Co-founder, Reuniting America

After nearly a decade as a Christian Coalition activist and Republican nominee for the U.S. Congress in one of the most conservative districts in America, Joseph McCormick learned firsthand the most destructive force in our country today is Americans taking sides against other Americans. The turning point in his life came in 2001 when his political career, marriage, business and reputation collapsed, his relationships having been eroded by mistrust and hatred of his enemies. The pain of this personal loss was transformative and he began slowly rebuilding his life on more solid ground, searching for a healthier way to engage in politics. Since 2004 he has organized a series of ground breaking private retreats that brought over 140 national leaders representing over 70 million Americans into dialogue in search of opportunities to collaborate. His passion now is to apply the tools developed in these gatherings to catalyzing a national campaign to organize transpartisan Citizen Leader Councils and Citizen Assemblies to serve as a resource for local, state and national decision makers searching for innovative, bottom-up solutions in this time of crisis. He is a former officer in the U.S. Army Rangers and a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and Yale University.

Testimonials...

"Participating in the work of the Transpartisan Alliance has been a wonderful opportunity to get past the preconceptions and stereotypes and focus on our common interests. For me, not only has it opened doors, but it has granted me access to state of the art tools for dialogue and deliberation. It has empowered me to act as an agent of change for best practice in my own organization as well as in the broader community." – Brent McMillan, Executive Director, Green Party of the United States

“In the best of times, good solutions to difficult problems benefit from good communication. But in times of difficulty, when the stakes in political and policy decisions are high – when our nation’s security or its fiscal well-being ride on knowledge, transparency and timeliness – transpartisan communication becomes critically important. The Transpartisan Alliance’s Campaign to Unite America fosters communication between people and across political divides in a way that serves as a model for public policy participants in and out of government.” – Bob Barr, Former Member of Congress, Presidential Nominee, Libertarian Party

“Joseph and I share a core belief that citizen engagement is crucial to a healthy democracy. The Transpartisan Alliance’s campaign to connect citizens one conversation at a time is a marvelous way to begin to realize our highest dreams.” – Joan Blades, Co-founder, MoveOn.org, President, MomsRising.org

“The transpartisan movement has begun to move America beyond the stale partisan rhetoric and fixed bayonets of past arguments…and look anew at old challenges that unite Americans more than they divide us." – Grover Norquist, conservative activist, President, Americans for Tax Reform

"The transpartisan movement is beginning to foster so much communication across the partisan boundaries that the boundaries themselves are beginning to be much more porous." – Al Gore, Former Vice President