PAC profile: Strong America Now

Introduction

Type of organization: Super PAC

Supports: Newt Gingrich

Founded: Nov. 1, 2011

Website: strongamericanow.org

Social media: YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter profile

Principals:

• Mike George (founder and treasurer): Founder of George Group and also the creator of the Lean Six Sigma process, a corporate efficiency method, which Newt Gingrich pledged to adopt.
• Peter O’Rourke (executive director): Former consultant at George Group (later called Accenture), where he trained Department of Defense employees and federal agencies in Six Sigma.
• F. Scott O’Grady (deputy executive director): Former Air Force captain whose experience after being shot down in Bosnia loosely informed the film “Behind Enemy Lines.” He also briefly ran as a Republican candidate for the Texas Senate in in District 8 in 2012.

Profile:

Strong America Now is the much smaller cousin of Winning Our Future, which is the dominant super PAC supporting former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s presidential campaign. Strong America spent about $200,000 while the larger group’s spending was well into the millions.

Founder Mike George is the super PAC’s only donor. Gingrich has spoken highly of George and his Lean Six Sigma method, which Gingrich touted at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) Conference on Feb. 10, according to Businessweek.

Strong America Now seeks to eliminate the federal deficit and is opposed to new taxes. While it initially gave several Republican candidates grades of “A” for their commitment to deficit reduction, Strong America Now settled on Gingrich. When that fact became clear, Iowa GOP chairman Matt Strawn resigned from the group.

Craig Schoenfeld, Gingrich’s Iowa campaign manager, briefly worked for the group before being rehired by Gingrich, MSNBC reported.

Strong America Now put out pro-Gingrich and anti-Romney mailers, calling Romney the “second most dangerous man in America.” The Texas-based group hosted the South Carolina Tea Party Convention Jan. 15 and Jan. 16.

The group spent more than $22,000 on robocalls in March in Mississippi, Alabama and Lousiana. Gingrich came in second in Mississippi and Alabama and third in Louisiana.

The most recent donation from George came on March 14, a week after the Super Tuesday results came in for the GOP primary. The last independent expenditure the group made came in mid-April for pro-Gingrich bumper stickers.

See more data on Strong America Now at OpenSecrets.org

Last updated: Jan. 17, 2013