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Part II: Interview With Tom Sheridan, Lobbyist to the Stars

CitizenSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:00:49 -0700

Here's the continuation of our interview with Tom Sheridan, the lobbyist who works with Bono on his ONE campaign to end global poverty. Liberty took in a ONE campaign panel with Ben Affleck, Madeleine Albright, and Tom Daschle at the convention yesterday - more details on that event soon! Here's the continuation of our conversation with Tom:

Who else do you work with?

Julia Ormond is another great example, she's a client of ours who is doing work on human trafficking and slavery, and speaking out before anyone was really talking about. She wasn't only talking about it, but she was immersed, was deeply immersed in the substance of it. You know, what are the major policy issues that need to be launched in order to track people, things like a universal birth certificate. She was on top of that stuff before anyone really wrote about this.

What makes a celebrity seek you out?

To see his answer and more, read more.

What we look for and what we really love working with are celebrities who are about those two Cs. We're not your usual K Street lobbying firm. We represent almost only not-for-profits and are about taking those tough issues into the Washington environment. We're a little off the beaten path, so for people like Bono and Julia Ormond to find us, they really have to be committed in a much deeper sense. Bono doesn't need anyone to open a door for him, he's perfectly capable of opening his own doors - and he'll tell you that - that is not the hard part of my job with him. The hard part is how will we ask for what we want when we go in, how will we defend what we asked for last time, and why are we defending a taxpayer investment in a place called Africa and for a disease called AIDS. He's got to have real answers for those questions and thoughtful policymakers ask those questions. So my job is to make sure he is always well-positioned in the playing field and very well informed.

How does he become the perfect advocate for ONE?

To his credit, he gets on an airplane and he goes to Africa and gets on the ground so that he can say to people, "Look I just came from there and there's a village in Uganda where they've cut their maternal transmission of HIV rate from 70 percent to 10. He can speak to it with the level of passion that you can only have if you seen it and felt it. A good actor I guess can put on any emotion, but there's another whole dimension when it doesn't come from a place of craft.

We'll be unpacking more tidbits from Tom soon. Stay tuned!

Meet a Celebrity Lobbyist Committed to Star-Powered Activism

CitizenSugar — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:45:08 -0700

Parked in the intersection of politics and pop culture is the celebrity activist. There all kinds of ways celebrities get involved in causes from serving on boards to inspiring laws on Capitol Hill, and Tom Sheridan knows how to harness that fame and make the issue the real star. A lobbyist based in DC, he represents Bono and his work on the ONE campaign against global poverty. We sat down with him this week ahead of the big ONE event Kanye is headlining to benefit the organization here at the convention, and we couldn't have been more impressed. Tom Sheridan is using the intersection of fame and charity to inspire real change and a legion of committed issue advocates.

Can celebrities distract from an issue or a message? What are the hallmarks of a happy marriage between celebrity and activism?

It really comes down to two Cs. One is commitment and the other is credibility. I think if we go with alliteration and add in celebrity, I think that is where people will discern the difference between a celebrity using an issue to distract and/or promote themselves. There may be a fair trade in that but it doesn't always sustain a cause, and it doesn't get to the level of a policy change that we look for celebrities to engage in.

Well, we see celebrities speaking out on issues all the time. Is that enough to motivate change?

To see his answer, read more.

We're not interested in a 15-minute hearing on Capitol Hill with some press, that's not that difficult to achieve frankly, and you don't actually need any talent from people like me to achieve that. The question then becomes, "what for?" And that's where commitment and credibility become really important factors. Are they willing to sustain their interest in this, and what does that sustaining interest mean, and how much time does that take?

How much time does it take, and how does that help a cause?

Celebrities work, and like Bono, he's got a rather significant day job. Bono was at the convention four years ago [for ONE] and he's not here this year because he's recording an album, you know that's the day job, but the fact remains four years later he's still involved. It's very much taking the cult of ONE and not doing the predictable stuff with it that gives him both long-term commitment because he has great motivation to stay in this for a long time, and has been in it for a long time. I've been working with him for almost eight years. He's been at this for a long time and there's no one out there that doesn't believe that he's not only committed to it but that he's incredibly credible on the topic.

To see who else Tom Sheridan works with and how committed celebs inspire real change, check out part two of our interview with him later this week!

Source

Day 1: Checking In and Convention Swag!

LibertySugar — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:56:31 -0700

We just had a great interview with Tom Sheridan that we can't wait to tell you all about! We're all checked in, and press-credentialed! Now Citizen and I are headed into the thick of the convention action . . . more to follow soon! And check out the DNC goodie bag good enough to inspire hope and change!

Day 1: Here's What We're Checking Out at the Convention

CitizenSugar — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:56:32 -0700

Good morning politics fans! We're up bright and early and raring to go - the convention is a like a politico's Olympics and Super Bowl all rolled into one, and we have big plans today:

We have an interview with Tom Sheridan, an expert on celebrity activism.
Morgan Spurlock is giving a Q&A on Where in the World is Osama bin Laden.
We're checking out the Google and Huffington Post "retreats" for political bloggers. After all even the New York Times says this is the year of the blogger.
Nancy Pelosi, Michelle Obama, Jimmy Carter - and I hear rumors of a live appearance by Ted Kennedy - are all speaking tonight on the convention floor.
Rock the Vote's Ballot Bash featuring Fall Out Boy is tonight
Planned Parenthood is hosting a "Sex and Politics" cocktail party that we hear Aisha Tyler and Ashley Judd will be attending.

Check back as the day goes on and we'll keep you updated you on our adventures! Oh and those tornadoes that hit Denver as soon as the convention opened? I'm sure that wasn't a sign. . . right?

Source

Ad-Rageous: Matt Damon Channels Michelle & Cindy for ONE

CitizenSugar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:02:14 -0700

This new ad from ONE just hit this morning, and it stars Matt Damon's face uttering a slew of famous voices. Damon opens the spot saying, "thanks to everyday Americans who chose to make a difference, millions of lives have been saved in the world's poorest countries." Then words from Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain and more are heard. The organization ONE is spending $1.8 million on the campaign aimed at encouraging the next president to address world poverty.

The ONE campaign is a nonpartisan group dedicated to help erase global AIDS and poverty. According to their mission, there's only one side to be on in the fight, and 2.4 million people from all 50 states have joined in. They're:

Working on the ground in communities, colleges and churches across the United States, ONE members both educate and ask America's leaders to increase efforts to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty, from the US budget and presidential elections to specific legislation on debt cancellation, increasing effective international assistance, making trade fair, and fighting corruption. Everyone can join the fight. The goal of ending poverty may seem lofty, but it is within our reach if we take action together as one.

To see how Liberty and I will get the inside scoop on the ONE campaign, read more.

Celebrities have an increasingly visible position in charitable organizations like ONE. Liberty and I will get to sit down with Tom Sheridan, lobbyist for U2's Bono who founded the ONE organization, at the Democratic National Convention next week. Stay tuned for insight on the role of celebs in making the world a better place for everyONE to live.

What do you think? Do stars draw your attention to causes or distract you from the message? Is this Matt Damon ad effective?