Continuing my series on the excellent book written by David Horowitz and Richard Poe entitled "The Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Sixties Radicals Seized Control of the Democratic Party" in which I excerpt key portions to highlight the danger America faces from the new left.
In the first post I posted about the overview the authors gave of The Shadow Party, the second post was about the first of Seven Sisters comprising the Shadow Party, MoveOn.org and then onto Hillary’s thinktank the Center for American Progress in the third addition. Now I present the third sister, America Votes:
America Votes is an umbrella group encompassing a national coalition of grassroots get out the vote organizations. It was formed on 15 July 2003, as the Democratic primaries got into high gear to help coordinate the activities of the growing number of non-profit groups that now constitute the Shadow Party. During the 2004 election cycle, its website claimed that America Votes commanded the political loyalty of "more than 20 million Americans in every state in the country" through its 33 member organizations.
The McCain-Feingold soft-money ban took effect on 6 November 2002. Shortly thereafter, Democrat operative Gina Glantz called a meeting at the Washington restaurant BeDuCi’s. Glantz was then an official of the left-wing government union SEIU. She subsequently became a key strategist for the Howard Dean campaign. Attendees at Glantz’s meeting included Clinton operative Harold Ickes, SEIU president Andrew Stern, Steven Rosenthal, Ellen Malcolm and Carl Pope. Glantz argued that the proliferating Democrat 527 committees needed a central command structure – an "umbrella group" – to avoid duplicating efforts and wasting money. Everyone liked her idea, but no donors stepped forward. Glantz’s idea for an umbrella group languished for the next eight months.
In describing the genesis of America Votes, the Texas Monthly listed a cast of characters similar to those who attended Glantz’s meeting – but with one noteworthy addition: Jim Jordan. When the Shadow Party launched America Votes, Jordan was still John Kerry’s campaign manager. He was not fired from that job until 9 November – nearly four months later. If indeed Jordan helped launch America Votes while working as Kerry’s campaign manager, he violated FEC regulations, which bar coordination between campaign officials and independent political committees.
The Texas Monthly further reported that the group decided to appoint Cecile Richards – then deputy chief of staff for House minority leader Nancy Pelosi – to head America Votes. "We wanted to find a way to bring progressive groups together for the election….it was a monster coalition, and we universally agreed that Cecile was the best person to coordinate it," said Ellen Malcolm. Richards’ primary jon would be to keep the organization’s thousands of activists from duplicating efforts. "With America Votes, we really have a way now to settle who is in which neighborhoods, who is taking which precincts," Richards explained. "And the role of our state directors is to hold those folks accountable for what they said they’d do." Member organizations of the America Votes coalition during the 2004 election cycle are listed below:
- ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
- ACT (America Coming Together)
- AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor – Congress of Industrial Organizations)
- AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees)
- AFT (American Federation of Teachers)
- ATLA (Association of Trial Lawyers of America)
- Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
- Clean Water Action
- Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund
- Democracy for America
- EMILY’s List
- Environment 2004
- The Human Rights Campaign
- League of Conservation Voters
- The Media Fund
- The Million Mom March
- MoveOn.org Voter Fund
- Moving America Forward
- Music for America
- NAACP – National Voter Fund
- NARAL Pro-Choice America
- National Education Association
- National Jewish Democratic Council
- National Treasury Employees Union
- Partnership for America’s Families
- People for the American Way (PFAW)
- Planned Parenthood Action Fund
- Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
- Sierra Club
- USAction
- Voices for Working Families
- Young Voter Alliance
- 21st Century Democrats
Cecile Richards had a personal as well as an ideological ax to grind against President George W. Bush. She is the daughter of former Texas governor Ann Richards, whom Bush soundly defeated in 1994, ending her political career.
Like many of Bush’s harshest critics, Cecile Richards harbors a deep antipathy toward the so-called "Christian Right." After her mother’s 1994 defeat, Richards founded the Texas Freedom Network, a grassroots organization aimed at countering the political influence of conservative Christians, especially on school boards. Richards subsequently moved to Washington DC, where she served as organizing director of AFL-CIO, then as a pro-abortion activist for the Turner Foundation and Planned Parenthood, and finally as deputy chief of staff for Democrat minority whip Nancy Pelosi, soon to become minority leader. Richards held that post for eighteen months, before joining America Votes.
George Soros’ son, Jonathan, has donated $250,000 to America Votes. Several of the organization’s top donors, such as Rob McKay and Robert Glaser, are also close Soros associates.
One more sister in this Shadow Party.
Soros helped to get McCain-Feingold pushed through Congress which cut off the Democrats soft money supply but by forming this Shadow Party he offered the Democrats an alternative source of funds…..one in which he personally controlled.
And some are surprised how far left the Democrat party has turned…..the how and why can be found by looking at the Shadow Party and George Soros.
See author page