THE PEOPLE’S SUPER PAC

PAC+ LAUNCHES THE NEW AMERICAN MAJORITY PAC

PAC+, a new national network of leaders focused on democratizing money and politics to give voice to America’s New Majority, launches today at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Recognizing that People of Color and progressive Whites are the New American Majority of people in the United States, PAC+ will combine the resources of its members and direct them to strategic races in states where the demographic revolution can change the political balance of power. In 2012, PAC+ is focusing on six strategic states — Texas, Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico, Ohio, and California.

Led by the team that in 2007 created Vote Hope, the country’s first Democratic SuperPAC, PAC+ is an innovative approach to politics that weaves together demographic developments, technological tools, and network theory into a powerful force for change. “Currently a handful of billionaires are hijacking our democracy and advancing policies that are harmful to the majority of the American people. PAC+ is piloting a new model of SuperPAC that is focused on many donors, not mega-donors,” said Steve Phillips, Chairman of PAC+.

PAC+ is being launched by a National Board of over 70 community and political leaders in 16 states and is “powered by” PowerPAC.org, a social justice advocacy organization that coordinated the country’s first independent expenditure for Obama in 2007 and conducted a $10 million, 18 state electoral program targeting African American and Latino voters in key states. “Democrats spend tens of millions of dollars pursuing a strategy based on an outdated and inaccurate picture of the American electorate,” said Dr. Julie Martínez Ortega, President of PAC+. “The census data make clear that People of Color and progressive Whites are a majority of the U.S. population now, and our strategies need to shift accordingly,” added Dr. Martínez Ortega.

There are twelve million U.S. households of People of Color and progressive Whites with a household income of more than $100,000, and PAC+ is targeting less than 1% of that market, 100,000 people. “Many of us who benefited from the struggles that opened up the doors of higher education and corporate America are now in a position to give back,” said Maria Echaveste, Executive Committee member of the Democratic National Committee and the former Deputy Chief of Staff to President Clinton.

“Rather than get into a battle with the billionaires on the Right, major donors on the Left should invest their money in institutions and organizations that can unleash the power of the country’s demographic revolution, and PAC+ is just such an organization” said Susan Sandler, a philanthropist and private investor.

PAC+ will pool money from members across the country and direct those resources to strategic races in its six 2012 priority states. PAC+ is a federal political action committee and SuperPAC incubated by PowerPAC, a nonprofit advocacy and political organization. PowerPAC was organized to champion democracy and social justice in states and communities across the country and conducted the 2008 Obama independent expenditure campaign and a successful 2010 independent effort to help Kamala Harris win election as California’s Attorney General.

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Kirk Clay is Senior Advisor at PowerPAC

Related articles

• New Democratic super PAC looks beyond 2012 (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
• New Obama super PAC to spend $10M (politico.com)
• USA Today PAC+ Super PAC

Author: Kirk Clay Sr.

Kirk Clay Sr. is a Senior Advisor, Analyst and Strategist. Currently, he leads many efforts. He is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of Capitol View Advisors. This includes publicly representing the collaborative, overseeing acquisition and guiding the overall program implementation with institutional and individual contributors. Before that, Kirk Clay served as a Senior Advisor to PowerPAC+ where he built and led management systems, structures, and measures for the “start-up” business. Recently, he led an independent expenditure to elect U.S. Senator Cory Booker. Also, he served as the national field director during the 2008 primary season where he raised $10 million and led an effort that mobilized more than 500,000 voters in ten states. Between 2008 and 2011, Mr. Clay was the National Civic Engagement Director for the NAACP where he was responsible for developing and implementing political research, advocacy and training agenda. Under his leadership, the NAACP executed three 4.0 style voter mobilization campaigns and a national census effort to increase civic participation rates in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Mr. Clay’s background includes serving as the Treasurer for the PTA, Director of Outreach for Common Cause, Deputy Director for the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Deputy Field Director for People For the American Way, Vice Chair of the Census Information Center Steering Committee, Lead Trainer / Administrator for Democratic National Committee, White House Intern and Senior Advisor. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and three children. His hobbies include traveling, cooking, and listening to jazz. He is a popular political blogger and is active on twitter @kirkclay and Blog: kirkclay.com capitolviewadvisors.com View all posts by Kirk Clay Sr.