Fundamentally Transforming America: 2013 in Review

Note: Below is our Letter from the President, excerpted from this year’s Annual Report. To view the full report, please click here.

Friends,

As American Majority pushes past its fifth anniversary year, a great many things come to mind. In January 2008, when I founded American Majority, things were very different indeed. I was a thirty-four year old husband and father of two little boys (there are now four Ryun children). I saw the huge need for modern, cutting-edge, 21st century political education and training, but of course couldn’t know what was about to burst next onto the national scene.

Then-candidate Barack Obama had not yet clinched the Democratic nomination for President against a formidable Hillary Clinton. Needless to say, there was very little common knowledge on either Left or Right at that time of such things as “organizing,” “mobilizing,” or of even more exotic notions, like “big data.”

Facebook and Twitter were still somewhat in their infancies as far as general public use.Tumblr blogs had been created, but our mass appetite for memes, “GIFs” and, yes, kittens, was not yet in evidence. Instagram and Pinterest were two years away.

CNBC reporter Rick Santelli’s on-air rant against big bank bailouts had yet to happen. Tea Parties in several cities were next, followed by a nationwide, organic political movement that first manifested itself at Congressional town halls (topic: health care…hint, hint) back in member districts. Watching the birth and maturation of this quintessentially American grassroots effort has been fascinating.

As the grassroots has risen across the nation, we’d like to think we’ve helped lead: 27,339 individuals have been trained in these last five years at 800 separate events on the “nuts and bolts” of campaign mechanics. The bulk of these have been activists and volunteers, but almost one in ten (2,502) went on to become candidates in local primary or general elections. Roughly 70% of that group won victories, with hundreds of American Majority-trained candidates now sitting in elected offices across the country. And in one state, Wisconsin, the facts on the ground have been fundamentally transformed.

But the battle doesn’t stop. 2010 was a wave election of wins, but 2012 saw crushing defeats for conservatives–and 2014 is already shaping up to be a powerful election year. Through it all, American Majority remains dedicated to one simple idea: giving ordinary citizens the know-how, tools and motivation to create political change where they live and breathe. Our incredible team of trainers, staff and supporters have labored mightily to create one of the finest collections of content and curriculum available anywhere–whether you wish to run for office, manage campaigns, be more effective as a foot soldier, or amplify your voice and firepower online.

Whether through our “Post-Party” Summits, our New Leaders Project (with over 1,222 signers pledged to run), a NASCAR Nation Voter Registration program, or emerging technology like the Voter Gravity system that American Majority helped spawn, we have always strived to meet the conservative grassroots where it is. Yet, like so many within its ranks, we still have a vision of an America that is fiscally sound, more prosperous, and above all, more free.

I thank you for your support in our first five years, and hope you’ll continue with us as we tackle our next five.

Keep America Free,

Ned Ryun