America Coming Together (ACT) (founded in 2003) was a
progressive, political action
527 group
A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat ...
dedicated to
get-out-the-vote
"Get out the vote" or "getting out the vote" (GOTV) describes efforts aimed at increasing the voter turnout in elections. In countries that do not have or enforce compulsory voting, voter turnout can be low, sometimes even below a third of the e ...
activities. ACT did not specifically endorse any political party but worked almost exclusively on behalf of
Democratic candidates. It was the largest 527 (tax-exempt) group in 2004 and was planning to be involved in future races. The group was primarily funded by insurance mogul
Peter Lewis, currency trader
George Soros
George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...
, and
labor unions
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
, especially the
Service Employees International Union, and was led by
Steve Rosenthal, a former political director of the
AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...
.
History
Starting in mid-2004, the album ''
Wake Up Everybody'' was recorded by more than 90 musical acts under the direction of
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, for the purpose of getting more young adults to register and vote.
In the last three weeks before the
2004 presidential and
congressional elections, ACT planned on funding over 12 million phone calls to targeted voters and having canvassers hand-deliver 11 million pieces of literature at targeted doorsteps. On Election Day, ACT had projected to have 45,000 paid canvassers in the battleground states and spent over $10 million on Election Day. It had 86 offices open every day, with a staff of 4,000 and a goal of reinforcing the army of 45,000 paid canvassers with 25,000 volunteers.
In the fall of 2004, ACT was featured in the Frontline Documentary ''The Persuaders'', which described ACT's use of
narrowcasting.
In 2005 ACT was in the process of being wound down. Its website was not renewed and is no longer operational.
The
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency of the United States government that enforces U.S. campaign finance laws and oversees U.S. federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Campaign ...
announced on August 29, 2007, that it had reached a settlement agreement with ACT for violations of various federal campaign finance laws during the 2004 US presidential campaign. ACT agreed to pay $775,000 in fines.
References
External links
Opensecrets.org ACT Profile''The Persuaders''
527 organizations
2004 United States presidential election
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