Working From Within?

Quote :

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm going to level with you: We just learned some troubling news. But please don't click delete! We need you to keep reading.

According to a new report, the Koch brothers held a secret summit this month where "the explicit goal was to raise $500 million to take the Senate in the 2014 midterms and another $500 million" for the 2016 presidential race.1

If these mind-boggling sums of cash thrown around by right-wing billionaires are tempting you to throw up your hands and give up on politics—well, I don't blame you.

How could anyone not be frustrated at the thought of spending the next 150 days organizing to stop the Koch takeover of the Senate when we're facing that much 1% cash?

I know there are other things you can focus on. After all, it's the middle of summer and there's so much to think about—family, friends, summer vacation if you have one, work, groceries, doing the laundry!

But, MoveOn member, if you're tempted to sit this election out, I need to ask you to please think again—because no matter how much the Koch brothers spend, we can beat them. And we have to.

We need to raise $100,000 today to get our Save the Senate campaign off the ground. Can you help?

Yes, I can contribute $3.

Here's the deal:

Polling experts agree that if the election were held today, it'd be close, but Republicans could well win the Senate.

If that happens, President Obama will be on defense the rest of his term. Imagine it. Tea Party Republicans would push to voucherize Medicare, shut down the EPA, and pass even more tax cuts for big corporations and the wealthy—everything the Koch brothers want.

The Obama administration would be paralyzed, with no new appointees. And forget about confirming decent judges to the federal courts. If there were a Supreme Court retirement, Republicans would shut down the entire government before they'd allow Justices Scalia or Kennedy to be replaced by anyone who's critical of the Citizens United decision.

There's still time to prevent this nightmare—but we need to get started NOW.

Will you pitch in?

Yes, I can contribute $3.

There's a ton of data showing that people power, which we have in abundance, is more powerful than campaign cash,2 and that volunteers are more effective than paid campaign staff.3 We're building a potent election program based on that research.

This week, MoveOn members are voting on whether to endorse candidates in many of the country's most important Senate races. We'll use proven strategies as well as new innovations to contact voters and turn out the progressive vote. Experts agree turning out our base in a traditionally low-turnout midterm is key to Democrats holding the Senate.

We'll match our volunteer-powered voter turnout work with creative, high-impact media strategies that hold Republicans accountable for their disastrous choices, including shutting down the government, opposing the minimum wage, and standing in the way of equal pay for women. We don't need to match the Koch brothers dollar for dollar to win, but we do need MoveOn members chipping in enough money to mobilize our base and get our message out.

Are you in?

Yes, I can contribute $3.

In 2010, progressive voters were too complacent after President Obama's election and the results were disastrous. We can't afford to make the same mistake again.

By combining the grassroots power of 8 million MoveOn members with the latest innovations in get-out-the-vote technology, we know we can motivate progressive voters to get to the polls. But we need your help to do it.

Thanks for all you do.

–Ilya, Manny, Stephen, Corinne, and the rest of the team

I am reaching the stage in my thinking on this -- not unlike my thinking on Iraq and the Middle East -- where it seems that crashing and burning is pretty-near inevitable and maybe the best thing to do is to stand back to avoid being hit by shrapnel.

Move On wrote:

This past weekend, MoveOn members officially kicked off our bold campaign to fight back. Instead of shuttling to an exclusive resort for a closed-door meeting, nearly ten thousand MoveOn members gathered in living rooms, libraries, and community centers to watch the film Koch Brothers Exposed. These screenings were powerful. As they should be, they were one part education and one part action planning.

Here's what one MoveOn member who hosted two screenings on Saturday wrote:

I expected that some just would not show up (after all, it was Saturday) but I was shocked that both sessions were packed. Almost everyone showed up and some brought friends who had not registered ... There was standing room only. People were hungry for this information... Everyone was enthusiastic and ready to do something about it.

Emphasis theirs.

Not quite sure what their "action plan" is, how they plan to counter $1 billion in Koch money.  At $3 a pop do they really plan to get 333,333,333 new members?  The population of the US is only 320 million.