The launch of Take Back Our Republic creates a new effort to turn the tide in favor of conservative solutions to campaign finance reform. The non-partisan group pledges to educate the public on how to create greater accountability for politicians and to enable greater participation by taxpayers.
“As conservatives, we want to make it easier for more voters to give small contributions and in turn become the focus of their elected officials again,” said John Pudner, Executive Director of Take Back Our Republic. “There’s too much money in politics from billionaires, like Michael Bloomberg, who want something from government and not enough from the rest of us who have to pay the bill.”
The organization’s staff is comprised entirely of people who have organized grassroots efforts for conservative candidates and who are united in transitioning to the c-3 foundation to build conservative grassroots organizations to educate the public in each state.
In the opening days of their efforts, they have burned up the phone lines to recruit a total of 237 community leaders who agreed to help coordinate educational initiatives. All 237 of these new volunteers had worked with Pudner on past grassroots causes, and they are spread over half the states:
Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, the District of Columbia, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
The organization is working to win support among conservatives throughout the country as it ignites the debate over new options for campaign finance reform, including tax credits for political donations up to $200 and a law to prohibit anyone from losing their job over a contribution.
Helping to lead these efforts is the Board of Directors of Take Back Our Republic, including longtime communications strategist and former advisor to President George W. Bush, Mark McKinnon, former chief White House ethics counsel Richard Painter and Juleanna Glover, who served on the senior staffs of President-elect George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator John Ashcroft and presidential candidates Steve Forbes and Senator John McCain.
