RegularFolksUnited.com
During my research for my upcoming piece on the orchestration of the town hall brawls (look for it in the next issue of the magazine) I stumbled across a stunning patch of Astroturf known as RegularFolksUnited.com, which describes itself a “bully pulpit for regular folks.”
Th
e site is run by Lori Roman, who says she wanted to give voice to the little guy: “I was tired of elitists (yes, they are on both sides of the aisle) pretending they were doing things to help ‘regular folks’ …. I don’t necessarily see the world through the lens of Republican vs. Democrat, but through the lens of elitists vs. regular folks.”
Who is Ms. Roman? She is the president and founder of the inside-the-Beltway consulting firm Libertas Global Partners. Far from sticking it to the man, Libertas specializes in influencing the elitists you need to get the job done: “from the State House to the U.S. Capitol to the European Parliament, we have the experience, expertise and relationships to deliver results.”
Libertas specializes in:
Developing grassroots and grasstops support
Developing creative strategies for shifting public opinion
Branding and message development
Strategic communication (op eds, letters to the editor, speeches, radio)
Oh, and the the highlights from Roman’s just-folks resume?
She’s just the former director of ALEC, the lobbying outfit giant corporations use to secretly write legislation that gets passed in pliant statehouses nationwide. She’s also a former member of the Bush administration:
Lori Roman… is the former executive director of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a public policy organization of 2500 state legislators, 87 members of Congress and members of the British and European Parliaments. Formerly Ms. Roman served as the Chief of Staff of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Education where she was responsible for strategic planning and management of resources to achieve the goals set forth in the President’s Management Agenda. Ms. Roman came to the U.S. Department of Education to serve as Director of School Choice. Subsequent to this role, she held the position of Senior Advisor on Family Educational Rights in the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the Department.
Hilariously Regular Folks United has a list of its top posters which it calls “The Regulars.”
Number three is regular-joe, Grover Norquist, the ultimate Republican insider and president of the Americans for Tax Reform.