was the legislative assistant to United States Senator P.J. Leahy from 1974-75. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the American Bar Association.
Ambassador Young has held a wide range of leadership positions. He was a top aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the civil rights movement before being elected to three terms as Representative for the Fifth Congressional District of Georgia. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter appointed him as the United States’ Ambassador to the United Nations. Mr. Young then served two terms as Mayor of the City of Atlanta and was a Co-Chairman of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. He is Chairman of the Southern Africa Enterprise development Fund, Co-Chairman of GoodWorks International, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Drum Major Institute. The U.S. Secretary of State recently appointed him as a member of the National Security Council Study Group.
Mr. Ornstein is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. He also serves as an election analyst for CBS News and writes a weekly column called “Congress Inside Out” for Roll Call newspaper. His campaign finance working group of scholars and practitioners helped shape the major law, known as McCain/Feingold, that reformed the campaign financing system. He is also co-directing a multi-year effort, called the Transition to Governing Project, to create a better climate for governing in the era of the permanent campaign. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Campaign Legal Center and of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society. Mr. Ornstein was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. His many books include The Permanent Campaign and Its Future; Intensive Care: How Congress Shapes Health Policy, both with Thomas E. Mann; and Debt and Taxes: How America Got Into Its Budget Mess and What to Do About It, with John H. Makin. The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and What Can Be Done about It, co-authored by Thomas E. Mann, is published by Oxford University Press.
Jacob joined Why Tuesday? in 2006. He is the AMC News correspondent, hosting specials and reporting from film festivals and other industry events for the award-winning network. Jacob also hosts SoCal Wanderer for KCET, an online video series about outdoor life in Southern California. In 2010, Jacob co-hosted the NBC series “School Pride” and executive produced and narrated the AMC original documentary “Committed,” directed by Oscar and Emmy nominee Morgan Spurlock. He has contributed reporting to CNN, NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and the PBS/Wired Magazine series “Wired Science.” Jacob is a member of the associates board of City Year Los Angeles. During college, Jacob was an advance man to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and presidential candidate Howard Dean. A Los Angeles native, Jacob holds a B.A. in Politics and an M.A. in Political Theory and Philosophy from New York University. jacobsoboroff.com | @jacobsoboroff | Facebook
Barnett works for VICE Media. Before that, he was part of the online team at Bloomberg for Mayor 2009, producing all of the online video content for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s reelection campaign. In 2008, Barnett created and ran The Ultimate College Bowl, an effort to register every college student to vote. When he joined Why Tuesday? in 2006, Barnett drove across country in seven days producing interviews with some of America’s most powerful elected leaders. Barnett has contributed to Huffington Post. He received a BA in Liberal Arts from NYU’s Gallatin School, where he studied City Planning and Architecture.
Tom is the Director of Joe Trippi & Associates where he has helped pioneer the use of new media technologies and strategies for a variety of domestic and international campaigns, non-profit organizations, and corporations. In 2007, Tom helped launch the Why Tuesday? video blog and the organization’s online strategy. Internationally, Tom has developed comprehensive mobile, text messaging, and communication strategies for advocacy organizations and political campaigns in Brazil, the EU, Nepal, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Domestically, Tom directs campaign television ad production and online fundraising strategies for a number of political clients, most recently serving as a key member on the successful Jerry Brown for Governor (CA) campaign.
Andrea Batista Schlesinger
Former Policy Advisor, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City
Jeff Berman
GM, NFL Digital Media
John Bonifaz
Founder, National Voting Rights Institute, and Legal Director, Voter Action
Jake Brewer
Chief Strategy Officer, Fission Strategy
Bill Bradley, Why Tuesday? Honorary Co-Chair
Former United States Senator
Jim Brayton
President, Long Trail Media
Lee Brenner
Publisher of HyperVocal and Founding Principal, FastFWD Group
James Carmichael
Wendy Cohen
Director of Digital Campaigns and Community, Participant Media
Tim Cullen
Rev. James Forbes
Founder and Chairman, Healing of the Nations Foundation
Steve Grove
Google
Leo Hindery, Jr.
InterMedia Partners, LLP
Harold Kaplan
Consultant
Martin L. King, III
CEO, Realizing the Dream
Mimi Murray Digby Marziani
Counsel, Democracy Program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
Meghan McCain
Columnist, Author, Blogger, and MSNBC Contributor
Kenneth B. Mehlman
Head of Global Public Affairs, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., and Former RNC Chairman
Nicco Mele
Partner, EchoDitto
Steven M. Pesner
Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer Feld LLP
Andrew Rasiej
Founder, Personal Democracy Forum
Liba Rubenstein
Corporate Social Responsibility, News Corporation
Steve Sugerman
President, Sugerman Communications Group
Sara Taylor
President, BlueFront Strategies, and Former White House Director of Political Affairs
Sean Treglia
President, The Treglia Group, and President, L.A. City Ethics Commission
Joe Trippi
President, Trippi and Associates
Madeline Wachtel
Tova Andrea Wang
Senior Democracy Fellow, Demos and Democracy Fellow, The Century Foundation
Gideon Yago
Former Correspondent, CBS and MTV News
Andrew Young III
President, Young Solutions
Why Tuesday? is a non-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2005 to find solutions to increase voter turnout and participation in elections... More
In 1845, before Florida, California, and Texas were states or slavery had been abolished, Congress needed to pick a time for Americans to vote... More
Posted by Jacob Soboroff on
Posted by Jacob Soboroff on
Posted by Jacob Soboroff on
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