Tim Phillips (political strategist)
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Tim Phillips
Occupation
President of Americans for ProsperityTim Phillips (political strategist), born July 13, 1964, is the current president of Americans for Prosperity.[1][2]
Personal life
Phillips grew up in Spartanburg, SC. After briefly attending Liberty University in the fall, 1983, he went to Washington DC as part of a school sponsored internship with the Department of Education, thus beginning his political career. After a brief courtship with fellow intern, Julia Reider Phillips, the two were married and now have four children including twin boys and one daughter. They have been married 26 years.[3]
He completed his education in 1985 as a Phi Beta Kappa[4] graduate of Virginia Tech University, graduating magna cum laude with a BA in Political Science.[5] Phillips is active in the youth ministry at his church, Cornerstone Chapel, Leesburg, VA[6] and is an outspoken fan of the National Football League.[7]
Political career
Phillips has over 25 years of political campaign experience[8] on the local, state and national levels. He managed the 1992 U.S. Congressional Campaign of Bob Goodlatte, then served on Capitol Hill as Goodlatte’s Chief of Staff until 1996.
In 1997, Phillips and political consultant Ralph Reed founded Century Strategies, a public relations and campaign consulting organization serving both business and political customers. During his tenure as vice president, Century Strategies’ clients included Bush for President, the Georgia, Florida and Virginia Republican Parties, members of Congress including Majority Leader Dick Armey, Conference Chairman J.C. Watts, Bob Goodlatte plus numerous state and local officials.[9]
He was named “Rising Star in Politics” in 1998 by Campaign and Elections Magazine[10] and has been interviewed by numerous personalities including MSNBC’s Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Fox News’ Sean Hannity and Glen Beck as well as CBS News’ Katie Couric.[11]
Americans for Prosperity (AFP) under Phillip's leadership
AFP has grown from nine state chapters in 2006, Phillip’s first year as president, to 31 chapters in 2010, extending their membership roll to 1.5 million activists from all 50 states. AFP’s mission statement indicates they are committed to educating the public about economic policy and supporting free market solutions at the local, state and national levels.[12]
President Obama raised AFP’s profile in an August, 2010 campaign speech stating, “Right now all around this country there are groups with harmless-sounding names like Americans for Prosperity, who are running millions of dollars of ads against Democratic candidates all across the country. And they don't have to say who exactly the Americans for Prosperity are. You don't know if it’s a foreign-controlled corporation. You don't know if it’s a big oil company, or a big bank.”[13]
AFP responded to Obama’s comments by comparing their 1.5 million grassroots membership roll with the corporate funding Obama receives from organizations benefiting from his legislative agenda including SEIU, the American Medical Association and pharmaceutical lobbyist, PhRMA, itself pledging "$150 million for advertising and grass-roots activity” [14] to support Obama’s healthcare initiatives.[15]
Additionally on the subject of funding, Phillips has indicated, AFP has received donations from 50,000 donors from all 50 states stating, “We think that the American democratic process is a good thing, that every American ought to be involved, whether they have a lot of money or they don’t have a lot of money.”[16]
Thousands of activists annually attend AFP sponsored seminars including the RightOnline convention for conservative bloggers[17] and Defending the American Dream Summit for grassroots activists[18] Headlining these events have been nationally known personalities including George Will, Dick Morris, Michelle Bachmann, Jim DeMint, Larry Kudlow, Newt Gingrich, Mike Pence and numerous others.
AFP has utilized a number of campaign themed initiatives to generate awareness and political momentum including Hot Air Balloon events to expose the rising costs of global warming,[19] Hands Off My Healthcare bus tours[20] as well as generated numerous television and radio ads including a $750,000 ad campaign opposing a government panel’s recommendation to raise the age of early detection mammograms to 50.[21] In 2010, AFP sponsored the November is Coming campaign using door-to-door endeavors and phone banks to generate 360,000 signatures from those opposed to “government mandates, special deals, and higher taxes.”[22]
In early 2011, Phillips was in Madison, Wisconsin during the 2011 budget protests to "voice praise for cutting state spending by slashing union benefits and bargaining rights [and to address] a large group of counterprotesters."[23]
Tim Phillips (political strategist) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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