He is also the Chairman of the Policy Committee of the Committee on the Present Danger (CPD), an international, non-partisan organization based in Washington D.C. comprised of leading members of the national security community. The Daily Telegraph (U.K.) named May one of the “100 most influential conservatives in America” this year (as well as in its earlier tally).

Mr. May has had a long and distinguished career in international relations, journalism, communications and politics.
A veteran news reporter, foreign correspondent and editor (at The New York Times and other publications), he has covered stories in more than two dozen countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Ethiopia, China, Uzbekistan, Northern Ireland and Russia. He is a frequent guest on national and international television and radio news programs, providing analysis and participating in debates on national security issues. He writes a weekly column that is nationally distributed by Scripps Howard News Service and he is a regular contributor for National Review Online, The American Spectator and other publications.
In 2006 he was appointed an advisor to the Iraq Study Group (Baker-Hamilton Commission) of the United States Institute of Peace, an independent nonpartisan national institution established and funded by Congress. He also received a two-year appointment to the bipartisan Advisory Committee on Democracy Promotion, reporting to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.  In 2009, the U.S. Department of State awarded him a “U.S. Speaker and Specialist Grant” for a series of speaking engagements and meetings (with government and religious leaders, academics and journalists) in Pakistan.
From 1997 to 2001, he served as the Director of Communications for the Republican National Committee. In that role, he was the Republican Party’s staff spokesman, and appeared frequently on national television and radio programs. In addition, he managed all RNC communications activities, including long-range strategic planning; press, radio and television services; online services; TV and radio coaching; speech writing; advertising and marketing. He also served as the Editor of the official Republican magazine, Rising Tide.

After leaving the RNC, he was named Senior Managing Director in the Washington, D.C. office of Weber Shandwick, a firm specializing in public affairs advocacy, public relations and media relations.
Prior to coming to the RNC, Mr. May was the Associate Editor of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado. While in Colorado, Mr. May hosted a talk radio program on the dominant station in the region, and produced and moderated an interview program on KRMA-TV (a PBS station). In addition, Mr. May served as host/moderator for the weekly, nationally distributed TCI cable television series, Race for the Presidency, which featured “resident analysts” Dick Lamm, Gary Hart and Don Hodel.
Before moving to Colorado Mr. May spent nearly a decade with The New York Times as a reporter in both New York and Washington, an editor of The New York Times Sunday Magazine and a foreign correspondent. He established the Times’ West Africa bureau and, as Bureau Chief, covered more than a score of African nations.
Earlier in his career, Mr. May was the Roving Foreign Correspondent for Hearst newspapers, reporting from a variety of global hotspots. During that same period, Mr. May provided special coverage for CBS Radio News and Bill Moyers’ Journal on PBS. Prior to that, Mr. May was Senior Editor of Geo Magazine, and an Associate Editor for international news at Newsweek.

He holds masters degrees from both Columbia University’s School of Public and International Affairs and its School of Journalism. He earned his BA from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. In addition, he holds a certificate in Russian language and literature from Leningrad U.

John Fortier is the principal contributor to the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and executive director of the Continuity of Government Commission. A political scientist who has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Delaware, Boston College, and Harvard University, Mr. Fortier has written numerous scholarly and popular articles. His books include Second-Term Blues: How George W. Bush Has Governed (Brookings Institution Press, 2007); Absentee and Early Voting: Trends, Promises, and Perils (AEI Press, 2006); and After the People Vote: A Guide to the Electoral College (AEI Press, 2004). Mr. Fortier writes a column for Politico and is a frequent radio and television commentator on the presidency, Congress, and elections.

Kevin Brady considers it an honor to be representing the 8th District of Texas in the U.S House of Representatives.

A pro-family, pro-small business conservative, Kevin’s strong belief in free enterprise guides him as the Senior House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee.

A Deputy Whip for the GOP Leadership team, Kevin serves on the House Ways & Means Committee, considered by many to be the most powerful committee in Congress, with jurisdiction over 2/3 of the federal budget including taxes, Social Security, Medicare, international trade and welfare. As the Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Trade and a member of the Social Security Subcommittee, Kevin fights for free market solutions to our country’s economic challenges and preservation of the programs that help our seniors.

As the White House’s point man in the successful passage of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, Kevin is excited about the thousands of new jobs that free trade has created here in Texas.

Prior to his election in Congress, Kevin worked as a chamber of commerce executive for 18 years and served six years in the Texas House of Representatives where he was a leader on victims’ rights issues and named one of the Ten Best Legislators for Families & Children. In 1994 he was named one of Five Outstanding Young Texans.

In order to stay close to the people he represents, Kevin, An original Hometown Hero of The Woodlands is a million mile flyer with Continental Airlines. He chooses to commute to work in Washington each week so he, and his wife, Cathy Patronella Brady, can raise their two sons, Will (12) and Sean (8) in The Woodlands where they attend Saints Simons and Jude Catholic Church. A Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary, Kevin is also a Distinguished Alumni of the University of South Dakota.

Congressman Tom McClintock was elected in November 2008 to represent the 4th Congressional District in the United States Congress.

During 22 years in the California State Legislature, and as a candidate for governor in California’s historic recall election, Tom McClintock has become one of the most recognizable political leaders in California.

First elected to the California Assembly at the age of 26, McClintock quickly distinguished himself as an expert in parliamentary procedure and fiscal policy. He served in the Assembly from 1982 to 1992 and again from 1996 to 2000. During these years, he authored California’s current lethal injection death penalty law, spearheaded the campaign to rebate $1.1 billion in tax over-collections to the people of California, and became the driving force in the legislature to abolish the car tax. He has proposed hundreds of specific reforms to streamline state government and reduce state spending.

In 2000, McClintock was elected to the California State Senate, where he developed innovative budget solutions such as the Bureaucracy Reduction and Closure Commission and performance-based budgeting, and advocated for restoring California’s public works.

From 1992-1994, McClintock served as Director of the Center for the California Taxpayer, a project of the National Tax Limitation Foundation. In 1995, he was named Director of Economic and Regulatory Affairs for the Claremont Institute’s Golden State Center for Policy Studies, a position he held until his return to the Assembly in 1996. In that capacity, he wrote and lectured extensively on state fiscal policy, privatization, bureaucratic reform and governmental streamlining.

McClintock’s commentaries on California public policy have appeared in every major newspaper in California and he is a frequent guest on radio and television broadcasts across the nation. Numerous taxpayer associations have honored him for his leadership on state budget issues.

McClintock has twice received the Republican nomination for the office of State Controller, narrowly missing election in 2002 by the closest margin in California history – 23/100ths of one percent of the votes cast.

Congressman McClintock serves in Congress on the Natural Resources Committee and on the Education and Labor Committee.

For the Natural Resources Committee he is the lead Republican on the Subcommittee on Water and Power, and he is also a member of the National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee.

For the Education and Labor Committee he is a member of the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee and he also serves on the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee.

Tom McClintock and his wife, Lori, have two children, Justin and Shannah.

Mr. Carlson has more than thirty years of domestic and international experience in full-time and consulting-based service to the government and private industry. The White House Assistant Press Secretary under President Nixon and Deputy Press Secretary under President Ford, Mr. Carlson was an integral part of the team that established diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. Subsequent to his White House service, he has held key positions with Fortune 500 companies, including Summa Corporation (Howard Hughes conglomerate) and Kilroy Realty, and a variety of mid-sized and multinational corporations in the areas of management and administration, domestic and international marketing and sales, with emphasis on Asia and Latin America.

Serving as Assistant Press Secretary to President Richard Nixon and Deputy Press Secretary to President Gerald Ford, Mr. Carlson played a critical operational role while in the White House in the normalization of U.S.-China relations and the stabilization of U.S. foreign policy in Asia in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. His duties included briefing the White House Press Corps on a daily basis, traveling with and attending virtually all major meetings in the U.S. with the President and handling major preparation work for the President’s press conferences. Mr. Carlson also worked with George H. W. Bush when he served as the U.S. representative to China during the Nixon and Ford administrations. After his White House government service, he stayed involved in furthering U.S. government-based business relations with China and in Vietnam. In addition, he has extensive ties in the Western Pacific to include the Islands of Guam, Saipan, Palau and Hawaii.

In the mid 1990s, Mr. Carlson returned for a time to national government service by serving first as the Campaign Manager for the successful bid of Jack Metcalf (Republican, Washington State) to the U.S. Congress and then by serving as Metcalf’s Chief of Staff in Washington, D.C. In this role he was the Congressman’s key strategist and handled a variety of government and commercial matters from issues affecting The Boeing Company to Indian Gaming.

Among his positions in senior management, Mr. Carlson created and implemented a strategy for all governmental relations at the international, federal, state and local levels for Texas Air Corporation as its Vice President of Corporate Relations. In this role, his accomplishments included leading the start-up of New York Air and managing White House approval of Texas Air’s acquisition of Continental Airlines. Prior to joining Texas Air Corp., Mr. Carlson was Regional Vice President for Hughes Airwest, where he increased sales and cut costs for the Northwest region, which encompassed over one-quarter of the airline, with 1000 employees, 14 cities and more than $110 million in annual revenues.

With Kilroy Industries, John served as the company’s Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Affairs for Kilroy’s extensive real estate holdings and new developments. He also initiated and managed Kilroy’s exploratory market investigations into China in the mid 1980s.

A native of Washington State, John received his BA in Business Administration from Washington State University (Pullman) and attended the University of Washington (Seattle) for his MBA. He served as a Lieutenant in the US military where he was an Army Airborne Ranger and led a 200-man unit as its Company Commander.

As communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), Spain attempts to craft winning messages for Republican candidates throughout the country.

The NRCC’s goal is to elect or re-elect Republicans to the House. Spain, who worked on Republican congressional campaigns as well as on the 2004 George W. Bush re-election campaign, collaborates with Republican candidates, incumbents and House leadership to engage in message battles at the local and national levels.

“We build overarching narratives by working with the House Republican leadership, fight the national message war, and put Democrats on the defensive,” Spain said in an email. Interview with WhoRunsGov.com, July 8, 2009(1)Interview with WhoRunsGov.com, July 8, 2009

He and his team often target vulnerable Democrats by broadcasting the Republican message through local newspapers, TV stations and blogs.

Spain believes communications professionals and the public officials they serve should heed a bit of wisdom from Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 debate with Stephen Douglas: “Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.” Interview with WhoRunsGov.com, July 8, 2009(1)

Eight years of political/communications experience including managing an aggressive 10-person communications shop. Helped some of the country’s highest profile congressional campaigns with communications challenges, messaging advice and media training. Also worked in concert with the House Republican leadership to craft winning messages and build national narratives. Has appeared on FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio and been quoted in national news publications such the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Politico, and the Washington Post.

He brings a perspective to public affairs and issue management that comes from a background in electoral politics. He has handled polling and communications research for several U.S. Senate, gubernatorial and congressional candidates. Steve worked on the Presidential campaign for President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and contributed to communications activities at the 1996 and 2000 GOP conventions. Most recently, he served as a senior research and communications advisor to the Romney for President campaign.

Prior to founding LCG, Steve was President and CEO of StrategyOne, the public opinion research subsidiary of Edelman Public Relations. There, he also served as Vice Chairman of the advertising group, Blue Worldwide. Prior to joining Edelman, he was a Partner with BSMG Worldwide and served as President and CEO of KRC Research and Consulting. Before BSMG, Steve was Vice President of Market Strategies, a national research firm.

He has served as a commentator on business, politics and media for FOX, CNN’s “Inside Politics” and network television affiliates across the country.

Steve received his B.A. in Political Science from St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. He was a Graduate Fellow in the Department of Political Science at St. Louis University, where he received his M.A. in Public Policy and Administration, with an emphasis in communications and research methodology.

As the most powerful Native American leader of the past century, Chief James Billie of the Seminole Tribe is the man responsible for bringing casino gambling to the Seminole tribes through out America. Chief Billie takes pride in his heritage as a Seminole and is an expert at building palmetto-thatched chickees. His ring finger on his right hand is kept in a bottle in his pocket, a reminder of an ancient battle with an alligator. He is also an accomplished musician, playing Seminole music while opening for the Beach Boys with hits like “Big Alligator”

Chief James Billie served as Chairman of the Seminole Tribe of Florida for 22 years, a longer-term as an elected leader than anyone in the Western hemisphere other than Castro. At the height of his power, he was personal friends with the likes of Burt Reynolds and James Brown, and once dined on alligator and rattlesnake with Donald Trump during one of Mr. Trump’s visits to the Everglades. Yet the former Seminole Chief no longer presides over the 3,400 member Seminole Tribe. Once the highest paid elected official in the state of Florida, Chief James Billie had a fall from grace after accusations of financial mismanagement and other allegations resulted in the other four members of the tribe forcing him out.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida, one of the most financially solvent native american tribes in the country, has Chief James Billie to thank for the $120,000.00 annual check each member receives as their share of the gaming profits. It was Chief James Billie who came up with the idea of Native American gaming, and then championed the cause in what eventually resulted in a Supreme Court ruling in his favor.

As a stalwart supporter of his tribe, and perhaps as its greatest hero of this generation, Chief James Billie will reveal his plans about returning as Chaiman of the Seminole tribe.

He wants to focus his attention to give his people a better life where education and healthcare are his foremost concerns.

Check out Chief Billie’s hit ‘Big Alligator’

Terry M. Moe is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, a member of the Institution’s Koret Task Force on K–12 education, and the William Bennett Munro Professor of political science at Stanford University.

He is an expert on educational policy, U.S. political institutions, and organization theory. His current research projects are concerned with school choice, public bureaucracy, and the presidency.

Moe has written extensively on educational issues. His book (with John E. Chubb), Politics, Markets, and America’s Schools, is among the most influential and controversial works on education to be published during the last decade, and has been a major force in the movement for school choice in America and abroad. In Liberating Learning:Technology, Politics, and the Future of America (Jossey Bass, 2009) Moe and John E. Chubb map out a dynamic vision of the nation’s educational future, showing how the ideas and innovations of technology will ultimately transform the public schools to the great benefit of the nation and its children. For more information, visit the Liberating Learning website.

He is also the author of Schools, Vouchers, and the American Public, the first detailed analysis of public opinion on the voucher issue. In addition, he is editor of A Primer on America’s Schools (Hoover Institution Press, 2001), which provides a critical assessment of the current state of American education, and Private Vouchers (Hoover Institution Press, 1995), the first book to be published on the growing movement among private-sector foundations to provide vouchers for low-income children.

More generally, Moe has written extensively on public bureaucracy and the presidency, and he is a leading figure in both fields. His influential articles on bureaucracy include “The New Economics of Organization,” “The Politics of Bureaucratic Structure,” “Political Institutions: The Neglected Side of the Story,” and “The Institutional Foundations of Democratic Government: A Comparison of Presidential and Parliamentary Systems.”

Among his articles on the presidency are “The Politicized Presidency,” “Presidents, Institutions, and Theory,” and “The President and the Bureaucracy: The Presidential Advantage.”

In 2005, Moe received the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Prize for Excellence in Education.

In addition to his positions at Stanford and Hoover, Moe has served as a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C.