American Majority
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This article is part of the Center for Media & Democracy's spotlight on front groups and corporate spin. |
American Majority is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit political training group established in January, 2008 that "trains and equips a national network of leadership committed to individual freedom through limited government and the free market." The goal of the American Majority is to "build a national network of leaders and grassroots advocates who aspire to increase freedom for individuals and freedom in the marketplace." Its headquarters are in Purcellville, Virginia, the organization has state affiliates in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Texas, and intends to open offices in more states in 2009.[1]
American Majority is involved in organizing protest and the health care "Recess Rallies" occurring in August 2009 in House districts.
They work with Michelle Malkin, RedState.com, American Liberty Alliance, Smart Girl Politics, Americans for Limited Government, FreedomWorks, the Sam Adams Alliance and other groups to organize opposition to health care reform. [2]
According to a 2010 article in AlterNet, over 75% of the funding for American Majority comes from the Sam Adams Alliance. In 2008, the year in which American Majority was founded, 88% of the alliance’s money came from a single donation of $3.7 million.[3]
Contents
Activism
The American Majority organization encourages followers to:
- Run for local office
- Be an activist
- Support freedom
- They say "use these phrases to spread the word onTwitter"[4]
Examples of their political training programs
- Candidate training, "If you are looking to move beyond protests and rallies"
- Activist training, learn to organize and communicate
- Patriot 2.0 Webinars, learn to use the web, for novices or experts
- Campus Majority, learn to organize students[5]
Shaping online content and discussions
According to George Monbiot, in the film (Astro)Turf Wars, Taki Oldham secretly recorded a training session organized by American Majority. The trainer, Austin James, was instructing Tea Party members on how to “manipulate the medium” of the Internet: “Here’s what I do. I get on Amazon; I type in “Liberal Books”. I go through and I say “one star, one star, one star”. The flipside is you go to a conservative/ libertarian whatever, go to their products and give them five stars. … This is where your kids get information: Rotten Tomatoes, Flixster. These are places where you can rate movies. So when you type in “Movies on Healthcare”, I don’t want Michael Moore’s to come up, so I always give it bad ratings. I spend about 30 minutes a day, just click, click, click, click. … If there’s a place to comment, a place to rate, a place to share information, you have to do it. That’s how you control the online dialogue and give our ideas a fighting chance.”[3]
Mobile application to identify voter fraud
They have created an application for use on a cell phone to identify voter fraud at polling places. They "created the nation's first mobile application to help identify, report and track suspected incidents of voter fraud and intimidation. This free, cutting edge system will enable voters to take action to help defend their right to vote."[6]
Personnel
- Ned Ryun, President
- Matt Robbins, National Executive Director
- Jaoni Wood, Director of Administration
- Douglas Price, Director of Operations
- Allison James, Director of Public Relations
- Austin James, Director of New Media Strategy[7]
Contact details
P.O. Box 87
Purcellville, Virginia 20134
Phone: 540-338-1251
Fax: 540-338-2326
Email: info AT americanmajority.org
Website: http://americanmajority.org
Articles and resources
Related SourceWatch articles
References
- ↑ American Majority, "Who We Are" Web page, accessed August 15, 2009.
- ↑ American Majority, American Majority Web Site, accessed August 15, 2009.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 George Monbiot, "Are Right-Wing Libertarian Internet Trolls Getting Paid to Dumb Down Online Conversations?" AlterNet, Dec. 15, 2010.
- ↑ Now What?, AfterTheTeaParty.com, accessed November 2010.
- ↑ Political training, American Majority, accessed November 2010.
- ↑ Voter fraud app, American Majority Action, accessed November 2010.
- ↑ Staff, American Majority, accessed November 2010.
External resources
- "American Majority offers activist training in at Austin Library on Saturday", A Bluestem Prairie, January 07, 2009.
- "OTR on the Record with Ned Ryun", The Missouri Record, September 21, 2009.
External articles
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