Americans for Prosperity
November 5, 2014

Americans for Prosperity Reacts to Senate Results

Phillips says group will continue building long-term force to fight for economic freedom.

Arlington, Va. — Americans for Prosperity President Tim Phillips released the following statement on the heels of the national midterm results:

“Americans for Prosperity has spent years building a permanent infrastructure across the nation with staff and activists that engage and win on economic freedom issues at the state, local, and federal levels.

“Tonight’s results are a clear rebuke of ObamaCare and the government overreach that have come to define the Obama-Reid agenda, and a class of senators who chose to rubber stamp bad policy rather than fight  for the people they represent.

“In the coming weeks and months, we’re going to continue growing what’s become a profound force in the fight for economic freedom.” 

BACKGROUND

AFP Builds Strongest Ground Force on the Center-Right, to Advance Economic Freedom

In Key Election States, Conservative Groups Build a Ground Game (Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times, 10/25/14).

For much of this year, she and nearly three dozen other staffers in the state have helped build Americans for Prosperity’s data-driven effort: amassing teams of volunteers who go door to door collecting information on voters and the national and local issues that matter to them – such as the president’s healthcare law and school choice.

AFP Plows Millions into Building Conservative Ground Force (Matea Gold, Washington Post, 10/6/14).

“Denise Bubeck studied her iPad as she scoped out her voter targets in this leafy Des Moines suburb. She was armed with a carefully honed script and a pile of slickly produced door hangers, like so many seasoned field operatives who parachute into this state during election season.

But Bubeck, 52, is no temporary campaign worker. The resident of Grimes, Iowa, is part of a permanent ground force that the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity is building in Iowa and across the country—a long-term effort to undercut the left’s long-standing dominance in grass-roots organizing.”

Americans for Prosperity Builds Political Machine (Michael J. Mishak and Phillip Elliott, Associated Press, 10/11/14).

Building on the community-based approach President Barack Obama used successfully in 2008 and 2012, it now has a political footprint unmatched among GOP-affiliated and is racking up legislative victories.

AFP’s Get-Out-the-Vote Effort Included State-of-the-Art Technology, Practices

For Midterms, Betting on Feet and Good Apps (Ashley Parker and Jonathan Weisman, New York Times, 10/25/14).

Door Knocking for a Candidate, a Test for a Party (Phil Mattingly, Bloomberg, 11/1/14)

Outside groups have come in with their own operations. Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy group backed by billionaires Charles and David Koch, has implemented a three-phase field operation over the course of months. First we surveys to identify potential voters. Then an education phase for undecided, they group they thought they could persuade. Then came the organization’s own get-out-the-vote push. 

AFP Issues Defined the Midterm Conversation

Matea Gold of The Washington Post Credited AFP With Framing the Debate Over Obamacare Early on in North Carolina. “In North Carolina, where TV spending on the Senate race is expected to exceed $75 million, about three-quarters of the spots have been sponsored by outside groups, according to people familiar with the totals. Much of the early advertising was done by Americans for Prosperity, which attacked the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Kay Hagan, for her support of the Affordable Care Act. Since then, more than 20 other pro-GOP groups have jumped into the fray, pounding her on topics including abortion rights, gun legislation, the national debt and the Islamic State.” (Matea Gold, “On the right, donors drive action of outside groups in 2014 midterms,” The Washington Post, 10/12/14)

Six-Figure Radio Buy In Michigan Tackles Medicaid Expansion And The Impact Of Obamacare. “Americans for Prosperity-Michigan today announced a six-figure ad buy that will start in Michigan today. It encompasses two separate radio ads. One connects Medicaid expansion to the Obamacare “train wreck,” urging state senators to oppose expanding Medicaid. The other highlights concerns raised by union leaders like James Hoffa about the negative impact ObamaCare will have on union members.” (“Six-Figure Ad Buy Focuses On Medicaid Expansion, Obamacare Risk Factors,” Americans For Prosperity, 08/26/13)

Another Huge Radio Buy Reveals How Families In Ohio Will Be Affected By Obamacare. “Americans for Prosperity-Ohio is announcing today a new radio ad aimed at highlighting the negative consequences of President Obama’s healthcare law. . . . The new radio ad titled “Questions” will feature Julie, a mother of two, who has doubts about how the President’s healthcare law will impact her family.” (“AFP Launches New Radio Ad Effort Aimed At Obamacare,” Americans For Prosperity, 08/15/13)

AFP Builds Coalition With Union Workers Whose Paychecks And Health Plans Are Threatened By Obamacare. “Americans for Prosperity will begin airing a new radio ad today in major markets around Ohio and  other states across the nation in which the narrator shares a special message from Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa. In the ad, listeners are reminded of Hoffa’s statement that the Obamacare law “will shatter not only our hard-earned health benefits, but destroy the foundation of the 40 hour work week that is the backbone of the American middle class.”” (“Unions Say Obamacare Bad For Workers,” Americans For Prosperity, 08/23/13)

AFP Emerges as “Most Important” Outside Group

“AFP Has Singlehandedly Taken The Fight To Democrats.” “It’s the kind of precise, preemptive strike normally expected from traditional GOP heavyweights like the Karl Rove-backed American Crossroads or the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But while they have remained almost silent in the midterm election’s early going, AFP has singlehandedly taken the fight to Democrats.” (Alex Roarty, “Koch Brothers Are Outspending Everyone for a GOP Senate Takeover,” National Journal, 1/16/14)

“And In Doing So, [AFP Has] Emerged As The GOP’s Most Important Outside Group, A Role The Group’s Leaders Don’t Plan On Relinquishing Anytime Soon.” (Alex Roarty, “Koch Brothers Are Outspending Everyone for a GOP Senate Takeover,” National Journal, 1/16/14)

The Washington Post: “With Early Attacks Against Senate Democrats, AFP Emerges As GOP’s Most Powerful Ally” (Matea Gold, “With Early Attacks Against Senate Democrats, AFP Emerges As GOP’s Most Powerful Ally,” The Washington Post, 2/4/14)