Vin Weber

John Vincent (Vin) Weber became an adviser to Republican 2008 presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in January 2007. A former Republican U.S. Representative from Minnesota (1980-1992), Weber has been a lobbyist and the managing partner of Clark & Weinstock's Washington D.C. office since 1994. He is chairman of the board at the National Endowment for Democracy.

Pro-war in Iraq
Weber is a member of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) and was one of the signatories to the January 26, 1998, PNAC letter sent to President Clinton urging him "to seize that opportunity" in his upcoming State of the Union "to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power." He also signed the September 20, 2001, PNAC letter endorsing President George W. Bush's "admirable commitment to 'lead the world to victory' in the war against terrorism."

In March 2002, Weber was among a "powerful group of neo-conservatives [who launched] a new public relations campaign in support of President George W. Bush's war on terrorism," Jim Lobe wrote in AlterNet. Calling themselves Americans for Victory Over Terrorism (AVOT), they "declared their intention to 'take to task those groups and individuals who fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the war we are facing.'"

"The newly-formed organization is headed by a formidable array of right-wing luminaries," Lobe wrote. "At the top of the list is former Secretary of Education and drug czar William Bennett, AVOT's chairman. The group's Senior Advisors include former CIA director R. James Woolsey; former Reagan Pentagon official Frank Gaffney; William P. Barr, attorney general under George Bush, Sr; and mega-political donor Lawrence Kadish. AVOT is a project of Empower America -- also co-chaired by Bennett -- whose principal members include conservative political operatives Jeane Kirkpatrick, Jack Kemp, Vin Weber and William Cohen."

Profiles
Weber is co-founder and co-director of Empower America and co-director of the Aspen Institute's Domestic Strategy Group. According to his C&W biographical note, he is also a fellow at the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, "where he is a co-director with former Congressman Tim Penny of the Policy Forum (formerly the Mondale Forum)."

Weber is a member of the Board of Directors of Citizens Against Government Waste, board member of ITT Educational Services, Department 56 and the German Marshall Fund.

Other affiliations

 * Member, Advisory Committee on Democracy Promotion
 * Client: DP World
 * Emeriti Trustee, National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy
 * Leadership Group, U.S.-Muslim Engagement Project
 * Director, Council on Foreign Relations

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Project for the New American Century, PNAC, original signer
 * Task Force In Support of Arab Democracy, member
 * U.S. presidential election, 2008

Profiles

 * Profile: Vin Weber, RightWeb.
 * Kevin Featherly, "Grilling Weber. In Vin Veritas," Minnesota Law & Politics (Featherly.com), June/July 2004.
 * Bio: Vin Weber, Clark and Weinstock; accessed December 2004.