American Progress is pleased to present the Third Annual Progressive Party, an evening of celebration in support of our work and our mission.   When: Thursday, May 8, 2008 at The Newseum in Washington, DC.

Five years after President Bush declared “mission accomplished” in Iraq aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the administration is requesting $108 billion in supplemental funding on top of an already appropriated $91 billion for FY2008 spending in Iraq and Afghanistan. If approved, this would bring the total direct cost of the war in Iraq alone to approximately $675 billion. On the anniversary of the president’s speech, Congressman John Murtha (D-PA), Chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, will speak at the Center for American Progress on the latest supplemental funding request and recent developments in Iraq and the region.

Due to the unprecedented nature of the 2008 election, communities of color are being actively sought after and their role and influence scrutinized by the media and political pundits. In an effort to add depth to the national conversation about the important role these communities are playing and will continue to play in '08 and beyond, the Center for American Progress Action Fund is bringing together noted experts from the Asian American, Latino, Native American, and African American communities to discuss how these communities view this process, how they are working together to advance a common agenda, and about the role voters of color will play in November and beyond.

In a controversial new book on America's debates over national security, Matthew Yglesias, associate editor of The Atlantic Monthly, presents a critical analysis of progressives’ failure to produce a coherent alternative to the conservative approach to foreign policy. Conventional examinations of progressives' political difficulties in dealing with the national security issue focus on a perceived lack of "toughness." Heads in the Sand proposes a different theory: that progressives have had difficulty taking full advantage of the Bush administration's failures because they've largely avoided arguing on the strategic level.

Rand Beers, President of the National Security Network and Kurt Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of the Center for a  New American Security and co-author of Hard Power: The New Politics of National Security, will offer a critical analysis of the book’s argument from their perspectives as the leaders of two institutions working to engage in America’s national security and defense policy debates.

Is the Religious Right dead? Has the left closed the "God gap?” What religious voices are speaking out on political issues—and how effective are they? What role should religion play in politics and presidential campaigns?

In a campaign season where two of the most significant speeches by presidential candidates have been about religion—Republican Mitt Romney speaking about being a Mormon and Democrat Barack Obama speaking about his former pastor—it is important to examine the power and influence of religion in politics.

E.J. Dionne, Amy Sullivan, and Jim Wallis are expert analysts of religion in public life. Each has a new book examining the changing religious and political landscape in our nation today. Their insights, inside stories, and keen analysis offer new and hopeful ways of thinking about religion and public life in the months and years ahead.

Copies of all three books will be available for purchase.