ed schultz to head super pac dedicated to middle class issues

ED SCHULTZ TO HEAD SUPER PAC DEDICATED TO MIDDLE CLASS ISSUES
LAS VEGAS — After years of speaking the
language of progressives on cable news
network MSNBC, Ed Schultz says he's going to
give the middle class a boost by harnessing
the language of politics — money.
Schultz and like-minded associates have
created a super PAC called Americans for a
Strong Middle Class. He is the presdent.
"I feel like I am perfectly positioned with my
national platform, with my name and visibility
and credibility with the middle class, to be the
person to head up this super PAC," he said
Wednesday, as he prepared to attend the Mass
Torts Made Perfect legal convention here.
"We are a 527; we are a nonprofit; we are
incorporated in Washington, D.C., and we are
going to get involved in issues around the
country that are vital to a strong middle class,
with our focus on jobs and wages, health care,
education, trade agreements and justice,"
Schultz said.
"It's a heavy lift. The super PAC business is not
easy, but I think it's vitally important," Schultz
said. "Over on the right wing in the
conservative arena, you've got Karl Rove. Over
on the progressive side, I believe that there is
an opening there for someone of my visibility
and communication skills and media
experience to go out and deliver the message
to get people the message to stop voting
against their own interests in this country."
As part of his commitment, he said his work
will be voluntary. He won't draw a salary for
the first two years of ASMC's existence.
"There's so much out there. There's low-wage
states, there's right-to-work issues, there's
health care issues, there's just so much that has
to be done as far as messaging, developing a
narrative and moving the country forward,"
Schultz said. "This is how I want to make a
difference. There's no doubt It will be effective.
I'm very confident in that."
A super PAC can raise and spend unlimited
amounts on politics, but must operate
independently of candidates and cannot
contribute to individual candidates. The
donors must be disclosed to the Federal
Elections Commission. As a 527 group, ASMC
can run political ads with unlimited individual
and corporate contributions, but must disclose
its donors to the Internal Revenue Service.
Mark Jendrysik, a professor of political science
at the University of North Dakota, said super
PACs have grown increasingly popular.
"Clearly, given the Supreme Court decisions
over the last decade or so, ... a lot of the federal
restraints (on campaign financing) have
washed away," Jendrysik said. "A lot of donors
like routing money through political action
committees. It gives them more control over
the message," rather than giving directly to a
candidate.
"It's a heavy lift. The super
PAC business is not easy, but
I think it's vitally important,"
Ron Hartenbaum, ASMC's secretary and
treasurer, said the group's central message is
that a strong middle class is good for America.
"That's what we all need to think about. We
want to highlight that the American middle
class is under attack, and what we need for a
strong country is a strong middle class,"
Hartenbaum said. "Look at the growth in
America when the middle class was successful.
Every society has its issues and challenges. We
need to figure out how we help our next
generation of students and citizens so they can
compete in this world and this environment."
Schultz said he decided to build his website
business, wegoted.com, and move into the
super PAC arena after his longtime cable
television show was canceled by MSNBC
in late July.
Two weeks ago, Schultz was in Lorain, Ohio, at
a steel mill that has been shut down. He also
spoke to Ohio Democrats at a convention in
Cleveland, and stopped at an AFL-CIO
convention in Youngstown, Ohio. He planned
to fly to Phoenix later Wednesday to meet with
the Arizona Advocacy Network.
"Middle class issues are here to stay," Schultz
said. "This transcends any candidate or any
issue or any election cycle."
At the same time, he said progressives need a
strong voice and a centralized message. That's
something the Democratic presidential
contenders failed to provide in their debate
Tuesday on issues such as mental health care
and gun control, he said.
"A lot of it has to do with the messaging and
fear-mongering that has taken place across
America and that needs to be countered. In
totality, the Democrats came across as gun
grabbers, and that doesn't play in the middle
of the country," Schultz said.
"There are just so many things we have to do,"
Schultz said. "It's about messaging, And it's
about motivating people to getting people
out to vote. "
Schultz's "The Ed Show" was dropped from the
MSNBC's daytime lineup along with two other
programs in July as part of an effort by the
cable network to rebrand itself.
MSNBC's move ended the tenure of one of its
longest-serving hosts. Schultz had been on the
air since 2009. He was a prime-time fixture on
the network from 2011 to 2013.
Schultz, a former Fargo resident, got his start
as a sports broadcaster for Fargo-Moorhead
area television stations. He later moved to talk
radio in the 1990s, and took his radio show
nationwide in 2004.
By Helmut Schmidt on Oct 15, 2015
www.inforum.com/
Reprint with permission from The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead