Center for Competitive Politics Names David Keating as its New President

February 6, 2012   •  By Sarah Lee
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CONTACT: Sarah Lee, Communications Director, The Center for Competitive Politics, 770.598.7961

 

Center for Competitive Politics Names David Keating as its New President

 

ALEXANDRIA, VA (Feb. 6, 2012). — The Center for Competitive Politics, the nation’s only-organization dedicated solely to protecting First Amendment political rights, is pleased to welcome David Keating, former Executive Director of Club for Growth, as its new President.

Keating has a long and distinguished career in nonprofit advocacy.  In addition to his role as Executive Director of Club for Growth, a group dedicated to the promulgation of economic freedom, he has served as executive vice president of the National Taxpayers Union and executive director of Americans for Fair Taxation, a group that supports the FairTax to replace the income tax.

Keating was appointed to the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service by Senator Bob Dole in 1996, work that eventually became the cornerstone of legislation passed by Congress in 1998 that both restructured the agency and significantly expanded the rights of taxpayers in disputes with the IRS.

Brad Smith, Chairman and founder of the The Center for Competitive Politics, said that Keating was an ideal choice to head the organization because of his knowledge of the practical effect of campaign finance laws on political activity and his brave stand in suing the Federal Election Commission (FEC) after he founded SpeechNow .org.  That organization challenged campaign finance laws as restricting the right of First Amendment political speech using the “freedom of association” principle.

“David has shown throughout his career that he is a believer in the work that CCP holds dear; namely, that political rights of speech are First Amendment rights of speech,” Smith said. “He is a natural choice to lead the CCP staff as we carry on at a time when much national attention is being given to what we do, and when there is a concerted effort to place more restrictions on political speech.”

For his part, Keating said he is excited about the prospect of joining a group that he has worked with in the past and that he knows shares his ideals when it comes to campaign finance.

“The First Amendment’s protections for political speech are vitally important to our freedom and our nation’s future and I’m excited to lead an organization whose mission is its defense,” Keating said. “Too many have forgotten the clear meaning of the First Amendment: ‘Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.’  We have a lot of work to do, I look forward to working with the great team at CCP to do it.”

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Sarah Lee

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