NHRebellion registered as a sponsor of the Republican Party’s First-in-the-Nation [FITN] Leadership Summit. We were disappointed to learn on Tuesday that the New Hampshire Republican Party decided to cancel our sponsorship.
Since it appears too late to urge the NHGOP to reconsider their decision, we will be relying on our conservative supporters and New Hampshire media attending the event to respectfully ask all candidates this one question: “What specific reforms will you advance to end the corrupting influence of money in politics?” and to share with us video or audio recordings of their responses so that what they say becomes a matter of public record.
We sponsored the FITN Republican Summit precisely because we know NH's conservative base is concerned about the corrupting influence of money in politics. The NH Rebellion wants our next president to put an end to influence-peddling crony capitalism that is undermining free market competition and preventing our leaders in Washington from addressing other major issues of the day. These are things that most conservatives (and most progressives) want.
The decision to withdraw our sponsorship was made by the NHGOP. It is their call, and we respect it. However, it appears that they may have made the decision based on inaccurate information. The reason that the FITN event organizers told us was that they believed NH Rebellion had given money to oppose Republican candidates. This is incorrect.
The NH Rebellion has not spent any money to oppose — or support — Republican candidates, or any candidates for that matter. We are a project of Open Democracy, based in Concord, N.H. which is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and cannot legally contribute to the campaigns of candidates.
It is possible that the FITN organizers have confused the NH Rebellion with a pro-reform 501(c)4 group, Mayday PAC, because both were co-founded by Lawrence Lessig. But the two organizations are completely separate entities and do not coordinate. In fact, in mid-2014 when the Mayday PAC was launched, NH Rebellion became part of Open Democracy and Lessig stepped back from any formal management of NH Rebellion.
Having our sponsorship rejected is disappointing. We know that the corrupting influence of money in politics is an issue that the conservative base cares about, and one which too often goes unaddressed by the establishment incumbents (both GOP and Democratic) who depend upon special-interest money to fund their campaigns.
We are committed to taking on this root problem and look forward to attending the event on Saturday, April 18 with a Patriots’ Day walk in Nashua, with NH citizens of all political stripes who care deeply about the systemic corruption of our political system.