RightChange.com

RightChange.com calls itself "a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping Americans see through the haze of politicians' 'spin'." In fact, it is a clearly partisan organization devoted to electing conservative U.S. Republican party candidates, in particular U.S. presidential candidate John McCain.

Campaigns and actions
In a last-minute campaign ad, RightChange used images from the September 2001 World Trade Center attacks to claim that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would "undermine the terror strategy that protects us."

During the 2008 U.S. presidential election, RightChange sponsored television commercials and claimed that "For years, John McCain warned of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s risk to the economy and pushed for reform" while "Democrats defended Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac]." RightChange also attacked Democratic candidate [[Barack Obama, claiming that his "economic proposals stick small businesses with the Bill for the Wall Street Bailout."

The Associated Press reported on September 16, 2008, that RightChange.com "plans to spend about $1.5 million in the next two weeks on national cable networks including Fox News Channel, CNN, and CNN Headline News, said spokesman Tim Pittman. Rightchange.com is financed largely by pharmaceutical executive Fred Eshelman, who has given more than $200,000 to Republican candidates and party organizations since 2002, according to Federal Election Commission records.

The Tax Foundation, a tax research group based in Washington, D.C. that has been operating since 1937, analyzed the claims made by RightChange and concluded that they were "spreading nonsense ... so ridiculous that I'm almost at a loss for words ... an outright lie."

Funding
According to National Public Radio, RightChange "reported $2.7 million in contributions from its president, Fred Eshelman, CEO of PPD, a pharmaceutical research firm in North Carolina. PPD's chairman, Ernest Mario, gave an additional $1 million. Mario also runs Capnia Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company developing a system to treat migraines using medical gas." NPR noted that "RightChange.com's other directors also have connections to the health industry. Board member Jeff Barnhart is CEO of Cabarrus Community Health Centers, which RightChange's corporate secretary, Fletcher Hartsell, helped found. Both Barnhart and Hartsell are Republican state legislators in North Carolina."

Personnel

 * Fred Eshelman, president
 * Ernest Mario
 * Jeff Barnhart
 * Fletcher Hartsell

Contact information
RightChange.com, Inc. Registered Non-Profit Organization PO Box 2259 Wilmington, NC 28402-2259

Phone: 1-800-347-1668

Email: info AT rightchange.com Website: http://rightchange.com/

Related SourceWatch articles

 * U.S. presidential election, 2008