Democracy Alliance

===proto-arabella?  millionaires ~?vogel politico says rove dark $ death star is ctr/mirror?2010 tp wave origin? mirror?! this was ctr to BO win 2008?<div class="email-content" id="uniquer" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" inherit="inherit" overflow-x="overflow-x" auto="auto" white-space="white-space" pre-line="pre-line"><a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36841_Page3.html">http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36841_Page3.html</a>

*Rove, GOP secretly plot vast network to reclaim power </div><div class="email-content" id="uniquer" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" inherit="inherit" overflow-x="overflow-x" auto="auto" white-space="white-space" pre-line="pre-line">
</div><div class="email-content" id="uniquer" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" inherit="inherit" overflow-x="overflow-x" auto="auto" white-space="white-space" pre-line="pre-line"> By: Mike Allen and Kenneth P. Vogel

May 6, 2010 </div><div class="email-content" id="uniquer" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" inherit="inherit" overflow-x="overflow-x" auto="auto" white-space="white-space" pre-line="pre-line" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">
</div><div class="email-content" id="uniquer" style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" inherit="inherit" overflow-x="overflow-x" auto="auto" white-space="white-space" pre-line="pre-line">  The Republican Party’s best-connected political operatives have quietly

built a massive fundraising, organizing and advertising machine based on the

model assembled by Democrats early in the decade, and with the same

ambitious goal — to recapture Congress and the White House.

The new groups could give Republicans and their allies a powerful campaign

apparatus separate from the Republican National Committee. Karl Rove,

political architect of the Bush presidency, and Ed Gillespie, former

Republican Party chairman, are the most prominent forces behind what is, in

effect, a network of five overlapping groups, three of which were started in

the past few months.

The operating assumption of Rove, Gillespie and the other organizers is that

despite the historical dominance of Republican fundraising and organizing,

the GOP has been outmaneuvered by Democrats and their allies in recent

years, and it is time to strike back.

“Where they have a chess piece on the board, we need a chess piece on the

board,” said Gillespie, who is involved in all five groups in roles ranging

from chairman to informal adviser. “Where they have a queen, we shouldn’t

have three pawns.”

The network, which doesn’t have a name, attempts to replicate the Democracy

Alliance, an umbrella group — founded in 2005 and funded by George Soros and

other billionaires — and to borrow tactics from liberal groups established

to help Democrats regain power after eight years of the Bush administration.

Two organizers of the Republican groups even made pilgrimages earlier this

year to pick the brain of John Podesta, the former Clinton White House chief

of staff who, in 2003, founded the Center for American Progress and was a

major proponent of Democrats developing the kind of infrastructure pioneered

by Republicans.

Rove, currently on a book tour, has provided “a laying-on of hands” for the

groups — as one organizer put it — by encouraging major Republican donors to

support them as part of the GOP’s path to revival. “Karl has always said:

People call us a vast right-wing conspiracy, but we’re really a half-assed

right-wing conspiracy,” he said. “Now, he wants to get more serious.”

While separate, the five entities are so closely related that three share an

11th-floor office near the White House. The groups are:

*American Crossroads

American Crossroads — designed to counter spending by labor and progressive

groups, including the AFL-CIO, Service Employees International Unit and

MoveOn.org — will focus on voter contact with the potential to move into

ground game and turnout efforts. Organized under the tax code as a Section

527 organization, meaning it can spend directly on political activity, it’s

set an ambitious budget of $52 million and says it’s already received

commitments for $30 million of that. Its president and CEO is former top

U.S. Chamber of Commerce executive Steven Law; its political director is

veteran GOP operative Carl Forti. The chairman is Mike Duncan, former RNC

chairman; the treasurer is Jo Ann Davidson, former RNC co-chairwoman; and

the secretary is Jim Dyke, former RNC communications director.

To try to avoid undercutting RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who has alienated

some givers, Duncan tells prospective donors that the party structure is “an

important part of winning” and that he is looking for people who “want to go

above and beyond.”

*American Action Network

American Action Network, modeled on the Center for American Progress, will

conduct polling in key races, and plans to put up TV advertising since it is

allowed to engage in explicit political activity as a group organized under

Section 501c(4) of the tax code. Former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota is

the CEO; Fred Malek, a longtime top GOP financier, is chairman; and Rob

Collins, a former top aide to House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, is president.

Board members include former U.S. Sens. George Allen and Mel Martinez and

former House Reps. Tom Reynolds, Jim Nussle and Vin Weber.

*American Action Forum

American Action Forum, a policy institute linked to the American Action

Network, also will mirror CAP. Coleman is also chairman of this group, which

as a 501c(3) organization, is prohibited from directly endorsing or opposing

candidates. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office

director and campaign adviser to Sen. John McCain, is the president. Board

members include former Govs. Jeb Bush of Florida and Tom Ridge of

Pennsylvania.

*Resurgent Republic

Resurgent Republic co-founded a year ago by Gillespie and Republican

pollster Whit Ayres, says in its official description that it is “modeled on

Democracy Corps, which has made important contributions to the public debate

from the left and has proven to be a valuable resource for labor unions,

environmentalists and liberal congressional leaders.” The group has released

a series of polls and offers itself as a message-testing laboratory to help

GOP lawmakers develop policies.

*The Republican State Leadership Committee

The Republican State Leadership Committee, which focuses on down-ballot

races for statewide and legislative offices, raised $22 million in the last

campaign cycle. Gillespie took over as chairman earlier this year. Its goal

is to raise at least $50 million to $70 million to influence congressional

elections this fall and to road-test an agenda for a future Republican House

and, ultimately, a Republican president.

Coleman recalled in an interview that he admired the left’s financial

prowess so much that until recently, he gave potential donors copies of “The

Argument,” a book by Matt Bai that chronicles progressives’ rising financial

power.

“This is what the left does — we need to do it on the right,” Coleman said

he told people.

Democrats say the new GOP network has the potential to tip Republicans back

into the House majority, since the formal party structures will burn through

money as they struggle to compete in a record number of House seats.

Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, chairman of the Democratic Congressional

Campaign Committee, said he is worried about the groups as a potential

“conduit for a lot of special-interest money to flow into campaigns.”

The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

opened possibilities for groups like American Crossroads, American Action

Network and others backed by corporations, unions or huge donors to be more

aggressive in supporting or opposing candidates. Democrats in Congress are

pushing legislation that would curtail its effects, but right now the

decision is emboldening donors - particularly on the right - who had grown

reluctant to open their wallets to outside groups, said Charlie Spies, a GOP

campaign finance attorney on Resurgent Republic’s legal advisory board.

“It sent out a message to donors that it’s OK to engage again,” said Spies.

Organizers say another reason the GOP’s “donor community” and “political

investors” are ready to step up their giving: Republicans had opposed the

McCain-Feingold campaign-finance law and therefore were slow to adapt their

structures to what it permitted. But Democrats weren’t shy and got a huge

head start.

“It’s time for us to accept and embrace it and stop getting outspent,”

Gillespie said. “It’s the law of the land, and it’s not going away.”

Because the groups are registered only with the Internal Revenue Service and

not the Federal Election Commission, they can accept so-called soft money —

that is, contributions not subject to FEC donation limits or source

restrictions forbidding cash from corporations or unions.

“There are a lot of people who were very active in the Bush years who are

going to get active with these groups, just because of the leadership of the

groups,” said one major GOP fundraiser, or “bundler.”

According to its first report to the IRS, American Crossroads’ first gift

was a check for $250,000 from B. Wayne Hughes of Lexington, Ky., the

chairman of Public Storage. The American Action groups and Resurgent

Republic are not required to disclose individual donors.

Tom Matzzie, a Democratic operative specializing in independent group

activity, said MoveOn, which he effectively ran during the 2006 Democratic

takeover of Congress, has been successful because big contributions and

high-priced consultants have taken a backseat to small donors and grassroots

activists.

By contrast, conservatives’ repeated attempts to copy MoveOn have been “huge

donor-driven TV ad operations run by consultants,” Matzzie said, asserting

Republicans “tend to keep the creativity all isolated to a few elites

whereas the MoveOn model allowed a good idea to come from anywhere including

the membership.”

The idea for a federally focused “527” started over breakfast at the

Mayflower Hotel last year. Gillespie was looking to stay involved in

politics after his White House years. Law, then the U.S. Chamber’s chief

legal officer, mused as he complained about Republicans’ inability to match

the spending of Democratic-friendly political groups: “I really think we’ve

got to do something to offset this.”

Law said that he had studied MoveOn and America Coming Together, which

relied on a combination of union funding and huge contributions from Soros

and other activists.

“Democrats have had tremendous success in building enduring and fairly large

and sophisticated third-party organizations that have a major impact on

politics,” Law said. “On the Republican side, it’s mostly been small, ad hoc

efforts that tend to pop up and then disappear from cycle to cycle.”

Democratic strategist James Carville said the GOP’s extra-party machine is

emerging now largely for the same reason the Democrats’ did.

“There’s nothing that makes people hungry like being out of power and out of

government,” Carville said. “When you’re in government, all of the big

operatives have good jobs or they’re working for some lobbying firm and

making $3 million a year, while the other guys don’t have anything to d

Podesta didn’t return an email seeking comment about conservative efforts to

mimic his group, but Malek said that after American Action Network formed,

“Podesta being the class act that he is, called Norm Coleman and

congratulated him and welcomed him to the battle.”  </div>==<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance">https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance</a>
<div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr" style="direction: ltr; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="mw-parser-output">Democracy Alliance was founded by former <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bill_Clinton" title="Bill Clinton" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Clinton</a> <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/U.S.Department_of_the_Treasury" class="mw-redirect" title="U.S. Department of the Treasury" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Treasury</a> official <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rob_Stein" title="Rob Stein" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rob Stein</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Erica_Payne" title="Erica Payne" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Erica Payne</a> and various donors in 2005. The Muckety website maintains a <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.muckety.com/Democracy-Alliance/5024725.muckety" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">relationship map</a> on some of the major financial donors to the Democracy Alliance.View <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.muckety.com/Democracy-Alliance/5024725.muckety" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Democracy Alliance Muckety Map</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1;"><div class="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;">
</div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#Website" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1Website</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#Background" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">2Background</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#Board_of_Directors_and_Members" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">3Board of Directors and Members</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#Staff_of_Democracy_Alliance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">4Staff of Democracy Alliance</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#Funding_Recipients" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">5Funding Recipients</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#Related_SourceWatch_Resources" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">6Related SourceWatch Resources</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#Articles" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7Articles</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#2005" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.12005</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#2006" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.22006</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#2007" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.32007</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#2008" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.42008</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#2013" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.52013</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#2014" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.62014</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#2015" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.72015</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy_Alliance#2016" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">7.82016</a></li></ul></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Website</h2><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.democracyalliance.org/index.php" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" word-wrap="word-wrap" break-word="break-word" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">http://www.democracyalliance.org/index.php</a></li></ul><h2 style="background: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Background</h2>"At least 80 wealthy liberals have pledged to contribute $1 million or more apiece to fund a network of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Think_tank" class="mw-redirect" title="Think tank" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">think tanks</a> and advocacy groups to compete with the potent <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Conservative&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Conservative (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">conservative</a> infrastructure built up over the past three decades," The Washington Post reported in August, 2005. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/06/AR2005080600848.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[1]</a>Rob Stein's PowerPoint presentation on how the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Right-wing" title="Right-wing" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Right</a> built a strong infrastructure of think tanks, non-profits, non-profit groups, scholarship recipients, academics, lobbyists, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Right-wing" title="Right-wing" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">right wing</a> activists and the media led to the founding of the Democracy Alliance, and also a separate organization, the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/New_Progressive_Coalition" title="New Progressive Coalition" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">New Progressive Coalition</a> founded by entrepreneurs <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Andy_and_Deborah_Rappaport" title="Andy and Deborah Rappaport" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Andy and Deborah Rappaport</a>.The Democracy Alliance tries to keep a low profile and its wealthy donors prefer anonymity. According to published reports, organizations funded by Democracy Alliance are asked not to reveal the funding.In 2006 a San Francisco, CA, office was established by the Democracy Alliance at the Presidio in the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tides_Center" title="Tides Center" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Tides Center</a>, where Alliance member <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Drummond_Pike" title="Drummond Pike" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Drummond Pike</a> has his offce.<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rob_McKay" title="Rob McKay" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rob McKay</a> of the <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=McKay_Foundation&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="McKay Foundation (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">McKay Foundation</a> and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Anna_Burger&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Anna Burger (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Anna Burger</a> of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SEIU" class="mw-redirect" title="SEIU" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">SEIU</a> are the elected chair and vice chair of the board of directors of the Democracy Alliance. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061016/berman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[2]</a>"Members of the Democracy Alliance include billionaires like <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_Soros" title="George Soros" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George Soros</a> and his son <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jonathan_Soros" title="Jonathan Soros" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jonathan Soros</a>, former <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rockefeller_Family_Fund" title="Rockefeller Family Fund" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rockefeller Family Fund</a> president <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Anne_Bartley" title="Anne Bartley" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Anne Bartley</a>, San Francisco Bay Area donors <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Susie_Tompkins_Buell" title="Susie Tompkins Buell" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Susie Tompkins Buell</a>and <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mark_Buell" title="Mark Buell" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mark Buell</a>, Hollywood director <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rob_Reiner" title="Rob Reiner" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rob Reiner</a>, Taco Bell heir <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rob_McKay" title="Rob McKay" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rob McKay</a> ... as well as New York financiers like <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steven_Gluckstern&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Steven Gluckstern (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Steven Gluckstern</a>." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/08/22/alliance/index.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[3]</a>In October 2006, an article in The Nation magazine reported "the Alliance's 100 donors have distributed more than $50 million to center-left organizations and activists--a lot of money, yet still largely symbolic given the deep pockets of its members. Even as the donors pour millions into a new political infrastructure, however, problems have emerged that mirror many of the problems of the Democratic Party today and the progressive movement in general. The first is determining what, exactly, the group stands for and wants to accomplish. ... Rob Johnson, an early board member, says the tension in the Alliance is between 'party subsidizers' and '<a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Climate_change" title="Climate change" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">climate changers</a>'--those who want to fund organizations that work toward more effectively electing candidates versus those who aspire to change the fundamental nature of political debate with a stronger set of governing principles. ... Since its inception, the Alliance has been unabashedly elitist, while also poorly run. ... To stabilize the organization internally after almost a year of early stumbles, the partners chose as its managing director <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Judy_Wade" title="Judy Wade" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Judy Wade</a>, a member of the elite firm <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/McKinsey%26_Company" title="McKinsey & Company" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">McKinsey & Company</a>, consultants to multinational corporations." <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061016/berman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[4]</a><h2 style="background: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Board of Directors and Members</h2>The Board of Directors identified on the Democracy Alliance website (September, 2007) are:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rob_McKay" title="Rob McKay" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rob McKay</a>, Chair</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Anna_Burger&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Anna Burger (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Anna Burger</a>, Vice Chair, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/SEIU" class="mw-redirect" title="SEIU" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">SEIU</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Drummond_Pike" title="Drummond Pike" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Drummond Pike</a>, Treasurer</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/William_Budinger" class="mw-redirect" title="William Budinger" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">William Budinger</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Robert_H.Dugger" title="Robert H. Dugger" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Robert H. Dugger</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Al_Dwoskin" class="mw-redirect" title="Al Dwoskin" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Al Dwoskin</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Dr. <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gail_Furman" title="Gail Furman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Gail Furman</a>, ACSW, PhD</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_A.Johnson&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Robert A. Johnson (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Robert A. Johnson</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steven_Phillips&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Steven Phillips (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Steven Phillips</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Charles_Rodgers" title="Charles Rodgers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Charles Rodgers</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Deborah_Sagner&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Deborah Sagner (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Deborah Sagner</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Vachon&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Michael Vachon (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Michael Vachon</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rob_Stein" title="Rob Stein" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rob Stein</a>, Founder</li></ul>Members of the Democracy Alliance self-identified or identified in published articles include:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Anne_Bartley" title="Anne Bartley" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Anne Bartley</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fred_Baron" title="Fred Baron" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Fred Baron</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ann_Bowers" class="mw-redirect" title="Ann Bowers" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ann Bowers</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mark_Buell" title="Mark Buell" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mark Buell</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Susie_Tompkins_Buell" title="Susie Tompkins Buell" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Susie Tompkins Buell</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Lewis_B.Cullman" class="mw-redirect" title="Lewis B. Cullman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Lewis B. Cullman</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_Friedman" title="David Friedman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">David Friedman</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chris_Gabrieli&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Chris Gabrieli (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Chris Gabrieli</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tim_Gill" title="Tim Gill" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Tim Gill</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Davidi_Gilo&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Davidi Gilo (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Davidi Gilo</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Robert_Glaser" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert Glaser" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Robert Glaser</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Steven_Gluckstern&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Steven Gluckstern (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Steven Gluckstern</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Michael_Kieschnick" title="Michael Kieschnick" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Michael Kieschnick</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Gara_LaMarche" title="Gara LaMarche" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Gara LaMarche</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Norman_Lear&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Norman Lear (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Norman Lear</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Peter_B.Lewis" title="Peter B. Lewis" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Peter B. Lewis</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Luongo&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="John Luongo (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Luongo</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Alan_Patricof" title="Alan Patricof" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Alan Patricof</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rob_Reiner" title="Rob Reiner" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rob Reiner</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Guy_Saperstein&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Guy Saperstein (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Guy Saperstein</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bernard_Schwartz" class="mw-redirect" title="Bernard Schwartz" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bernard Schwartz</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Service_Employees_International_Union" title="Service Employees International Union" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Service Employees International Union</a> (SEIU)</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=William_Soskin&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="William Soskin (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">William Soskin</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/George_Soros" title="George Soros" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George Soros</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jonathan_Soros" title="Jonathan Soros" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jonathan Soros</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Albert_Yates&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Albert Yates (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Albert Yates</a></li></ul><h2 style="background: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Staff of Democracy Alliance</h2>The following staff are listed on the Democracy Alliance website (September, 2007):<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jonathan_Adler&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Jonathan Adler (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jonathan Adler</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Chris_Bolyai&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Chris Bolyai (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Chris Bolyai</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kelly_Craighead&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kelly Craighead (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kelly Craighead</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kathryn_Greenberg&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kathryn Greenberg (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kathryn Greenberg</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Josh_Leffler&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Josh Leffler (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Josh Leffler</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ingrid_Renaud&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ingrid Renaud (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ingrid Renaud</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Shannon_Roche&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Shannon Roche (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Shannon Roche</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ryan_Rodriguez&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Ryan Rodriguez (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Ryan Rodriguez</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Frank_Smith" title="Frank Smith" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Frank Smith</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alexandra_Visher&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Alexandra Visher (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Alexandra Visher</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Eddie_Wong&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Eddie Wong (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Eddie Wong</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Felicia_Wong&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Felicia Wong (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Felicia Wong</a></li></ul>
<h2 style="background: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Funding Recipients</h2>Organizations self-identified or identified in published reports as receiving financial support from the Democracy Alliance include the following:<ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ACORN" class="mw-redirect" title="ACORN" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">ACORN</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Air_America_Radio" title="Air America Radio" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Air America Radio</a> network</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/America_Votes" title="America Votes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">America Votes</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=AmericanForeignPolicy&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="AmericanForeignPolicy (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">AmericanForeignPolicy</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://capitalresearch.org/news/news.html?id=551" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[5]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Catalist" title="Catalist" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Catalist</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://capitalresearch.org/news/news.html?id=551" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[6]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_for_American_Progress" title="Center for American Progress" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Center for American Progress</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_for_Community_Change" title="Center for Community Change" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Center for Community Change</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_for_Progressive_Leadership" title="Center for Progressive Leadership" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Center for Progressive Leadership</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_Responsibility_and_Ethics_in_Washington" title="Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington</a>, CREW</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_on_Budget_and_Policy_Priorities" title="Center on Budget and Policy Priorities" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Center on Budget and Policy Priorities</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://capitalresearch.org/news/news.html?id=551" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[7]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Democracy:A_Journal_of_Ideas" class="mw-redirect" title="Democracy: A Journal of Ideas" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Democracy: A Journal of Ideas</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://capitalresearch.org/news/news.html?id=551" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[8]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/EMILY%27s_List" class="mw-redirect" title="EMILY's List" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">EMILY's List</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kirwan_Institute&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kirwan Institute (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kirwan Institute</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Media_Matters_for_America" title="Media Matters for America" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Media Matters for America</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=New_Democratic_Network&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="New Democratic Network (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">New Democratic Network</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://capitalresearch.org/news/news.html?id=551" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[9]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/People_for_the_American_Way" title="People for the American Way" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">People for the American Way</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://capitalresearch.org/news/news.html?id=551" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[10]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Progress_Now" title="Progress Now" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Progress Now</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Progressive_Majority" title="Progressive Majority" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Progressive Majority</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://capitalresearch.org/news/news.html?id=551" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[11]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Secretary_of_State_Project" title="Secretary of State Project" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Secretary of State Project</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Sierra_Club" title="Sierra Club" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sierra Club</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/USAction" title="USAction" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">USAction</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/VoteVets" class="mw-redirect" title="VoteVets" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">VoteVets</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.buyingofthepresident.org/index.php/interviews/jon_soltz/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[12]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Young_People_For&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Young People For (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Young People For</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.democracyalliance.org/difference.php" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[13]</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Women%27s_Voices.Women_Vote.&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Women's Voices. Women Vote. (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Women's Voices. Women Vote.</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.democracyalliance.org/difference.php" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">[14]</a></li></ul><h2 style="background: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Related SourceWatch Resources</h2><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/99%25_Spring" title="99% Spring" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">99% Spring</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/MoveOn" title="MoveOn" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">MoveOn</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Campaign_to_Defend_America" title="Campaign to Defend America" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Campaign to Defend America</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Colorado_Democracy_Alliance" title="Colorado Democracy Alliance" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Colorado Democracy Alliance</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Podesta" class="mw-redirect" title="John Podesta" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Podesta</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Progressive_Media" class="mw-redirect" title="Progressive Media" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Progressive Media</a></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Anna_Lefer_Kuhn" title="Anna Lefer Kuhn" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Anna Lefer Kuhn</a></li></ul><h2 style="background: none; font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;">Articles</h2><h3 style="background: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2005</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Don Hazen, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21192/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">The Right-Wing Express</a>, AlterNet, February 7, 2005.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Chris Suellentrop, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2005/06/26/follow_the_money?mode=PF" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Follow the Money</a>," Boston.com, (Boston Globe on line), June 26, 2005.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Thomas B. Edsall, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/06/AR2005080600848.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Rich Liberals Vow to Fund Think Tanks: Aim Is to Compete With Conservatives</a>", Washington Post, 7 August 2005.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">David Teather, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1544680,00.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Liberals Pledge Millions to Revive US Left</a>," Guardian (UK), August 8, 2005.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Michael Scherer, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/08/22/alliance/index.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Can Democrats get smart?</a>", Salon, 22 August 2005.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Amanda B. Carpenter, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?print=yes&id=8738" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">New Liberal Alliance Hopes to Replicate Conservatives' Success</a>, Human Events Online, August 26, 2005</li></ul><h3 style="background: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2006</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Marc Ambi<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2005/12/whither_the_dem.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Whither The Democracy Alliance?</a>, National Journal Online, December 7, 2005.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Christopher Hayes, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2697/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">The New Funding Heresies</a>", In These Times, June 26, 2006.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Jim VandeHei and Chris Cillizza, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/16/AR2006071600882.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">A New Alliance of Democrats Spreads Funding</a>, Washington Post, July 17, 2006.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://mediamatters.org/items/200607190002" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">O'Reilly smeared Media Matters, Democracy Alliance</a>, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Media_Matters_for_America" title="Media Matters for America" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Media Matters for America</a>, July 19, 2006.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Judith Siers-Poisson, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.prwatch.org/node/5034" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Funding The Left</a>, PRWatch.org, July 27, 2006.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Ari Berman, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061016/berman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Big $$ for Progressive Politics</a>, The Nation, October 16, 2006.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Matthew Vadum and James Dellinger, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18899" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Leftists in Search of Permanent Democrat Majority</a>, Human Events, December, 2006.</li></ul><h3 style="background: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2007</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Jason Horowitz, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://thepoliticker.observer.com/2007/02/obama-nabs-new-york-bundler.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Obama Nabs New York Bundler</a>, New York Observer, February 15, 2007.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mike_Lux" class="mw-redirect" title="Mike Lux" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mike Lux</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-lux/money-money-money-part_b_44311.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Money, Money, Money (part 3)</a>, Huffington Post, March 26, 2007.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Silla Brush, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070401/9ideas.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">In the Tanks for the Democrats</a>, US News & World Report, April 1, 2007.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Jon Wiener, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.calendarlive.com/books/la-bk-wiener12aug12,0,525210.story?coll=cl-books-features" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics</a>, a review of the book by Matt Bai, August 12, 2007, Los Angeles Times.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">John Stauber, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.prwatch.org/node/6368" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Iraq: The "Gift" That Keeps on Bleeding</a>, PRWatch.org, August 20, 2007.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Matt Bai, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-bai23sep23,0,6023565.story?coll=la-opinion-center" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Democrats, Look West</a>, Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2007.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Dan Morain, "<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-money13nov13,1,3814081.story" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Campaigns raise stakes on nonprofits: Untraditional donation channels are expected to gain ground in 2008. They assure anonymity and do not impose caps</a>," Los Angeles Times, November 13, 2007.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Nicholas Tatsis, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hprsite.squarespace.com/going-nowhere-fast-112007/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Going Nowhere Fast: The Democrats struggle to leave the doldrums</a>, Harvard Political Review, November 16, 2007.</li></ul><h3 style="background: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2008</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Matthew Vadum and James Dellinger, <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Capital_Research_Center" title="Capital Research Center" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Capital Research Center</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://capitalresearch.org/news/news.html?id=551" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Democracy Alliance: Billionaires for Big Government What’s Next for George Soros’s Democracy Alliance?</a> A January, 2008 Update of a 2006 issue of <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Foundation_Watch" title="Foundation Watch" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Foundation Watch</a>.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/03/union.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">As Clinton and Obama struggle, so do the unions behind each</a>, LA Times Blogs, March 6, 2008.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Sean Collins, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/reviewofbooks_article/4926/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">The hole at the heart of the Democratic Party</a>, Spiked On-Line.com, March 11, 2008.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Michael Abramowitz, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402647.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Jewish Liberals to Launch A Counterpoint to AIPAC Political Funds, Lobbying to Promote Arab-Israeli Peace Deal</a>, Washington Post, April 15, 2008.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Drummond Pike, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://drummondpike.tides.org/index.php/2008/05/01/live-from-the-da/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Live, from the DA….</a>, Drummond Pike's Blog, May 1, 2008.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Daisy Maxey, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120995556917566773.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Democratic Booster Blue Fund Group Has Been Singing the Blues Lately</a>, Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2008.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">John Fund, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121581650524447373.html?mod=googlenews_wsj" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Obama's Liberal Shock Troops</a>, Wall Street Journal opinion page, July 12, 2008.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Michael Barker, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.swans.com/library/art14/barker02.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">The Soros Media "Empire" The Power of Philanthropy to Engineer Consent</a>, Swans.com, July 14, 2008.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Peter Overby <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93357018" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Union Operative Advocates And Gains Power</a>, National Public Radio, August 6, 2008.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;">Julian Brookes, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julian-brookes/an-interview-with-erica-p_b_137206.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">An Interview with Erica Payne, Author of The Practical Progressive</a>, Huffington Post, October 23, 2008</li></ul><h3 style="background: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2013</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Stauber" title="John Stauber" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Stauber</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/03/15/the-progressive-movement-is-a-pr-front-for-rich-democrats/" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">The Progressive Movement is a PR Front for Rich Democrats</a>, March 15, 2013, CounterPunch.</li></ul><h3 style="background: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2014</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kenneth_Vogel&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kenneth Vogel (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kenneth Vogel</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/democrats-democracy-alliance-liberal-donors-105972" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">The Left's Secret Club</a> , April 24, 2014. Politico.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kenneth_Vogel&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kenneth Vogel (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kenneth Vogel</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/inside-the-vast-liberal-conspiracy-108171" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Insider The Vast Liberal Conspiracy</a>, June 23, 2014, Politico</li></ul><h3 style="background: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2015</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kenneth_Vogel&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kenneth Vogel (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kenneth Vogel</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/secret-effort-to-sell-hillary-clinton-to-rich-liberals-118528" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">The Secret Effort to Sell Hillary to Rich Liberals</a>, June 2, 2015, Politico.</li></ul><h3 style="background: none; margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;">2016</h3><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0.5em 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.1%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22%3F%3E%0A%3Csvg" width="%225%22" height="%2213%22%3E%0A%3Ccircle" cx="%222.5%22" cy="%229.5%22" r="%222.5%22" fill="%22%2300528c%22/%3E%0A%3C/svg%3E%0A" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kenneth_Vogel&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kenneth Vogel (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Kenneth Vogel</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/democratic-donors-hollywood-conference-221764" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="%221.0%22" encoding="%22UTF-8%22" standalone="%22no%22%3F%3E%3Csvg" width="%2212%22" height="%2212%22%3E%3Cpath" fill="%22%23fff%22/%3E%3C/svg%3E" stroke="%22%2306c%22" d="%22M9.995" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" e="E" cpath="Cpath" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:data="data">Donors seek to harness Hollywood to boost liberal causes</a>, April 10, 2016, Politico.</li></ul></div></div><div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 5px; margin-top: 1em; clear: both;"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Categories</a>: <ul style="list-style: none none; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left: 0px; padding: 0px 0.5em 0px 0.25em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Liberal_Advocacy_Organizations" title="Category:Liberal Advocacy Organizations" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Liberal Advocacy Organizations</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Green_Capitalism" title="Category:Green Capitalism" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Green Capitalism</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Politics_(U.S.)" title="Category:Politics (U.S.)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Politics (U.S.)</a></li></ul></div></div><a href="https://democracyalliance.org/about/contact/">https://democracyalliance.org/about/contact/</a>=“We’re

in a disruptive period, and when we get through it, the progressive

infrastructure landscape may look different,” said Gara LaMarche,

president of the Democracy Alliance, a club of wealthy liberals who

donate at least $200,000 a year to recommended groups. “There may be

groups that have been around that don’t rise to the challenge, and there

may be some new groups that do rise to the challenge, while others fade

away.”The Democracy Alliance has helped <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/14/us/politics/shaking-off-midterm-drubbing-liberal-donors-look-6-years-ahead.html">shape the institutional left</a>, steering <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/inside-the-vast-liberal-conspiracy-108171">more than $600 million</a>

since its inception in 2005 to a portfolio of carefully selected

groups, including pillars of the Clinton-aligned establishment like the

think tank Center for American Progress and the media watchdog Media

Matters.But

this year, the Democracy Alliance hired Archana Sahgal, a former Obama

White House official, to help the new anti-Trump groups, and it

suspended its intensive vetting and approval process to recommend

donations to a host of groups created since last fall’s election.The

Democracy Alliance distributed a “resistance map” to its donors in July

including new groups focused on converting the anti-Trump energy into

electoral wins, such as Flippable, Swing Left and Sister District, as

well as legal watchdog groups and others focused on mobilizing

protesters, such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/womens-march.html">Women’s March</a> and Indivisible.Perhaps

no group epitomizes the differences between the legacy left and the

grass-roots resistance like Indivisible. Started as a Google document

detailing techniques for opposing the Republican agenda under Mr. Trump,

the group now has a mostly Washington-based staff of about 40 people,

with more than 6,000 volunteer chapters across the country. The national

Indivisible hub, which consists of a pair of nonprofit groups, has

raised nearly $6 million since its start, primarily through small-dollar

donations made through its website.Yet

Indivisible has also received funding from the tech entrepreneur Reid

Hoffman, as well as foundations or coalitions tied to Democracy Alliance

donors, including the San Francisco mortgage billionaire Herbert

Sandler, the New York real estate heiress Patricia Bauman and the <a href="https://www.salon.com/2012/03/17/occupys_heiress/">oil heiress Leah Hunt-Hendrix</a>.And

an advocacy group funded by the billionaire hedge fund manager George

Soros, a founding member of the Democracy Alliance and one of the <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/democrats-soros-trump-231313">most influential donors on the left</a>,

is considering a donation in the low six figures to Indivisible. Mr.

Soros has already donated to a host of nonprofit groups playing key

roles in the anti-Trump movement, including the Center for Community

Change, Color of Change and Local Progress.

Indivisible

would “gladly” accept a check from Mr. Soros or his foundation, said an

official with the group, Sarah Dohl. But, she added, the group is

committed to ensuring that money from major donors does not become a

majority of the group’s revenue “because we want to maintain our

independence both from the funders and from the party.”==

<a href="http://democracyalliance.org/people/rob-stein/">http://democracyalliance.org/people/rob-stein/</a>

Rob Stein is founder of the Democracy Alliance and co-founder of the Committee on States. An attorney by training, Rob has founded and run several non-profit organizations, was senior strategist to the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was Chief of Staff of the Washington Office of the Clinton-Gore Transition, served as Chief of Staff of the United States Department of Commerce, and was a private equity investor working with dozens of early-stage companies. Rob’s original, comprehensive research about the funding, management and overall infrastructure of the conservative movement over the last three decades, and his recruitment of leading progressive strategists, activists and donors, resulted in the formation of the Democracy Alliance.

---

The Democracy Alliance, founded in 2005, is the largest network of donors dedicated to building the progressive movement in the United States. We play a leading role in fostering the infrastructure necessary to advance a progressive agenda for America. We invest in every aspect of progressive power-building – from policymaking to organizing grassroots communities to winning state and national issue and electoral campaigns. We address the most pressing challenges of our day through investments in three connected areas: a just democracy, a fair economy and an environmentally sustainable future.

Over the past 10 years, the Democracy Alliance has helped to raise significant resources to promote progressive ideas, impact media coverage, develop new leadership, create sophisticated civic engagement strategies and engage young people and communities of color. In our collaborative giving strategy, an informed and engaged body of donors comes together to aggregate resources for focused investment, for which we have marshaled as much as $60 million per year.

We address the most pressing challenges of our day through investments in three connected areas: a just democracy, a fair economy and an environmentally sustainable future.

</blockquote>

The need for a more powerful and cohesive progressive community has never been greater. Over the last three election cycles, conservatives have made unprecedented investments to create a wave of regressive policies and political leaders.

Building on our record of success in helping progressive organizations grow and connect, our current investment strategy expands our work by focusing on sustained state-level grassroots organizing and elevating the leadership and capacity of communities in the New American Majority – particularly people of color, women, and millennials. When these efforts are well-resourced and coordinated, year-in and year-out, progressives win.

===

vitter bill rept

• Democracy Alliance (DA), a facilitator for wealthy donors seeking to advance a broader

far-left agenda, does not disclose the details of any transaction it facilitates, and its

members and donor-recipients cannot speak publically about the organization. (Pg. 18)

• Environmental activist groups are well aligned with the greater far-left agenda. One of

DA’s acclaimed successes in the last year includes President Obama’s executive actions

on climate change. (Pg. 20)

• Many far-left environmental foundations and groups have pledged to divest in fossil fuels

and invest in renewable projects as well as “philanthropy.” (Pg. 22)

===

cf vitter/wfb bs

Read the Confidential Document Left Behind at the Democracy Alliance Meeting

Posted By Lachlan Markay On May 5, 2014 @ 1:00 pm In Politics

The Democracy Alliance takes pains to ensure that its work disbursing millions of dollars to top left-wing organizations remains secretive and free from public scrutiny. But a document left on the floor of the group’s recent gathering reveals for the first time the names of a number of individuals involved in the effort.

It lists new Democracy Alliance “partners,” individuals who every year <a href="http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=F87CCB53-6FC6-42ED-8A3D-664D96C96825">must pay</a> $30,000 in dues and contribute at least $200,000 to the groups that DA supports. It also reveals names of DA “advisers,” foundation participants, and individuals getting a “sneak peek” at the group’s activities.

Among its new partners are top labor union bosses, financial and business leaders, and heirs to billion-dollar fortunes who have made names for themselves as high-dollar Democratic donors.

Security was tight at the <a href="http://freebeacon.com/politics/security-tight-at-secretive-democracy-alliance-meeting/" target="blank">Democracy Alliance conference</a> last week at the chic Ritz Carlton in Chicago. Politico reporter Ken Vogel was <a href="http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=F87CCB53-6FC6-42ED-8A3D-664D96C96825" target="blank">manhandled</a> by security when he tried to interview an attendee. Other conference-goers ripped off their nametags when a Washington Free Beacon reporter approached.

The Democracy Alliance does not actually accept donations. Instead, it solicits contributions from left-wing millionaires and billionaires, and serves as a “pass through” between those donors and top liberal advocacy groups, including the Center for American Progress, Media Matters for America, and Democratic Super PAC Priorities USA.

The group emphasizes secrecy in all of its operations, even as its members and the DA “favored organizations” to which they donate decry the role of “dark money” in American politics. DA does not disclose details of any of the transactions it facilitates, and its members and donation recipients are prohibited from speaking publicly about the organization and its operations.

While few conference attendees would speak with the Free Beacon last week, one mistakenly left a revealing document on the floor of a publicly accessible area of the conference. The list of new partners provides previously unreported details on one of the left’s most powerful dark money groups.

<h3>Big Labor Bucks</h3>

<a href="http://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Noel-Beasley.jpg">             Noel Beasley</a>

</div>

Labor unions have for decades served as financiers for some of the left’s most prominent think tanks and activist groups. The list of new DA partner reveals increasing involvement by top labor bosses in the group’s work financing those organizations.

New members in 2014 include Noel Beasley, president of Workers United, a textile union affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, and Keith Mestrich, president of the union-owned Amalgamated Bank, where Beasley, also a SEIU vice president, serves as chairman.

Amalgamated, which is majority-owned by the SEIU, is <a href="http://freebeacon.com/politics/dnc-owes-democracy-alliance-big-time/" target="_blank">still owed</a> $8.5 million by the Democratic National Committee for a pair of loans taken out in 2012 to support the DNC’s work to reelect President Barack Obama.

“We are a partisan bank that’s owned by a union,” Mestrich <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/bank-owned-by-a-union-for-unions-sets-it-sights-on-washington/2013/08/02/e8c62ea4-f878-11e2-b018-5b8251f0c56e_story.html" target="_blank">told the Washington Post</a> last year. “There’s no question that unions are very tight with the Democratic Party, and we make no bones about that.” He would not answer questions about the bank’s involvement with the Democracy Alliance at last week’s conference.

The addition of top officials at Workers United and Amalgamated comes after DA added other top labor bosses in 2013, according to the list of new members.

Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America, and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, both signed on as partners last year. The document also lists CWA senior director George Kohl and Michelle Ringuette, Weingarten’s assistant, as new partners in 2013.

Weingarten and Cohen both sit on the <a href="http://www.epi.org/about/board/" target="blank">board</a> of the Economic Policies Institute, a labor-funded think tank. Richard Trumka, who attended last week’s conference, is also a board member, as are SEIU president and <a href="http://www.democracyalliance.org/leadership" target="blank">DA board member</a>Mary Kay Henry, and <a href="http://www.epi.org/about/board/" target="_blank">one-time</a> DA board member Robert Johnson.

While union higher ups are well compensated—Weingarten and Cohen made <a href="http://www.unionfacts.com/employees/American_Federation_of_Teachers" target="blank">$550,000</a> and <a href="http://www.unionfacts.com/employees/Communications_Workers_of_America" target="blank">$200,000</a> in 2012, respectively, while Ringuette and Kohl each pulled down more than $150,000—the $100,000 minimum aggregate contribution requirement likely means that AFT and CWA, rather than the individuals listed, are the entities providing DA pass-through funds, with top union officials serving as liaisons.

<h3>Famed Horticulturalist and Real Estate Heir Joins DA</h3>

<a href="http://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Amy.png">             Amy Goldman</a>

</div>

Many of DA’s new partners, though, have the personal financial means to support its favored organizations, due either to their own successful business ventures or to large inheritances.

Amy Goldman is one of the country’s foremost horticulturalists, but her fortune comes from her status as heiress to one of the largest real estate fortunes ever amassed. Goldman’s father, Sol, owned nearly 600 New York commercial real estate properties when he died in 1987. At one point, he owned the famed Chrysler Building.

The <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=x-cCAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA34&ots=YLetisppm7&pg=PA32#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="blank">ensuing legal battle</a> over his $1 billion estate was at the time the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/25/realestate/heirs-of-sol-goldman-battle-over-estate.html?pagewanted=all" target="blank">largest ever</a> to take place in New York’s Surrogate Court, more than doubling the previous record.

Amy Goldman has since become one of the Democratic Party’s largest individual campaign contributors. Goldman has donated more than $6 million to Democratic candidates, party organs, interest groups, and independent expenditure groups since 1990.

Those donations have included $1 million to Priorities USA in 2012, $500,000 to House Majority PAC the same year, $1.75 million to Planned Parenthood from 2011 to 2013, and $750,000 to Organizing for Action last year.

Goldman has donated nearly $9,000 to Obama, and more than $13,000 to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and independent groups supporting that effort.

<h3>Munger the Younger</h3>

<a href="http://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMG_6619.jpg">             Philip Munger / newyorksocialdiary.com</a>

</div>

Another benefactor of a massive inheritance that appears on DA’s new partner list was donating tens of thousands of dollars to Democrats while he was still in school.

Philip Munger is the son of Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman and Warren Buffett lieutenant Charles Munger, whose estimated net worth is $1.2 billion, according to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/charles-munger/" target="_blank">Forbes</a>. Munger the younger is a professor at the New School in New York City. Despite living on an educator’s salary, he also manages to donate vast sums to Democratic politicians.

Munger has shelled out more than $700,000 in political contributions since 1990, all to Democrats or liberal interest groups. He donated $46,300 while he was still a student, according to FEC forms that require donors to disclose their profession.

Munger was among the first donors to OFA, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/04/organizing-for-action-releases-foun.html" target="_blank">topping</a> the group’s list of “founding members” with a $250,000 contribution.

More inherited wealth will likely flow through DA from Henry van Ameringen, heir to the International Flavors and Fragrance fortune. Van Ameringen is another massive Democratic donor. He has donated more than $900,000 to Democrats since 1990.

Van Ameringen was the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527indivs.php?cycle=2012" target="blank">21st largest</a> individual contributor to 527 “political action committees” in 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He is the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/527s/527indivs.php?cycle=2014" target="blank">ninth largest</a> donor to those groups in the current election cycle.

Much of van Ameringen’s political activity is aimed at promoting gay rights. He <a href="http://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2012/02/09/obama-lgbt-event-expected-raise-15m" target="blank">attended</a> a $35,800 per-plate fundraiser for Obama in 2012 that solicited support from wealthy gay and lesbian individuals. The event raised an<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/obama-no-same-sex-marriage-supporter-solicits-cash-at-home-of-lesbian-married-couple/" target="blank">estimated</a> $1.4 million for the president’s reelection.

His promotion of gay rights has occasionally expanded into condemnation of religious conservatism. In announcing a <a href="http://www.truthwinsout.org/pressrelease/2014/05/40332/" target="_blank">$100,000 donation</a> from van Ameringen to the group Truth Wins Out, TWO’s executive director condemned “religious extremists” in the United States who are “literally getting away with murder from Uganda to Russia.”

Van Ameringen has also <a href="http://www.medicaljane.com/2014/04/19/henry-van-ameringen-makes-hefty-donation-to-legalization-efforts-in-oregon/" target="_blank">contributed $100,000</a> to an effort to legalize marijuana in Oregon. Democracy Alliance founder and automotive insurance kingpin Peter Lewis donated to the same effort.

Some new DA partners include individuals with their own successful business careers.

Adam Abram made his fortune in insurance and real estate. He sold his company, James River Group, to Bermuda-based Franklin Holdings in 2007. Abram is currently Franklin’s chairman. He also founded Adaron Group, a commercial real estate developer in North Carolina.

Some of Abram’s recent ventures have come under scrutiny for alleged cronyism. James River Group <a href="http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/unc-takes-private-cash-for-airport-study" target="blank">provided</a> $15,000 in financing for an economic impact study that recommended construction of an airport in the research triangle region of North Carolina. The company indicated that the airport was “’very important’ or ‘essential’ to [its] business,” according to the <a href="http://preserveruralorange.org/uploads/Economic_Impact.pdf" target="blank">study</a>.

Some residents saw that as a financial conflict. “As a resident of rural Orange County … I find it deeply disturbing that companies like the James River Group fund an economic study and they themselves want the airport because the airport will benefit their businesses,” one resident <a href="http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/orange-county-airport-flying-under-the-radar/Content?oid=1211747" target="_blank">wrote</a>.

Abram has donated more than $110,000 to Democrats since 1990. He <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=170x10482" target="_blank">cohosted</a> Michelle Obama at a 2008 fundraiser in Durham, N.C.

Many of Abram’s political contributions have focused on specific policy issues. In 2009, he offered to match all contributions up to $5,000 to the North Carolina chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Abram has been critical of the Obama administration’s civil liberties record and tactics in the war on terror. He wrote a <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/10/19/1577837/stripping-away-americans-rights.html" target="_blank">2011 column</a> for the Raleigh News-Observer criticizing legislation eventually signed by Obama that granted the executive wide latitude in detaining and trying suspected terrorists.

Despite those misgivings, Abram has donated $4,600 to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Other individuals on DA’s list of new partners have been far friendlier to Obama. Rick Segal, CEO of financial services firm Seavest, <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/bundlers.php" target="_blank">bundled</a> between $250,000 and $500,000 for the president’s reelection campaign, in addition to his $165,000 in political contributions since 1990.

Paul Boskind has contributed nearly $200,000 to Democrats since 1990, and <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/bundlers.php" target="blank">bundled</a> between $100,000 and $200,000 for Obama’s reelection. He also <a href="http://www.baremusicalnyc.com/creative.html" target="blank">served</a> on the DNC’s national finance committee.

Boskind is the CEO of Deer Oaks Mental Health Associates, a Texas based mental health organization. He is also involved in theater, producing a number of plays designed to promote liberal political sensibilities, <a href="http://immediatefamilyplay.com/index.php/producers" target="_blank">including</a> Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man.”

These and other individuals (full list below) are some of DA’s newest partners, but the list also includes a host of individuals with other statuses at the organization.

The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel was given a “sneak peak,” according to the list. Lee Wasserman and Lisa Guide of the Rockefeller Family Fund are listed as “committed.” Joan Davidson, heir to the Welch juice fortune and president emeritus of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, is listed under the status “convening.”

The Democracy Alliance did not respond to requests for comment or additional information about the roles that DA partners and other individuals listed on the document play.

On the back of the document, someone took notes that appeared to refer to potential or actual donations by individuals and groups affiliated with the DA.

“McKay 25k AV” likely refers to Rob McKay, and a $25,000 contribution to America Votes, a group that DA has supported. “Nathan Cummings 500k CCC” is likely a reference to a $500,000 contribution from the Nathan Cummings Foundation to the Center for Community Change, which has <a href="http://foundationsearch.com/990/Archive/2/THE%20NATHAN%20CUMMINGS%20FOUNDATION%20INC%202005%20237093201.pdf#xml=http://www.foundationsearch.com/FindFunders/Search/FreeTextSearch/PdfHighlighter.aspx?DocId=724985&Index=F%3a%5cFS%2dData%5cUS%5cIndex%5cArchive&HitCount=6&hits=83fc+83fd+83fe+83ff+a10b+a10c+" target="_blank">previously received</a> Nathan Cummings grant funds.

<a title="View Democracy Alliance new members list on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/222073619/Democracy-Alliance-new-members-list?secret_password=1e1jbm0yjmob7ocl5zc">Democracy Alliance new members list</a> by <a title="View Washington Free Beacon's profile on Scribd" href="http://www.scribd.com/WashingtonFreeBeacon">Washington Free Beac</a>

NEW PARTNERS, 2013

Paul Boskind: CEO of Deer Oaks Mental Health Associates and theater producer.

Larry Cohen: President of the Communications Workers of America.

Randi Weingarten: President of the American Federation of Teachers.

George Kohl: Senior director of the Communications Workers of America.

Michelle Ringuette: Assistant to the president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Amy Goldman: Author, horticulturalist, and daughter of the late New York City real estate magnate Sol Goldman.

NEW PARTNERS, 2014

Adam Abram: Founder of James River Group, chairman of Franklin Holdings, chairman of Piedmont Community Bank Holdings, former president of Adaron Group.

Noel Beasley: President of Workers United, vice president of the Service Employees International Union, chairman of Amalgamated Bank.

Keith Mestrich: President of Amalgamated Bank

Philip Munger: New School professor, son of Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charles Munger.

Colin Greer: President of the New World Foundation.

Heeten Kalan: Senior program officer at the New World Foundation.

Rick Segal: CEO of Seavest, Inc.

Ryan Smith: Unknown. It was originally <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/07/organizing-for-action.html">reported</a> that Smith was the CEO of Qualtrics, but that was not the case.

Henry van Ameringen: President of the Van Ameringen Foundation, son of Arnold Louis van Ameringen, founder of International Flavors and Fragrances.

Dirk Wiggins: Founder of Code for Progress, former director of targeting for Field Strategies, former outreach director for the Florida Democratic Party.

</div>

===

not manhandled:

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=F87CCB53-6FC6-42ED-8A3D-664D96C96825

Big

donor secrecy: ‘Irony, but it’s not hypocrisy’

By: Kenneth P. Vogel

April 30, 2014 05:00 AM EDT

</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" valign="top" class="story" style=" margin-bottom: 7px; margin-top: 5px; display: block;">

CHICAGO — Democratic attacks on the Koch brothers for secretive campaign spending have become a virtual <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/koch-brothers-democrats-2014-104688.html" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">plank in the party’s platform</a>, but it turns out big-money liberals can be just as defensive when their own closed-door activities are put in the spotlight.

During a <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/democrats-democracy-alliance-liberal-donors-105972.html" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">gathering here of major Democratic donors</a> this week that has raised more than $30 million for liberal groups, questions about the party’s split personality on the issue were dodged, rejected or answered with an array of rationalizations. That is, when they weren’t met with recriminations or even gentle physical force.

Those who did address the issue at the annual spring meeting of the Democracy Alliance donor club at the Ritz-Carlton sounded not unlike the conservatives who bristle at questions about their own big-money activity. Their donations are animated by a desire to right a country headed down the wrong path, both sides argue.

(<a href="http://www.politico.com//story/2014/04/dscc-outraises-nrsc-in-march-105518.html" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Earlier on POLITICO: DSCC outraises NRSC in March</a>)

The liberal strain of the argument is usually sprinkled with a heaping helping of moral superiority. Their most generous backers are giving to candidates and causes that could hurt their bottom line by raising taxes on the denizens of their elite tax bracket, the argument goes, whereas conservative big donors are seeking to pad their pockets by trying to slash taxes and regulations that impinge on their business.

“The people who are giving money into politics here are interested in changing the system. They’re not interested in getting return on investment,” said former Stride Ride president Arnold Hiatt, who donated $1.9 million to Democratic super PACs in 2012, not including gifts to nonprofits that aren’t required to disclose their donors. “You can focus on the irony, but it’s not hypocrisy because we’re not trying to get something for our donations.”

Recent <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31786.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">court decisions</a> have empowered super-rich partisans like the members of the DA, as the group is known, by vastly expanding the types and amounts of cash that can flow into campaigns. In the new landscape, it’s even more important for politicians and operatives to get in front of major donors, so conventions held by the DA and conservative industrialists <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/koch-brothers-2014-elections-102555.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Charles and David Koch</a> are a hot ticket. They can help form consensus around politicians and exert major influence over the direction of their respective parties from behind closed doors.

And, while many of the donors and operatives gathered here decry the new system — and support <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/fundraising-campaign-contributions-money-in-politics-103350.html" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">measures to reduce the role</a> of money in politics and increase transparency — they are nonetheless active participants.

(<a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/big-donor-secrecy-campaigns-fundraising-democrats-106186.html" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Earlier on POLITICO: Big donors fear shakedown</a>)

“Most of these people would love to put themselves out of business,” said David Axelrod, President Barack Obama’s former campaign guru. “Most of these people would prefer a country in which big donors didn’t play as large a role in our politics,” added Axelrod, who in 2012 branded the Koch brothers and other conservative big-donor groups “<a href="http://atr.rollcall.com/obama-campaign-to-go-after-contract-killer-super-pac-ads/" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">contract killers in super PAC-land</a>.”

“But so long as money in politics is required, there are going to be people on both sides who are willing to step up and provide it,” said Axelrod, who delivered the keynote at the DA’s Tuesday night dinner.

While sources say the Democracy Alliance has discussed holding open-press sessions that would be more consistent with its support for transparency in politics, for now the group — <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48277.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">like the Koch network</a> — goes to great lengths to keep its gatherings private. Locations are a closely held secret, <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45260.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">reporters are barred</a> from the sessions, and participants are prohibited from discussing the proceedings.

(<a href="http://www.politico.com//magazine/story/2014/04/mccutcheon-supreme-court-millionaires-105307.html" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">On POLITICO Magazine: Why McCutcheon's bad for millionaires</a>)

Few donors or participants spoke to POLITICO on the record. Top Obama White House aide Valerie Jarrett, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes all ignored questions about whether Democrats are hypocritical on big money as they walked between a bank of elevators in the lobby and a promenade leading to the rooms hosting the DA panels and speeches.

Jarrett refused to make eye contact with a reporter asking such a question on Monday night, while de Blasio on Sunday night said, “My friend, we’re not doing media right now. We’re happy to talk to you another time,” as a handler stepped between the quick-walking mayor and a reporter. When Grimes, following a closed-door meet-and-greet with major donors Tuesday, was asked about liberal efforts to vilify the Kochs and other major conservative donors, she said, “I sure appreciate your time. You have to go through our communications department,” then <a href="https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/461290155219759104" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">stepped into an elevator</a> and stood behind an aide.

Communications staffers for de Blasio and Grimes did not respond to subsequent requests for comment.

Democracy Alliance staff chastised a reporter during an attempt to interview major donor Jonathan Soros as he headed toward a panel on campaign finance reform. “Sir, you’re not allowed to go past here,” said one staffer, as another grabbed this reporter’s arm to prevent him from walking with Soros, who <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/03/jonathan-soros-the-pac-to-end-all-pacs-105123.html#.U1hiC_ldWSo" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">co-founded a super PAC</a>, called Friends of Democracy, that intends to spend as much as <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/wallets-to-watch-in-2014-races-101746_Page2.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">$6 million in 2014</a> boosting candidates who support campaign finance reforms including enhanced disclosure.

(<a href="http://www.politico.com/driving-the-day/" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">WATCH: POLITICO's Driving the Day</a>)

Soon after, three hotel security officers approached to put the kibosh on additional inquiries.

“If it’s not sanctioned by our PR department, we can’t actually have anybody approach anybody for any kind of interview or sound bite or anything like that,” security supervisor Joe Rios said, explaining that DA representatives had asked him to enforce the charge.

DA spokeswoman Stephanie Mueller later explained that attendees were complaining about “aggressive” interview attempts and urged POLITICO to “respect their privacy.”

Democracy Alliance partners range from rich individuals like billionaire currency trader George Soros (Jonathan’s father) and Houston trial lawyers Amber and Steve Mostyn to deep-pocketed unions to corporations like Amalgamated Bank, which was introduced as a new member in Chicago. Its president, Keith Mestrich, declined to comment when asked why the bank joined the DA.

The group holds two conferences a year, which include a mix of entertainment — donors at the Ritz were treated to a stand-up routine by “The Daily Show” co-creator Lizz Winstead and a private curator-led tour of the Art Institute of Chicago — and panels on elevating progressive issues like income inequality, climate change, drug reform, gun control, abortion rights and the death penalty.

But the real action typically occurs on the sidelines. The Democratic data juggernaut NGP-VAN <a href="https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/461322864679874560" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">rented a 13th-floor conference room</a> to hold meetings with operatives throughout the conference. And, on Sunday night, Michael Vachon, a representative for George Soros (who did not attend the conference), huddled with AFL-CIO officials Richard Trumka, Damon Silvers and Michael Podhorzer to discuss ways to rally Democrats using income inequality. No one in the group responded to requests for comment sent later via email, though Podhorzer did accidentally drop his phone into a massive rubber-duck-filled fountain in the middle of the Ritz lobby.

DA partners pay annual dues of $30,000 and are also required to contribute a total of at least $200,000 a year to recommended groups, many of which are nonprofits registered under a section of the Tax Code — 501(c) — that allows them to shield their donors’ identities, including pillars of the left like Media Matters and America Votes.

“These donors have a right to use their money how they chose — whether it’s to entities like super PACs that disclose their donors or to 501(c) entities that don’t,” said Jason Torchinsky, a <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/59939_Page3.html" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">top election lawyer</a> who represents GOP party committees and many conservative nonprofits, including some in the Koch network. “So, I don’t fault those guys for what they’re doing. I just think that when their side screams about what our side does, they should look in the mirror.”

The DA, since its inception in 2005, has steered $500 million to recommended groups. And the group is adding partners for the first time in years. In Chicago, donors had committed $31 million to recommended groups through Tuesday night — the second day of the three-day conference — according to sources. That was significantly more than at last year’s spring meeting, and the pledged total was expected to continue growing through the conclusion of the conference on Wednesday.

But Axelrod suggested Democracy Alliance donors aren’t in the same league as the Kochs, whose donor network in 2012 <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/koch-backed-political-network-built-to-shield-donors-raised-400-million-in-2012-elections/2014/01/05/9e7cfd9a-719b-11e3-9389-09ef9944065e_story.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">steered $400 million</a> to an array of nonprofits, or major donors like Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, whose family <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81588.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">dropped $100 million</a> into GOP groups.

“I don’t know if there is a corollary to Adelson or the Koch brothers. I think they’re somewhat unique,” said Axelrod in a Tuesday morning interview conducted in a lower lobby of the Ritz-Carlton away from the watchful eyes of the hotel security and DA staff. “I don’t see anything on the Democratic side like that.”

While it’s impossible to precisely assess how much money is being raised and spent through 501(c)4 nonprofits, Democrats actually have an <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/25/super-pac-mega-donors-n_5208199.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">edge in big-money</a> super PAC fundraising in 2014.

But, according to DA President Gara LaMarche, his donors don’t have the same kind of self-interested motivation to keep digging deep.

“George Soros isn’t trying to get a tax break or relief from regulation or whatever. He is basically saying, let’s have a system where somebody like me would be taxed more heavily,” LaMarche said last week. On other side of the 1 percent aisle, LaMarche asserted, conservative donors treat their political giving as “a business expense.” Their giving “coincides with self-interest in a narrower sense more than it does on the progressive side, so I think that is a distinction that is significant.”

Of course, there are some examples where liberal donors’ causes overlap with their economic interests. San Francisco hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, whose aides delivered a Tuesday morning presentation to DA donors on his <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/tom-steyer-campaign-donor-103617.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">plan to spend $100 million</a> in the 2014 midterms boosting environmentally minded candidates, has invested in renewable energy initiatives that could be boosted by his advocacy. And DA partners Amber and Steve Mostyn, who declined an interview request in Chicago, have <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-16/dueling-houston-donors-take-feud-to-presidential-campaign.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">spent heavily</a> against advocates of tort reforms in Texas that could crimp their legal business.

Meanwhile, there are plenty of examples of top conservative donors whose giving is animated by causes unrelated to their bottom lines. While Adelson would <a href="http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/tax-reform/report/2012/09/11/12008/sheldon-adelsons-return-on-investment/" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">undoubtedly benefit</a>from GOP tax policies, he donates mostly on the basis of a single issue — <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/chris-christie-occupied-territories-apology-105169.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">the defense of Israel</a> — that is <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/sheldon-adelson-las-vegas-2016-elections-republicans-105192.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">detached from the casino empire</a> that built his $40 billion fortune. And the Kochs often cite their <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/13/koch-brothers-ethanol-subsidies-grover-norquist_n_876430.html" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">opposition to ethanol subsidies</a> that benefit their sprawling industrial empire as an example of a political stance that could hurt their bottom line. To be sure, they also take many more stances that could boost or protect their bottom lines — including opposing cap-and-trade legislation and additional environmental regulations — but those positions coincide with their libertarian worldview, and even critics concede it can be tricky deducing a chicken-or-egg effect.

All of that nuance goes out the window in the current Democratic war on the Kochs.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has repeatedly denounced the Kochs in hyperbolic terms, accusing them of “actually <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/harry-reid-koch-brothers-102859.html" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">trying to buy the country</a>” and of being “un-American.”

Asked about the Democracy Alliance gathering in light of Democratic attacks on Koch gatherings, Rob Tappan, a Koch Industries spokesman, defended “the First Amendment rights of all Americans to free speech, free association and to peaceably assemble without fear of reprisal.” But he also took an oblique swipe at the Kochs’ critics, including Reid, arguing “for one individual or group to be treated differently or held to a different standard than another individual or group is not only the height of hypocrisy — it’s un-American.”

Assailing the Koch brothers and other GOP mega-donors is effective “as a call to action” among liberal donors, explained Jon Carson, a former top Obama White House aide who now runs Organizing for Action, an Obama-boosting nonprofit that solicits donations from Democracy Alliance.

“What’s actually going on is a conversation about motivation for why people put money in politics and I think on all sides, some people genuinely have policy views they care about,” said Carson, whose group was poised to host DA partners at its headquarters. While Carson extended an invitation to tour the headquarters some time, he said POLITICO could not join the DA donor tour.

The guarded demeanor of most DA guests stood in contrast to another group of VIPs staying at the Ritz — the Washington Wizards and TNT basketball announcers Marv Albert and Steve Kerr. The basketball team’s players <a href="https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/460923559305416704" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">welcomed all manner of well-wishers</a> — including <a href="https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/460926236282204160" target="blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">some DA participants</a> — as they wandered around the lobby passing time before their Tuesday night NBA playoff game against the hometown Chicago Bulls.

On Tuesday morning, it was pointed out to Wizards swingman Trevor Ariza that Axelrod,<a href="https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/461154976262127616" target="_blank" style=" font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">eating breakfast with Carson</a> in the Ritz lobby restaurant, and other Chicago-based Obama loyalists are big Bulls fans.

“That’s funny,” Ariza said. “Hopefully we piss them off.”

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