Coalition of grassroots groups, fielding 20,000 activists nationwide
America Votes is a national coalition of grassroots, get-out-the-vote organizations. Its website claims that the coalition represents "more than 20 million Americans in every state in the country" through its member groups. America Votes is itself a member of the "Shadow Party," identified by DiscoverTheNetworks as a nationwide network of activist groups whose agendas are ideologically Left, and which are engaged in campaigning for the Democrats.
On its website, America Votes identifies such seemingly non-partisan goals as increasing "voter registration and . . . participation in electoral politics." However, its get-out-the-vote campaigns are targeted only toward likely Democratic voters -- such as swing voters (working women and young people) and Democrat base voters (especially blacks and Hispanics).
Richards is the daughter of former Texas governor Anne Richards, whose political career was ended when George W. Bush defeated her in 1994. She harbors a deep antipathy toward the so-called "Christian Right," which she held partly responsible for her mother's defeat, and in 1994 founded the Texas Freedom Network, a grassroots organization aimed at countering the political influence of conservative Christians, especially on school boards. Richards subsequently moved to Washington, DC, where she served as Organizing Director of the AFL-CIO, then as a pro-abortion activist for the Turner Foundation and Planned Parenthood, and finally as Deputy Chief of Staff for Democrat minority whip Nancy Pelosi, soon to become minority leader. Richards held that post for eighteen months before joining America Votes. (She held the presidency of America Votes from July 2003 to January 2006, when she was named President of Planned Parenthood.)
