The Reform Institute was an American non-partisan, not-for-profit think tank based in Alexandria, Virginia, that described itself as centrist oriented. [1] The major policy areas the institute focused on are energy and environmental policy, homeland and national security, economic opportunity and competitiveness, immigration reform, and governance and election reform. [2]
The institute was criticized during the 2000 decade as an extension of Senator John McCain's political ambitions. [3] The New York Times described the institute in this fashion: "In a small office a few miles from Capitol Hill, a handful of top advisers to Senator John McCain run a quiet campaign. They promote his crusade against special interest money in politics. They send out news releases promoting his initiatives. And they raise money--hundreds of thousands of dollars, tapping some McCain backers for more than $50,000 each." [4]
As of April, 2011, the Reform Institute's web page was no longer active and links to it were broken. The institute did not file form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service for 2009. [5]
The Reform Institute was launched in 2001 and grew from the movement to challenge campaign finance practices such as unlimited and undisclosed "soft money" donations. The initial bipartisan honorary co-chairs of the institute's advisory committee were Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and former Senator Robert Kerrey (D-NE). Senator McCain served in the position from 2001–2005. Senator Kerrey was associated with the committee until 2008.
The institute was a part of the broad coalition that successfully secured passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 – also known as McCain-Feingold – the campaign finance reform legislation that among other things prohibited soft money contributions. The institute then turned its focus to defending the law against constitutional challenge and ensuring that it was properly enforced by advocating for the restructuring of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and calling for regulation of 527 groups operating outside the law's soft money ban.
In addition to its work at the federal level, the institute also engaged in efforts at the state and local level to enact reforms including initiatives on public campaign funding of state and local elections, redistricting reform to eliminate gerrymandering of electoral districts, ballot access, open primaries, and election administration and voter assistance.
In the homeland security field the institute articulated the need for resilience – the ability to withstand and quickly recover from a catastrophic event – to be given equal weight to preventing terrorist attacks in U.S. homeland security policy. [6] It convened a March 2008 national symposium [7] [8] on the subject in New York City and has advanced the concept in Congressional testimony [9] and publications. [10]
On immigration the institute advocated for comprehensive immigration reform – reasoning that balancing security and enforcement with meeting the workforce and economic needs of the country are the best way to fix the nation's immigration system. In 2007 the institute partnered with Brickfish in an online contest to draw attention to the issue by encouraging entrants to express the message they thought the border fence conveyed by virtually designing a portion of it. [11] [12] The viral campaign was recognized by Forrester Research with its Groundswell Award for Social Impact. [13]
The institute's political reform work has included endorsing the successful California Proposition 11 (2008) redistricting ballot initiative, partnering in a national voter assistance hotline in 2008, [14] warning of the threats to judicial independence of the rising sums being raised and spent in judicial elections, [15] supporting public campaign financing initiatives in states like Maryland, Hawaii and Wisconsin, and offering recommendations for Congressional reform. [16]
The institute's energy and environment program included promoting the smart grid and the need for comprehensive energy reform through an April 2009 national symposium in Washington, DC. [17]
The Reform Institute was led by Executive Director Cecilia I. Martinez. Its board of directors was chaired by Paul Bateman of the Klein & Saks Group and included Charles Kolb of the Committee for Economic Development, Lawrence Hebert of the Dominion Advisory Group and political consultant Pam Pryor.
The institute's advisory committee included academics, corporate executives and policy makers. Notable members of the advisory committee included Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), former Senator David Boren (D-OK), former Congressman Charles Bass (R-NH), Timothy Farrell of Bank of America, Marie Royce of Alcatel-Lucent, Marc Spitzer of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Matthew Freedman of Global Impact, Inc., Don Murphy of Genn & Murphy, LLC, Robert Kelly of CenTauri Solutions, LLC, Ken Nahigian of Nahigian Strategies, LLC, Dan Ortiz of the University of Virginia School of Law, Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution, and Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.
Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" to the "national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce the vulnerability of the U.S. to terrorism, and minimize the damage from attacks that do occur." According to an official work published by the Congressional Research Service in 2013, the "Homeland security" term's definition has varied over time.
John Sidney McCain III was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was the Republican nominee for president of the United States in the 2008 election.
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.
Joseph Isadore Lieberman was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for vice president of the United States in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. During his final term in office, he was officially listed as an Independent Democrat and caucused with and chaired committees for the Democratic Party.
The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) was a non-governmental organization which described itself as a "distinguished group of Americans" who wanted to "free Iraq from Saddam Hussein".
Charles Timothy Hagel is an American military veteran and former politician who served as the 24th United States secretary of defense from 2013 to 2015 in the administration of Barack Obama. He previously served as chairman of the president's Intelligence Advisory Board from 2009 to 2013 and as a United States senator representing Nebraska from 1997 to 2009.
Byron Leslie Dorgan is an American author, businessman and former politician who served as a United States Representative (1981–1992) and United States Senator (1992–2011) from North Dakota. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, commonly known as the McCain–Feingold Act or BCRA, is a United States federal law that amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which regulates the financing of political campaigns. Its chief sponsors were senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and John McCain (R-AZ). The law became effective on 6 November 2002, and the new legal limits became effective on January 1, 2003.
Timothy Joseph Penny is an American author, musician, and former politician from Minnesota. Penny was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor member of the United States House of Representatives, 1983–1995, representing Minnesota's 1st congressional district in the 98th, 99th, 100th, 101st, 102nd and 103rd congresses.
A publicly funded election is an election funded with money collected through income tax donations or taxes as opposed to private or corporate funded campaigns. It is a policy initially instituted after Nixon for candidates to opt into publicly funded presidential campaigns via optional donations from tax returns. It is an attempt to move toward a one voice, one vote democracy, and remove undue corporate and private entity dominance.
Christopher Paul Carney is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
Barbara Lawton is an American businesswoman and politician from Green Bay, Wisconsin who is the President and CEO of Americans for Campaign Reform. A member of the Democratic Party, Lawton was the 43rd Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin. She became the first woman elected to the position in 2002, as the running mate of former Democratic Governor Jim Doyle. Lawton was re-elected on November 7, 2006. She was co-founder and Director of External Affairs for Issue One, a nonprofit whose goal is to reduce the influence of money in politics.
John McCain ran for U.S. president in the 2000 presidential election, but failed to gain the Republican Party nomination, losing to George W. Bush in a campaign that included a bitter battle during the South Carolina primary. He resumed his role representing Arizona in the U.S. Senate in 2001, and Bush won the election. Bush was President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. McCain won re-election to the Senate in 2004, 2010 and 2016.
Mark David McKinnon is an American political advisor, reform advocate, media columnist, and television producer. He was the chief media advisor to five successful presidential primary and general election campaigns, and is a co-founder of No Labels, an organization dedicated to bipartisanship and political problem solving. He served as vice chairman of Public Strategies, Inc., which was acquired by the international communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton Strategies, and was president of Maverick Media. McKinnon is the co-creator, co-executive producer, and co-host of Showtime's The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth and consulted on the HBO series The Newsroom and Netflix's House of Cards. He was a regular columnist for The Daily Beast and The Daily Telegraph (London).
This article compares the presidential candidates in the United States' 2008 presidential election. It does not cover previous elections. Because of ballot access restrictions in the United States, not all candidates appeared on the ballots in all states.
Richard H. Davis Jr. is an American political consultant. He previously served as a partner and chief operating officer of Pegasus Capital Advisors L.P., a private equity firm specializing in sustainable development projects. He was a managing partner of the business development and public affairs consulting firm Davis-Manafort, located in Alexandria, Virginia. He was the national campaign manager of John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. In that capacity, he oversaw the development and implementation of all campaign strategy and policy development. Davis also served McCain as national campaign manager for his 2000 presidential campaign.
U.S. Senator John McCain, a Republican Party politician from Arizona who was a member of the U.S. Congress from 1983 until his death in office in 2018, a two-time U.S. presidential candidate, and the nominee of the Republican Party in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, took positions on many political issues through his public comments, his presidential campaign statements, and his senatorial voting record.
The 2010 United States Senate election in Arizona took place on November 2, 2010, along with other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primaries were held on August 24, 2010. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John McCain, who had lost the 2008 United States presidential election to then-United States Senator from Illinois Barack Obama, ran for reelection to a fifth term and won. As of 2024, this was the last time the counties of Coconino and Pima voted for the Republican candidate.
The Domenici Institute is a public policy institute at New Mexico State University named after retired Sen. Pete Domenici, New Mexico's longest-serving senator. Each year, the institute holds its Domenici Public Policy Conference, which brings together some of the best minds in the country to focus on significant national issues. The institute also holds a series of forums throughout the year focusing on public policy issues.
Dr. Paul N. Stockton is the President of Paul N Stockton LLC, a strategic advisory firm in Santa Fe, NM. From 2009 to 2013, Dr. Stockton served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas' Security Affairs, where he helped lead the department's response to Hurricane Sandy. He was responsible for Defense Critical Infrastructure Protection, Western Hemisphere security policy, domestic crisis management, continuity of operations planning, and a range of other responsibilities. While Assistant Secretary, Dr. Stockton also served as executive director of the Council of Governors. After serving as Assistant Secretary, Dr. Stockton was the managing director of Sonecon LLC, an advisory firm in Washington, DC, from 2013 to 2020.