WASHINGTON -- American Bridge, the Democratic research SuperPAC, announced today the first round of hires for a new rapid response effort to repel false attacks against potential Democratic Presidential aspirants by the Republican Party and conservative organizations in anticipation of the 2016 Presidential race.

Noting that six Super PACs have formed to target Democrats well before any 2016 campaign activity has begun, American Bridge founder and chairman David Brock said, “In this early period, Correct the Record will aggressively challenge false right-wing attacks before they take hold and expose the fraudulent sources of these attacks to the public.”

Brock announced the following hires (full bios below):

Correct the Record will employ a dedicated research, video tracking, communications and digital media staff of more than 20 charged with providing rapid response to false attacks from Republican politicians, party committees, and conservative interest groups against potential Democratic Presidential candidates. It will utilize traditional and new media tactics to disseminate its fact-based content to the media, allied progressive organizations, and directly to voters.

“I’m happy to join the American Bridge team and help lead the effort to elect a Democratic President in 2016. Correct the Record will set the record straight so Americans can come together and move our nation forward,” Strider said.

Brock said several long-time Democratic Party donors, including Susie Tompkins Buell and Rob McKay of San Francisco, Steve Bing of Los Angeles, Bernard Schwartz of New York, Paul Egerman of Boston and Barbara Stiefel of Miami have made financial commitments to get Correct the Record started. Buell is a member of the Board of Media Matters for America, which Brock founded in 2004, and national co-chair of Ready for Hillary. McKay is chairman of the liberal donor network Democracy Alliance. Egerman is a member of the Board of American Bridge and was finance chair of Elizabeth Warren for Senate. Stiefel is a long-time supporter of President Obama and donated $1 million to Priorities USA in 2012.

During the 2012 election cycle, American Bridge spent $15 million conducting research, tracking and earned media campaigns against more than 70 Republican candidates for federal office, including eight Presidential hopefuls. The organization collaborated with Democratic allies like Priorities USA Action to define GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney early and published hundred of pages of opposition research on Rep. Paul Ryan before he was named to the GOP ticket.

In the 2014 campaign cycle, American Bridge will grow to more than 90 staffers in Washington and around the country (not including Correct the Record staff) continuing its core work of opposition research, candidate tracking and communications in critical Senate, House and gubernatorial races.

American Bridge president Rodell Mollineau noted that Correct the Record would complement the opposition research and tracking operations already underway against potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates. “This new project is a logical extension of the proven track record American Bridge has established since its founding in 2011, holding Republicans and conservatives accountable for their words and actions,” said Mollineau.

STAFF BIOS:

Burns Strider, Vice President of American Bridge and Senior Adviser to Correct the Record, was a senior adviser to Hillary Clinton and director of faith-based outreach in her 2008 Presidential campaign. Founder and principal of Eleison Group and President of the American Values Network, Strider has worked on more than a hundred House, Senate, statewide and nationwide campaigns in his career. Previously, he was director of policy for the U.S. House Democratic Caucus and a senior aide to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Isaac Wright, Director of Correct the Record’s daily operations, is founder of Wright Strategies LLC. He began working in campaign online activities and media when he served on the national communications staff of the Gore-Lieberman 2000 campaign. Wright served as the South Carolina communications director for Hillary Clinton campaign’s in 2008 and was communications director in the office of Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, where he was the youngest communications director to any sitting governor in the country.

Adrienne Elrod, Communication Director of Correct the Record, is chief of staff to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA). Elrod has held senior communications roles in the offices of Rep. Ron Klein (D-FL), Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She took on various roles serving Hillary Clinton in the 2008 campaign including Texas primary communication director, manager of the eastern and southern states’ communications operation and deputy director of the
Congressional Delegate Operation.

Correct the Record Research Director Sam Ritzman directed the research effort for the successful re-election campaign of Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida in 2012. In 2008, he was a senior researcher on the Clinton campaign and later worked at the polling firm of Penn and Schoen.