Move America Forward
Encyclopedia
Move America Forward is a conservative political action group based in California
that grew out of the campaign to recall California Governor Gray Davis. Move America Forward seeks to advance many conservative causes by lobbying of politicians at the local, state, and federal levels, through media campaigns and with grass-roots activism. Their tactics are often confrontational and have sparked controversy.
and former conservative Republican KSFO 560 AM
talk show host Melanie Morgan
, both of whom now serve as Move America Forward's co-chairmen. Both Russo and Kaloogian served in key roles in the successful Recall Gray Davis Committee that prompted the 2003 gubernatorial California recall election
of California's Democratic governor — Kaloogian as chairman of the recall campaign, Russo as chief strategist. In November 2003, one month after the recall election, Russo told the Los Angeles Daily News
of the 120,000 recall supporters in his database. "We took on the political establishment and won, and they feel empowered, ... They want to be involved. ... We'll change the name to something like 'Move America Forward,'" and go national, he predicted. A week later, the domain name
MoveAmericaForward.com was registered to Russo's public relations firm, Russo Marsh & Rogers. Both Kaloogian and Russo continued on with Move America Forward in essentially the same roles as in the Recall Gray Davis Committee.
Russo Marsh & Rogers is Sacramento
-based political public relations firm, with strong ties to the Republican Party
. Russo, a principal in Russo Marsh & Rogers, worked on the political campaigns of Ronald Reagan
, Alfonse M. D'Amato, George Pataki
, Jack Kemp
, and Orrin Hatch
.
Howard Kaloogian and Sal Russo launched the Tea Party Express
in the summer of 2009 as a project of their other political action committee, Our Country Deserves Better PAC. It has been reported that Russo's PR firm tied to the founding of Move America Forward, Russo Marsh + Rogers, has been a financial beneficiary of Tea Party Express' success: Zachary Roth at TPMmuckraker reported that in the period between July and November 2009, more than 75% of the money spent by the PAC—or about $1 million out of $1.3 million spent—went to Russo, Marsh or King Media Group, which has close ties to Russo.
In August 2005 Move America Forward's "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy!" campaign countering the protest of Cindy Sheehan
sparked much press coverage. Observers and the press have noted that some pro-Bush activists in the MAF entourage were aggressively confrontational and verbally abusive, calling the anti-war protesters "communists
", and saying they are "aiding and abetting the enemy".
In April 2006 controversy erupted again when Kaloogian's campaign website posted a picture on his website that he claimed depicted a peaceful Baghdad neighborhood, and the claims that the Iraq conflict was going well. Quickly, however, internet watchdogs correctly identified the picture as coming from Istanbul, Turkey, and the picture was removed. Kaloogian later said using the photo was "a stupid mistake".
However, Move America Forward's agenda has been described in the press and public as going beyond simple support of the troops to political support of the war. A 2006 Sacramento Bee article describes its actions as partisan and restricted to the political arena. In 2007 an Oakland Tribune headline described Move America Forward as "Supporters of the Iraq War" and "a group that supports the war."
The policies they promote include the removal of the United Nations
headquarters from the United States, keeping the Guantanamo Bay detention camp open, the closing of the U.S.-Mexico border and the deportation of illegal aliens back to their countries of origin. MAF is known for vocally opposing politicians and political action groups and even media that it deems to be too liberal. At the same time, they advocate for conservative candidates and appointees.
Prominent Move America Forward campaigns have included the closing of the US-Mexico border (the MAF's "Secure Our Borders" campaign) and the ending of amnesty programs to illegal immigrants (through nomoreamnesty.com), support of John R. Bolton
—an outspoken critic of the United Nations—to serve as the US representative to the United Nations, and restricting the distribution of the Michael Moore
film Fahrenheit 911. In August 2005, Move America Forward sponsored a You don't speak for me, Cindy! tour to counter Cindy Sheehan
's protest at President Bush's Crawford, Texas
, ranch (and the vigil
s in support of Sheehan that were held around the country). The organization also protested William Ayers when he made a speech at St. Mary's College
in Moraga, California and has protested against the Lafayette hillside memorial
.
On September 9, 2006 the Sacramento Bee ran an article detailing a number of issues with Move American Forward's activities that might affect its nonprofit status. Chief among these were concerns public donations to MAF may be indirectly or directly subsidizing partisan activity prohibited nonprofit organizations by law. Milbourn cited as evidence the statement by Melanie Morgan that the Bush administration is running "one of the most inept communications departments I've seen. ... That's one of the reasons we started Move America Forward ... This administration is unable to articulate clearly why we went to Iraq, why we are there and why we're winning the war." He also noted that Move America Forward shares its office with Russo's PR firm, that one of Russo's private clients is the government of Kurdistan in northern Iraq and that his firm is running a campaign encouraging investment there. Milbourn says the Center for Media and Democracy
has questioned whether the contract poses a conflict for Russo, given Move America Forward's promotion of the war. Russo is also director of the 'The Campaign Store, Inc.' which provides for a fee the processing of packages to troops and the accounting of contributions received.
In its 2007 IRS filing Move America Forward says it has not "attempted to influence national, state, or local legislation, including any attempt to influence public opinion on a legislation matter or referendum."
Move America Forward's leader Melanie Morgan and her supporters regularly characterize those who challenge them or oppose the war as "communists" or "far-left." She also routinely invokes free speech and free press
— despite Move America Forward's stated aim of "restrict[ing] liberal and activist media". After having appeared once, Producers for PBS
's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
claimed she would never be on the program again.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
that grew out of the campaign to recall California Governor Gray Davis. Move America Forward seeks to advance many conservative causes by lobbying of politicians at the local, state, and federal levels, through media campaigns and with grass-roots activism. Their tactics are often confrontational and have sparked controversy.
Founding
Move America Forward was established in May 2004 by Republican political consultant Sal Russo, former Republican assemblyman Howard KaloogianHoward Kaloogian
Howard J. Kaloogian is an American politician and a former member of the California State Assembly. A Republican, he failed in 2004 to be elected to the United States Senate and in 2006 to be elected to the House.-Biography:...
and former conservative Republican KSFO 560 AM
KSFO (AM)
KSFO is a conservative talk radio station in San Francisco, California, USA, broadcasting on 560 kHz AM. It is owned by Cumulus Media.The content of the KSFO's talk programming is solidly conservative, which is in stark contrast to the rather liberal San Francisco area, with show hosts such as Rush...
talk show host Melanie Morgan
Melanie Morgan
Melanie Morgan is an American radio personality. She was formerly a host at KSFO in San Francisco where her husband, Jack Swanson, was the General Manager. She was recently laid off due to budget cutbacks and declining ad revenue. She has also previously worked as a reporter for KGO-TV in San...
, both of whom now serve as Move America Forward's co-chairmen. Both Russo and Kaloogian served in key roles in the successful Recall Gray Davis Committee that prompted the 2003 gubernatorial California recall election
California recall election, 2003
The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003...
of California's Democratic governor — Kaloogian as chairman of the recall campaign, Russo as chief strategist. In November 2003, one month after the recall election, Russo told the Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....
of the 120,000 recall supporters in his database. "We took on the political establishment and won, and they feel empowered, ... They want to be involved. ... We'll change the name to something like 'Move America Forward,'" and go national, he predicted. A week later, the domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
MoveAmericaForward.com was registered to Russo's public relations firm, Russo Marsh & Rogers. Both Kaloogian and Russo continued on with Move America Forward in essentially the same roles as in the Recall Gray Davis Committee.
Russo Marsh & Rogers is Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
-based political public relations firm, with strong ties to the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. Russo, a principal in Russo Marsh & Rogers, worked on the political campaigns of Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, Alfonse M. D'Amato, George Pataki
George Pataki
George Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York. A member of the Republican Party, Pataki served three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006.- Early life :...
, Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp
Jack French Kemp was an American politician and a collegiate and professional football player. A Republican, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1993, having previously served nine terms as a congressman for Western New York's 31st...
, and Orrin Hatch
Orrin Hatch
Orrin Grant Hatch is the senior United States Senator for Utah and is a member of the Republican Party. Hatch served as the chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1993 to 2005...
.
Howard Kaloogian and Sal Russo launched the Tea Party Express
Tea Party Express
The Tea Party Express is a California-based group founded in the summer of 2009 to support the Tea Party movement. Founded as a national bus tour to rally Tea Party activists, the group's leadership also endorses and promotes conservative candidates running for state and federal offices...
in the summer of 2009 as a project of their other political action committee, Our Country Deserves Better PAC. It has been reported that Russo's PR firm tied to the founding of Move America Forward, Russo Marsh + Rogers, has been a financial beneficiary of Tea Party Express' success: Zachary Roth at TPMmuckraker reported that in the period between July and November 2009, more than 75% of the money spent by the PAC—or about $1 million out of $1.3 million spent—went to Russo, Marsh or King Media Group, which has close ties to Russo.
Activities
Move America Forward describes itself as "...a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization committed to supporting America’s efforts to defeat terrorism and supporting the brave men and women of our Armed Forces."In August 2005 Move America Forward's "You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy!" campaign countering the protest of Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan is an American anti-war activist whose son, U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed by enemy action during the Iraq War. She attracted national and international media attention in August 2005 for her extended anti-war protest at a makeshift camp outside President...
sparked much press coverage. Observers and the press have noted that some pro-Bush activists in the MAF entourage were aggressively confrontational and verbally abusive, calling the anti-war protesters "communists
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
", and saying they are "aiding and abetting the enemy".
In April 2006 controversy erupted again when Kaloogian's campaign website posted a picture on his website that he claimed depicted a peaceful Baghdad neighborhood, and the claims that the Iraq conflict was going well. Quickly, however, internet watchdogs correctly identified the picture as coming from Istanbul, Turkey, and the picture was removed. Kaloogian later said using the photo was "a stupid mistake".
However, Move America Forward's agenda has been described in the press and public as going beyond simple support of the troops to political support of the war. A 2006 Sacramento Bee article describes its actions as partisan and restricted to the political arena. In 2007 an Oakland Tribune headline described Move America Forward as "Supporters of the Iraq War" and "a group that supports the war."
The policies they promote include the removal of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
headquarters from the United States, keeping the Guantanamo Bay detention camp open, the closing of the U.S.-Mexico border and the deportation of illegal aliens back to their countries of origin. MAF is known for vocally opposing politicians and political action groups and even media that it deems to be too liberal. At the same time, they advocate for conservative candidates and appointees.
Prominent Move America Forward campaigns have included the closing of the US-Mexico border (the MAF's "Secure Our Borders" campaign) and the ending of amnesty programs to illegal immigrants (through nomoreamnesty.com), support of John R. Bolton
John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...
—an outspoken critic of the United Nations—to serve as the US representative to the United Nations, and restricting the distribution of the Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
film Fahrenheit 911. In August 2005, Move America Forward sponsored a You don't speak for me, Cindy! tour to counter Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan is an American anti-war activist whose son, U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed by enemy action during the Iraq War. She attracted national and international media attention in August 2005 for her extended anti-war protest at a makeshift camp outside President...
's protest at President Bush's Crawford, Texas
Crawford, Texas
Crawford is a town located in western McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is best known as the home of former President of the United States George W. Bush. He currently resides at the Prairie Chapel Ranch, which is located just outside Crawford, Texas....
, ranch (and the vigil
Vigil
A vigil is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance...
s in support of Sheehan that were held around the country). The organization also protested William Ayers when he made a speech at St. Mary's College
Saint Mary's College of California
Saint Mary's College of California is a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California, United States, a small suburban community about east of Oakland and 20 miles east of San Francisco. It has a 420-acre campus in the Moraga hills. It is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church...
in Moraga, California and has protested against the Lafayette hillside memorial
Lafayette hillside memorial
The Lafayette Hillside Memorial is a collection of crosses, accompanied by a large sign, in Lafayette, California. The crosses are intended to serve as a memorial for United States soldiers killed in the Iraq War, with the sign containing a running total of the death count...
.
Press questions nonprofit status
Malcolm Maclachlan wrote in the Capitol Weekly that Move America Forward "has been criticized for running such advocacy ads while maintaining a 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status. However, several political watchdogs noted that the group adheres to the letter of the law. For instance, the group does not give to candidates or directly call for people to vote for anyone."On September 9, 2006 the Sacramento Bee ran an article detailing a number of issues with Move American Forward's activities that might affect its nonprofit status. Chief among these were concerns public donations to MAF may be indirectly or directly subsidizing partisan activity prohibited nonprofit organizations by law. Milbourn cited as evidence the statement by Melanie Morgan that the Bush administration is running "one of the most inept communications departments I've seen. ... That's one of the reasons we started Move America Forward ... This administration is unable to articulate clearly why we went to Iraq, why we are there and why we're winning the war." He also noted that Move America Forward shares its office with Russo's PR firm, that one of Russo's private clients is the government of Kurdistan in northern Iraq and that his firm is running a campaign encouraging investment there. Milbourn says the Center for Media and Democracy
Center for Media and Democracy
The Center for Media and Democracy is a non-profit investigative reporting group. The CMD gives analysis and opinion on policies such as the economy, environment and national security...
has questioned whether the contract poses a conflict for Russo, given Move America Forward's promotion of the war. Russo is also director of the 'The Campaign Store, Inc.' which provides for a fee the processing of packages to troops and the accounting of contributions received.
In its 2007 IRS filing Move America Forward says it has not "attempted to influence national, state, or local legislation, including any attempt to influence public opinion on a legislation matter or referendum."
National and political views
Move America Forward has referred to those politicians who wish to pull all troops out of Iraq as "cheese-eating surrender monkey[s]." The organization later stated that the term was also intended as an insult to France.Move America Forward's leader Melanie Morgan and her supporters regularly characterize those who challenge them or oppose the war as "communists" or "far-left." She also routinely invokes free speech and free press
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
— despite Move America Forward's stated aim of "restrict[ing] liberal and activist media". After having appeared once, Producers for PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
PBS NewsHour is an evening television news program broadcast weeknights on the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States. The show is produced by MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, a company co-owned by former anchors Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil, and Liberty Media, which owns a 65% stake in the...
claimed she would never be on the program again.
Funding
For 2006 Move America Forward had raised about $1.2 million, mostly from small, undisclosed donors, according to Russo. Most of the money, $693,456, had been spent on television and radio spots and rallies, tax records show. About $113,000 funded programs directly benefiting soldiers, such as mailing them cookies, coffee and beef jerky. It reported nearly 1.38 million in gross receipts in 2007.External links
- Move American Forward's website
- Article on MAF's role in opposing Fahrenheit 9/11 SFChronical, 16 June 2004