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Person

Norman Ornstein

Occupation:

Senior Fellow Emeritus, American Enterprise Institute 1

Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Campaign Legal Center

References

  1. “Norman Ornstein.” American Enterprise Institute. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.aei.org/profile/norman-j-ornstein/
Born:

October 14, 1948 1

References

  1. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
From:

Grand Rapids, Michigan 1

References

  1. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
Education:

BA, University of Minnesota 1

MA and Ph.D., University of Michigan 2

References

  1. “Norman Ornstein.” Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.kpihp.org/bio/norman-ornstein/
  2. “Norman Ornstein.” Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.kpihp.org/bio/norman-ornstein/

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Norman Ornstein is a senior fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and chairman of the board of trustees for the Campaign Legal Center. 1 2

He took the lead in drafting the language for the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as “McCain-Feingold,” a campaign finance law that prohibited political parties from receiving so-called “soft money” in 2002. 3 He is an author and has been a political analyst for several TV news programs. 4

Background

Norman Ornstein is a senior fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank. 5 Ornstein is also chairman of the board of trustees for the Campaign Legal Center, a left-leaning advocacy group that supports strict enforcement of campaign finance laws. 6

At AEI, he studied politics, elections, and the U.S. Congress. 7 Ornstein was the co-host of AEI’s “Election Watch” series. 8

Ornstein has sat on the board of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and UCB, a Belgium-based biopharmaceutical company. 9

Early Career

From 1972 to 1984, Ornstein was on the faculty of Catholic University of America. He was on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University from 1971 to 1972 and from 1983 to 1984. 10

In the late 1970s, he was the series editor and cohost of the PBS program, “Congress: We the People.” 11

Ornstein was also a senior adviser to the Times Mirror Center for the People and the Press from 1987 to 1992. 12

Books

Ornstein is the author of The Permanent Campaign and Its Future, published in 2000. 13

He also authored several books with Thomas E. Mann of the Brookings Institution. Ornstein and Mann wrote, The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track in 2006. 14

In 2012, Ornstein and Mann wrote, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism. 15

Ornstein and Mann teamed with liberal Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne to write One Nation After Trump: A Guide for the Perplexed, the Disillusioned, the Desperate and the Not-Yet-Deported, published in September 2017. 16

Campaign Finance Policy

Ornstein was the founder and director of the Campaign Finance Reform Working Group, established in 1996 to help craft the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, better known as the McCain-Feingold bill after its Senate sponsors, John McCain (R-AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI), and enacted in 2002. 17 18 The Legal Times called Ornstein “a principal drafter of the law.” 19

Ornstein was the co-director of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project, a partnership with the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute and the center-left Brookings Institution. 20

Ornstein was a senior counselor to the Continuity of Government Commission that was established after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. 21 The commission issued a report to Congress, most of which were ignored, Ornstein said. He wrote that that commission was reconstituted during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and also took on new relevance with the security vulnerabilities on display during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. 22

Ornstein has advocated for reforms to Senate committees and rules. He also advocated for the creation of the Congressional Office of Compliance advocated for the law that created the House Office of Congressional Ethics. 23

Ornstein was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. 24  Ornstein is the former director of the Academy Project on Stewarding America. 25

Political Commentary and Analysis

Ornstein has argued that the Republican Party is no longer conservative. He calls the modern GOP a “radical” party and argues that it has done “irreparable damage” to democracy. 26

Ornstein wrote an August 2015 piece for The Atlantic with the headline, “Maybe this time really is different.” The article argued that Donald Trump was a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination when most of the media dismissed the campaign as a joke. 27

Ornstein and Mann co-wrote a Washington Post op-ed with the headline “Let’s Just Say It: The Republicans Are the Problem.” After this, stories in the Detroit News, ThinkProgress, the Vermont Times Argus, Newser, and other outlets focused on a writer from a conservative think tank who criticized Republicans as the problem in Washington. The liberal website Slate argued that Ornstein is not a conservative and interviewed others in the conservative movement otherwise friendly with Ornstein who agreed. 28

Media

Ornstein has been a columnist for Roll Call newspaper. 29 Ornstein is a contributing editor to National Journal, The Atlantic, and has been a member of the board of contributors to USA Today. 30 31

Ornstein has written for Politico, the New York Times, the New York Daily News, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. 32 33

He was an election eve analyst for CBS News for 30 years. In 2012 he was a principal on-air election eve analyst for BBC News. 34

Ornstein has been interviewed by C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” on CBS, on CNN, on the Fox News Channel, on MSNBC, on NPR, ABC’s Nightline, Charlie Rose, and “PBS NewsHour.” 35 36 He was recognized as the most frequent guest in the history of the long-running PBS News Hour.  Ornstein was on the PBS board of directors for six years. 37

Ornstein was the first guest to appear more than once on the “Colbert Report” on Comedy Central before Stephen Colbert became the host of “The Late Show” on CBS. 38 He was also the first “pollster” for the Comedy Central network along with comedian and future U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN). 39

Mental Health Advocacy

Ornstein is the vice president of the Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation, named in memory of his son Matthew, who died accidentally on January 3, 2015, after a 10-year struggle with mental illness. 40

The foundation sponsors a summer debate institute for public school kids in the Washington, D.C. area. The foundation spearheaded the documentary The Definition of Insanity which premiered at the Miami Film Festival in March 2020 and was broadcast nationally on PBS in April 2020. The documentary is about the program on criminal justice and mental illness created by Judge Steve Leifman in Miami-Dade County, Florida. 41

In December 2021, Ornstein joined Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) at a symposium at the University of Minnesota to discuss mental health in the criminal justice system. 42

References

  1. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
  2. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
  3. “Norman Ornstein.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/norman-ornstein
  4. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
  5. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
  6. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
  7. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
  8. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
  9. “Norman Ornstein.” Leading Authorities Speakers. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.leadingauthorities.com/speakers/norman-ornstein
  10. “Norman Ornstein.” American Enterprise Institute. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.aei.org/profile/norman-j-ornstein/
  11. “Norman Ornstein.” American Enterprise Institute. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.aei.org/profile/norman-j-ornstein/
  12. “Norman Ornstein.” American Enterprise Institute. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.aei.org/profile/norman-j-ornstein/
  13. [1] “Norman Ornstein.” Institute of Governmental Studies. University of California Berkeley. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/norman-ornstein
  14. “Norman Ornstein.” Institute of Governmental Studies. University of California Berkeley. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/norman-ornstein
  15. “Norman Ornstein.” Institute of Governmental Studies. University of California Berkeley. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/norman-ornstein
  16. “Norman Ornstein.” Project on Government Oversight. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.pogo.org/about/people/norman-ornstein
  17. “Norman Ornstein.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/norman-ornstein
  18. “Norman Ornstein.” American Enterprise Institute. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.aei.org/profile/norman-j-ornstein/
  19. [1] “Norman Ornstein.” Leading Authorities Speakers. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.leadingauthorities.com/speakers/norman-ornstein
  20. “Norman Ornstein.” Institute of Governmental Studies. University of California Berkeley. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/norman-ornstein
  21. “Norman Ornstein.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/norman-ornstein
  22. Ornstein. “The Capitol attack could have crippled America’s government. We need a backup plan.” USA Today. January 15, 2021. Accessed August 12, 2022. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/01/15/capitol-attack-could-have-crippled-american-government-column/4160081001/
  23. “Norman Ornstein.” Project on Government Oversight. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.pogo.org/about/people/norman-ornsteinp
  24. “Norman Ornstein.” Institute of Governmental Studies. University of California Berkeley. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/norman-ornstein
  25. “Norman Ornstein.” Project on Government Oversight. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.pogo.org/about/people/norman-ornstein
  26.  “How to Fix De­mo­cra­cy with Nor­man Orn­stein.” Humanity in Action. August 2019. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://humanityinaction.org/knowledge_detail/how-to-fix-democracy-with-norman-ornstein/?lang=nl
  27.  “Norman Ornstein.” Speaking.com. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://speaking.com/speakers/norman-ornstein/
  28. Weigel, David. “Hug Me, I’m a Heretic.” Slate. April 30, 2012. Accessed August 12, 2022. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/04/norman-ornstein-is-playing-the-part-of-a-conservative.html
  29. “Norman Ornstein.” Washington Speakers Bureau. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.wsb.com/speakers/norman-ornstein/
  30. “Norman Ornstein.” Speaking.com. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://speaking.com/speakers/norman-ornstein/
  31. “Norman Ornstein.” IMBD. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2022396/
  32. “Norman Ornstein.” Michigan in Washington Program. University of Michigan. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.kpihp.org/bio/norman-ornstein/
  33. “Norman Ornstein.” Washington Speakers Bureau. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.wsb.com/speakers/norman-ornstein/
  34. “Norman Ornstein.” Project on Government Oversight. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.pogo.org/about/people/norman-ornstein
  35. “Norman Ornstein.” Michigan in Washington Program. University of Michigan.  Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.kpihp.org/bio/norman-ornstein/
  36. “Norman Ornstein.” Washington Speakers Bureau. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.wsb.com/speakers/norman-ornstein/
  37. “Norman Ornstein.” Leading Authorities Speakers. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.leadingauthorities.com/speakers/norman-ornstein
  38. “Norman Ornstein.” Leading Authorities Speakers. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.leadingauthorities.com/speakers/norman-ornstein
  39.  “Norman Ornstein.” Leading Authorities Speakers. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.leadingauthorities.com/speakers/norman-ornstein
  40. “Norman Ornstein.” Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.kpihp.org/bio/norman-ornstein/
  41.  “Norman Ornstein.” Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.kpihp.org/bio/norman-ornstein/
  42.  Press Release. “Norman Ornstein and Keith Ellison on Mental Health and the Criminal Justice System.” Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Minnesota State University. December 6, 2021. Accessed August 11, 2022. https://www.hhh.umn.edu/event/norman-ornstein-and-keith-ellison-mental-health-and-criminal-justice-system
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