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By: Cliff Kincaid
Accuracy in Media

It has been apparent for some time that ex-conservative David Brock has been masquerading as a “media critic” while at the service of the Democratic Party. But the head of Media Matters has officially dropped the mask of media critic by creating a so-called Democratic “Super PAC” devoted to re-electing President Obama, adding Democrats to the Senate Democratic majority, and taking back the House of Representatives from the Republicans.

Alluding to the Republican takeover of the House in 2010, he told the group America Votes on February 1, “As Democrats, we can’t afford a repeat of 2010.”

Brock described how his new group, American Bridge 21st Century, would serve as a “better model” for Democrats to “coordinate our strategy that will maximize Democratic resources.”

The America Votes “State Summit,” held on January 31 and February 1 at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., included a “Cecile Richards Progressive Leader Award Reception Honoring Larry Scanlon,” at the headquarters of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Richards is the head of Planned Parenthood and Scanlon is the AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) union political director.

Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post, who writes “The Fix” column for the paper, was a featured speaker, discussing the political campaign season while exchanging pleasantries with his good friend and America Votes executive director Greg Speed. Cillizza said he thought Mitt Romney would likely capture the Republican presidential nomination.

However, former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell told the crowd that conservatives may not turn out for Romney in the general election and that Obama could achieve victory if the progressives, energized by America Votes, get to the polls.

While the focus was on presidential politics, many of the sessions examined liberal strategies for victories in such states as Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Media Matters is perhaps best known as the Soros-funded group that orchestrated a successful campaign to get Glenn Beck fired from Fox News. Beck, who used his program to systematically analyze the activities of hedge fund billionaire George Soros, has blamed Soros operatives for his departure from the channel, a charge confirmed by a private investigator who interviewed employees of News Corporation, the parent of Fox News.

In order to be more “fair & balanced” on the liberal side, Fox News has hired two feminists, Sally Kohn and Jehmu Greene, as paid Fox News contributors. They were both trained at the Women’s Media Center established by Jane Fonda. Kohn, who is also a lesbian activist, worked at the Soros-funded Center for Community Change.

Reflecting Brock’s deep commitment to—and involvement in—the homosexual movement, Media Matters created an affiliate, Equality Matters, to discourage media coverage of conservative groups that favor traditional morality. Some of the attacks the group launches on Accuracy in Media involve a failure to enthusiastically embrace homosexuality as a lifestyle to be honored and celebrated in the media.

Like Media Matters, which got $1 million from the billionaire, America Votes has been Soros-funded. The convicted inside trader gave the group $1,160,000 in 2006 and $1 million in the 2007-2008 period. Jonathan Allan Soros, a son of the billionaire, has contributed over $250,000 to the group. His wife, Jennifer Allan Soros, sits on the board of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion seller.

America Votes claims 300 state and national partner organizations in an effort to “advance progressive policies, expand access to the ballot, coordinate issue advocacy and election campaigns, and protect every American’s right to vote.”

America Votes “partner organizations” include the AFL-CIO, AFSCME American Association for Justice, Communication Workers of America, EMILY’s List, Human Rights Campaign, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, National Education Association, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and SEIU (Service Employees International Union), among others.

The America Votes summit conference featured representatives of most of these “progressive” groups.

For Brock, now regarded by some liberal media as a “mogul,” it was an exercise in coming out of the closet a second time.

A former conservative who went through a political and sexual breakdown and transformation, Brock became a liberal and homosexual activist and wrote the book, Blinded by the Right, about how he supposedly twisted the truth to benefit the conservative cause. Brock had developed a relationship with then-First Lady Hillary Clinton’s openly gay press aide, Neel Lattimore, and came out of the closet, announcing he was a homosexual. Brock hired Lattimore at Media Matters as director of “special projects” but Lattimore left to work for various AIDS-related groups.

Based on an analysis of the open and announced party affiliations of Media Matters staffers, as well as its propaganda campaigns, it was clear the group was a virtual adjunct of the Democratic Party and that the claim it was somehow a nonpartisan watchdog was a lie. Indeed, supporters of Hillary Clinton started the group but it quickly pivoted to become a mouthpiece for Barack Obama once he secured the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

For years, Brock was content to bash the media for running with “conservative misinformation.” Now he wants to be a power broker in the Democratic Party.

Introduced at the America Votes session in his capacity as the president and CEO of Media Matters, Brock spent his time discussing his new Super PAC in the context of what he has accomplished at his so-called media watchdog organization. “For my group, American Bridge 21st Century, that means applying the experience I’ve gained holding conservative media accountable through Media Matters for America, and applying that same concept to hold conservative politicians accountable through opposition research, candidate tracking, and earned media,” he said.

In practical terms, he said this means “taking advantage of contacts within a community through state ProgressNow chapters; relying on the issue expertise of groups like the LCV [League of Conservation Voters] or Sierra club; or making a concerted effort to flag material we uncover that could be useful to someone like Planned Parenthood; these are mutually beneficial relationships.”

ProgressNow is designed to help develop a “progressive infrastructure” in “key states.”

Brock went on, “We’re providing the research that informs the polling and the tracking clips in ads for the Presidential, Senate, and House PACS represented here; in return, they’re disseminating our content to ensure that it reaches voters.”

The groups he was referring to at the conference included Democratic Party groups such as Majority PAC, House Majority PAC and Priorities USA. The latter is a Super PAC run by Obama’s former White House aide Bill Burton, who told the event that the Republicans running for president were “clowns.” Just yesterday, the Obama campaign announced its support for the organization’s fundraising efforts.

In Brock’s case, he is being paid by American Bridge while continuing to serve as president, CEO, and chairman of the board of Media Matters. Brock, who is also on the board of the Progressive Legislative Action Network, has written a new book, The Fox Effect, which is due out February 21.

Ironically, the book’s main charge is that Fox News has become “a partisan advocate for the Republican Party,” when Brock made Media Matters into a partisan advocate for the Democratic Party and is now openly functioning as a party operative. A significant number of Media Matters staffers have come from the offices or campaigns of Democratic Party politicians.

Continuing this pattern, Brock’s co-author, Ari Rabin-Havt, the Executive Vice President at Media Matters, previously served as Director of Online Communications for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Deputy Director for Online Communications for the John Kerry for President campaign.

Chris Harris, communications director for Media Matters, is now “communications strategist” for American Bridge 21st Century, while Rodell Mollineau, who worked for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is president of Brock’s new entity.

Cliff Kincaid is the Director of the AIM Center for Investigative Journalism and can be contacted at [email protected].