Editing GOPAC

{{Short description|Political training organization}}
{{About|the American Republican local political training organization|the international anti-corruption institution|Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption|the performance "Go Pack" on AMC cars|Go package}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox company
| name = GOPAC
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| native_name_lang = <!-- Use ISO 639-1 code, e.g. "fr" for French. For multiple names in different languages, use {{lang|[code]|[name]}}. -->
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| logo = GOPAC_logo_2017.png
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| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
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| founded = 1978
| founder = Governor Pete du Pont
| defunct = <!-- {{end date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| fate = 
| hq_location = 1201 Wilson Ave Suite 2110 Arlington, VA 22209
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| num_locations_year = <!-- Year of num_locations data (when known) -->
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| key_people = {{ubl|David Avella (chairman)|[[Frank Donatelli]] (former chairman)|[[Newt Gingrich]] (former Speaker of the House and GOPAC chairman) }}
| industry = Politics
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| revenue = $400,057
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| website = [http://www.gopac.org www.gopac.org]
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'''GOPAC''' is a [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] (GOP) state and local political training organization. Although often thought of as a PAC, or [[political action committee]], it is actually a [[527 organization]].

==History==
GOPAC was founded by [[Delaware]] Governor [[Pierre S. du Pont, IV]] in 1978 in "an effort to build a farm team of Republican officeholders who could then run for congress or higher state offices later".<ref name=corner /> On February 1, 2007, former [[Maryland]] Lieutenant Governor [[Michael S. Steele|Michael Steele]] became the chairman and served until his election as chairman of the [[Republican National Committee]] in January 2009. The current chairman of GOPAC is David Avella.<ref name=corner>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gopac.org/chairmans-corner/|title=Chairman's Corner|website=GOPAC|access-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>

Others who have chaired GOPAC include former [[Oklahoma]] Governor [[Frank Keating]], former [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] Representative and [[United States Secretary of the Army|Secretary of the Army]] [[Howard Callaway|Bo Callaway]], [[California]] Representative [[David Dreier]], [[Arizona]] Representative [[John Shadegg]], former Oklahoma Representative [[J.C. Watts]], Gay Gaines, and former [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[Newt Gingrich]] of Georgia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-long-march-of-newt-gingrich-part-five/ |title=The Long March of Newt Gingrich: Part Five |date=December 21, 2011 |website=Frontline |publisher=PBS |first=Sarah |last=Moughty |access-date=January 28, 2022 }}</ref>

Instructional tapes used to train aspiring Republican politicians from 1986 to 1994 were selected by the [[Library of Congress]] as a 2010 addition to the [[National Recording Registry]] for their influence in "shaping political discourse". The Library of Congress selects recordings annually that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/registry/nrpb-2010reg.html | title=The National Recording Registry 2010 | access-date=April 10, 2011 | publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref>

==GOPAC memo of 1990==
Drawing rhetorical inspiration from Newt Gingrich, GOPAC wrote and distributed a memo to Republican Party legislative candidates in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|title=Political Memo; For G.O.P. Arsenal, 133 Words to Fire|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/09/us/political-memo-for-gop-arsenal-133-words-to-fire.html|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=February 28, 2018}}</ref> The memo, which came from a list drawn up by [[Frank Luntz]],<ref>Al Franken 1996 p.253.</ref> called "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control", contained a list of "contrasting words" and "optimistic positive governing words" that Gingrich recommended for use in describing Democrats and Republicans, respectively. For example, words to use against opponents include decay, failure (fail), collapse(ing), deeper, crisis, urgent(cy), destructive, destroy, sick, pathetic, lie, radical, liberal, they/them, unionized bureaucracy,  betray, consequences, limit(s), shallow, traitors, sensationalists,"compassion" is not enough; words to use in defining a candidate's own campaign and vision included share, change, opportunity, legacy, challenge, control, truth, moral, courage, reform, prosperity, crusade, movement, children, family, debate, compete, active(ly), we/us/our, candid(ly), humane, pristine, provide.

The cover page of the memo said: "The words in that paper are tested language from a recent series of focus groups where we actually tested ideas and language."<ref name="fair">{{cite web |url=https://fair.org/home/language-a-key-mechanism-of-control |title=Language: A Key Mechanism of Control |date=February 1995 |work=Fair.org |publisher=[[Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting]] |access-date=February 28, 2018}}</ref><ref name="UTK">{{cite web |url=http://web.utk.edu/~glenn/GopacMemo.html |publisher=UTK.edu |title=GOPAC Memo on Language (1990) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902053532/http://web.utk.edu/~glenn/GopacMemo.html |archive-date=September 2, 2013}}</ref>

The comic strip ''[[Doonesbury]] '' mentions the memo in a strip, calling it the "Magna Carta
of attack politics."<ref>{{cite web |date=September 21, 2008 |url=http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/2008/09/21 |title=Doonesbury |last=Trudeau |first=Garry |author-link=Garry Trudeau |publisher=G.B. Trudeau}}</ref> [[Al Franken]], a comedian and later a U.S. senator from Minnesota, wrote that GOP candidates were drilled to adopt three basic techniques in debating: "Go Negative Early"; "Don't Try to Educate"; "Never Back Off". Minor details were relevant only to 'demolish the opposition'.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Al Franken |first=Al |last=Franken |title=[[Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations]] |publisher=[[Bantam Books]] |date=1996 |pages=154–164}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.gopac.org}}
*GOPAC's 2013 990 Form ([http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_12_EO/45-1475628_990O_201312.pdf pdf])

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gopac}}
[[Category:Republican Party (United States) organizations]]
[[Category:527 organizations]]
[[Category:Memoranda]]
[[Category:United States National Recording Registry recordings]]