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ADVANCING AMERICAN FREEDOM American Solutions Project
The American Solutions Project
Advancing American Freedom was founded to defend the accomplishments of the Trump-Pence Administration, which were under attack by the Biden administration and its progressive allies on Capitol Hill. In the time since our founding, however, our organization has taken on an even greater role within the movement. Well-established organizations have abandoned long-held institutional priorities in favor of chasing various strands of conservatism, creating an absence of individuals and groups willing to defend the hallmarks of conservatism: limited government, robust national defense, and free market principles.
While conservatism’s identity crisis unfolds, the Left has only become more emboldened. The goal of the progressive movement is not simply policy reforms, but rather institutional changes with long-lasting consequences. The disastrous effects of President Biden’s legislative priorities have left voters not only searching for solutions but for leadership among the political class in Washington, D.C. Despite its showmanship, the emerging populist movement on the right offers little to remedy the threats facing Americans at home and abroad.
In the face of challenges both within the movement and beyond, Advancing American Freedom believes that adherence to traditional conservatism is the correct philosophical approach to public policy and remains the best organizing principle for the conservative movement. In the years ahead, we seek to become the leading defender of modern conservatism and reject the pessimism about the prospects of the American experiment. The next year will prove critical in this effort.
As we enter 2024, the political and policy fights of the next year will define the conservative movement— and our country—for years to come. As such, our team has dedicated significant resources to leading, and winning, this battle of ideas on Capitol Hill and in communities nationwide. However, we also recognize that the fight for the future of our country does not end at the ballot box. We have developed a multi-year strategy that will lead the conservative movement to new and greater policy victories next year and beyond.
The long-term growth of the conservative cause requires a standard-bearer to chart the path forward. Through the American Solutions Project, AAF will inherit the space left by elected officials and movement organizations to provide an anchor on which conservatives can rely to safely moor our movement to unwavering principles.
Attached is an overview of the American Solutions Project. With your partnership, this initiative will lay the groundwork for the sustained growth and success of Advancing American Freedom, and our movement, in the years to come.
Thank you for all that you do in support of the conservative movement and our country.
Marc Short Chairman Advancing American Freedom
As our Founder, Vice President Mike Pence, has said: “Conservatism is bigger than any one moment, election, or person. It’s about ideas.” At Advancing American Freedom, we have invested significant resources into championing those ideas, creating a conservative, pro-American policy agenda to guide our movement forward. We believe modern conservativism should be grounded in the time-honored principles of limited government, not an unmoored movement stitched together by personal grievances. Americans deserve solutions to the devastating impacts of an out-of-touch Washington.
As we seek to grow our organization and its impact, the work of the American Solutions Project will emanate from this principle and accomplish the following objectives in 2024:
Our policy priorities in 2024 will offer the opportunity for conservatives to lead and offer a stark contrast to the agenda of Big Government politicians—juxtaposing our vision with that of the populist Right and progressive Left.
To accomplish this project, Advancing American Freedom is seeking to expand the staff and capabilities of our operation. Attached is an overview of our proposed signature initiatives for AAF in 2024 and beyond.
Protect Conservative Principles 3 | Champion Conservative Legislation 2 | Shape Political Majorities 1 |
Inject AAF policy priorities into the 2024 political cycle, creating a policy platform for candidates to embrace and reverse the Right’s drift toward populism and the Left’s embrace of socialism.
Enact legislation at the federal and state levels to advance the longstanding policy priorities of Vice President Pence and AAF across domestic and foreign policies.
Solidify AAF’s position as a beacon of traditional conservatism in Washington, D.C. to call elected officials and organizations back to the time-honored principles of limited government.
Budget & Funding Overview
Executing the American Solutions Project will require significant new resources for AAF in terms of infrastructure, talent, and expenditures to promote our work. Below is an overview of the proposed budget for 2024.
1 | Shape Political Majorities | $3,000,000
2 | Champion Conservative Legislation | $2,000,000
3 | Protect Conservative Principles | $3,000,000
AAF Operating Expenditures $7,000,000
AAFF Operating Expenditures $5,000,000
2024 Total Budget $20,000,000
1 | Rein-In Federal Government Spending and Taxes
Unrestrained spending and debt in Washington have fueled the expansion of the federal government. Both parties have worked together to increase government spending and dependence. Conservatives must refocus their attention on cutting spending and reforming entitlements rather than allow President Biden and Congress to increase taxes and destroy opportunities for hard-working Americans.
• Create a federal debt commission focusing on mandatory and discretionary spending. • Hold candidates and officials accountable to tackle the biggest drivers of debt. • Make permanent the 2017 Trump-Pence tax cuts before they expire in 2025.
Promote Free Trade with Free Nations 2 |
Americans manufacture and create the most dynamic products in the world, and it is essential that Americans can sell those products to free nations around the world. Protectionist trade policies that punish allies with haphazard tariffs and protectionism only hurt American workers and help our adversaries. Republicans must defend and promote free trade with free nations as a force for economic and diplomatic power.
• Educate the American people on the benefits of free trade and free trade agreements with our allies. • Develop U.S. trade policy to beat Communist China. • Combat untargeted tariffs that raise costs for the American people and strengthen China.
Defeat The Chinese Communist Party 3 |
The Chinese Communist Party is an existential threat to the United States. Both political parties have turned a blind eye to China’s many abuses in trade, military expansionism, and human rights violations in the misguided hope that China’s newfound prosperity would inevitably lead to liberty. It is time for a realistic view of Chinese ambitions and a tough national security policy that protects our interests against communist aggression. Almost every American policy must start with the question: does this help us beat China?
• Stop the flow of fentanyl from China. • End Chinese attacks on American intellectual property. • Repatriate American high-tech supply chains. • Protect American online data and tech security.
Restore U.S. Global Leadership 4 |
Today, too many politicians have embraced a future of isolation and appeasement that will erode American leadership and embolden our enemies. American leadership makes the world a safer and more prosperous place. America must always remain a global force for good.
• Support our partners in Ukraine and Israel in a fiscally responsible manner. • Deter the growth of totalitarianism and communism around the world. • Promote pro-defense policies that grow our military to combat emerging threats.
The United States must have the energy capacity to independently power our economy and lead the world’s energy future while recognizing that the surest way to encourage a robust energy sector is to remove artificial barriers and reject subsidies that distort the market.
• Increase oil and gas leases. • Reject climate mandates and regulations that crush industry and harm consumers. • Establish source-neutral energy policies. • Make it easier for extraction and processing of America’s rare earth mineral resources.
Unleash American Energy Dominance 5 |
1 | Shape Political Majorities
The 2022 midterms demonstrated that candidates who embraced a conservative, forward-looking policy platform were well-received by voters. With the 2024 election cycle in full swing, Advancing American Freedom will put forward a conservative governing agenda for candidates at all levels of government to embrace on the campaign trail and adopt on Day One in office.
This will serve two purposes: 1) to hold candidates, primary participants, and ultimately a nominee, accountable for enacting solutions to the issues of most concern to voters and 2) to call on voters to demand their elected officials adopt conservative policy solutions in campaign platforms and legislation.
The primary goal of these efforts is to engage and mobilize key constituencies based on the merits of our pro-American policies, encouraging turnout at the ballot box and grassroots activism in support of conservative ideals. These efforts will take place across a range of states and feature the following:
Polling & Focus Groups:
TV & Digital Advertising:
Surveys and focus groups with key constituencies in target states to refine policy messaging and chart out top avenues for policy mobilization.
Research to identify high-propensity voters in target states to support voter mobilization efforts.
Door-to-door and digital engagement with voters to educate on policy solutions and mobilize in support of conservative issues at the ballot box
Targeted advertising campaigns to generate awareness around policy issues and political debates at the state and federal levels.
2 | Champion Conservative Legislation
As the 118th Congress continues its work amid the backdrop of the 2024 cycle, elected officials will attempt to place their policy priorities at the center of the political debate. AAF’s work to influence Capitol Hill will continue, and our Future of Freedom initiative will evolve to educate and mobilize constituents surrounding key policy fights.
This will help to advance our free market and limited government policies while equipping Americans with the policy resources needed to impact decision-making in D.C. This will ensure that the activity of Congress will align with, and address, the top priorities of constituents nationwide.
These targeted advocacy efforts will support our ongoing efforts in D.C. and target key states across the country with the following:
Grassroots Education:
Congressional Engagement:
TV & Digital Advertising:
Policy development to equip lawmakers with the resources needed to advance legislation that addresses the top concerns of voters.
Mobilization campaigns surrounding key legislative or political inflection points at the federal and state levels (e.g., Congressional votes, state referendums).
Meetings and events with members of Congress, their staff, and advocacy organizations to reach consensus on key issues.
Targeted advertising campaigns to generate awareness around policy issues at the state and federal levels.
3 | Protect Conservative Principles
The fracturing of the conservative movement has resulted in a lack of strategic focus and long-term vision for elected officials and leading groups. In the advocacy space, organizations are often siloed and critical of each other’s work. The results are a cacophony of groups that are chasing various strands of conservatism in the hope that they land on what may become the leading organizing principle of a restructured conservative movement. This is speculation, not leadership.
We will adopt a strategy of engagement with other entities and personalities with whom we will partner in areas of mutual interest, seeking to draw them into our cause. Advancing American Freedom is uniquely positioned to build a bridge between President Reagan’s vision of conservatism and the modern application of that vision. As such, we have an obligation to bring conservative organizations together under a unifying banner: defeating the Left.
Grants & Partnerships:
Recruitment & Training:
Offer partnerships and financial grants to organizations and individuals to help multiply our advocacy efforts and amplify our messaging, polling, and policy solutions.
Develop programs to recruit rising leaders in the conservative movement to join our policy advocacy. This includes fellowships, internships, and mentorship programs.
Create new public-facing products in partnership with like-minded experts across foreign and domestic issue areas.
Continue building successful and ideologically diverse coalitions around key policy fights on Capitol Hill and across the country.