In the 1980's, the elected President Bush tried denegrating the ACLU as a way of gaining votes during a debate with Dukakis. The result was that the ACLU had a HUGE boost to their membership in the month following Bush's stupid comment.

Last week, Karl Rove, servant of the dubiously elected little Bush, tried to gain political points by denegrating MoveOn.org (or at least that is what Fox News claims). To me what is worse is that he exploited the memories of our 9/11 dead to do this. I am so disgusted with the Republican misuse of 9/11. My outrage at Rove and Bush knows no bounds. And I am increasingly disgusted with NY Republicans like Bloomberg and Pataki and Fossella who don't stand up for our city against the Republican exploitation of our 9/11 dead. The absolute best way we can show Rove what we think of his comments is to turn this into a massive fundraising boon for MoveOn.org.

From MoveOn.org's PAC:

Polls show that Americans are losing patience with the Republican leadership's radical agenda, making three of their top leaders vulnerable to defeat in 2006. This week's critical fundraising deadline is a terrific opportunity to stand up to these extremists and support the courageous Democrats taking them on.

Rep. Tom DeLay is the worst, from his corrupt politics, to his threats against judges, to his exploitation of Terri Schiavo's personal tragedy. Former Rep. Nick Lampson, a leader on education and labor, is a strong challenger.

Sen. Rick Santorum, number three in the Senate Republican leadership and key in enforcing their hard-right message, is nearly as bad as DeLay and is THE most vulnerable Republican senator. And everyone remembers Rep. Katherine Harris, the former Florida election official who helped secure George W. Bush's 2000 election--she's now running for Senate.

It's early in the election cycle, but in politics, early money often makes all the difference. Please support Lampson and the other strong Democratic candidates in opposing these radical Republicans today. In order to beat the contribution deadline, we need your donation by tomorrow (Tuesday) night! Click here to chip in:

DeLay, Santorum, and Harris have all demonstrated their allegiance to big business and fringe groups:

• Last month a judge ruled that DeLay's political committee illegally failed to report $600,000 in corporate contributions that were used to sway Texas elections.
• Santorum, also a ringleader in the Schiavo debacle, introduced a bill to end free National Weather Service forecasts two days after he received a contribution from a competing forecasting company.
• Harris is not only a darling of the far right since the contested 2000 election, but also earned a 100% score from a business association for supporting their corporate agenda in 2004.1

Fortunately, for each of these officials out of touch with most Americans' values, there's a candidate willing to stand up for the people. Here's a little bit about them:

The first candidate is Bob Casey, Jr., Pennsylvania's state treasurer who is currently leading Rick Santorum in polls of the race for the Senate. Casey has fought for improved long-term health care, made child care more affordable, and supported women- and minority-owned businesses. Howard Dean calls Casey "a tremendous friend of working people," 2 and Pennsylvania MoveOn members overwhelmingly supported Casey in our online primary. With President Bush's help, Santorum has raised millions of dollars so far. But even so, this race is our best chance to replace a key player in the far-right Republican leadership with a strong Democrat. Early support from MoveOn members will be a big boost to Casey's campaign.

Second is Nick Lampson. He served Texas for 8 years in the U.S. House before Tom DeLay's redistricting effort divided Lampson's district last year. In the House, Lampson was a leader on mental health, seniors' and veterans' issues, and initiatives to protect children. Having grown up in a family that relied on Social Security, he is committed to protecting the program. He says, "We need leaders with a high standard of accountability to the public; who will recognize that there is only one standard for ethical behavior." 3 Your support for Lampson in the race for Texas' 22nd District will strengthen his campaign to defeat the vulnerable DeLay.

Finally, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida deserves our continued support. Endorsed by MoveOn PAC in his initial run for the seat in 2000, he has since worked hard to prevent oil drilling off Florida's coast (leading the fight on the issue again just last week), to support stronger consumer privacy protections, and to improve health care for all Americans. A solid progressive, he earns strong ratings from environmental groups, labor unions, and many other organizations. He faces a strong challenge from ultra-conservative Rep. Katherine Harris (and perhaps also from state House Speaker Allan Bense), but with your help, he can continue to stand up for progressive ideals.

Supporting these candidates is part of our larger plan to win key seats and elect progressives in 2006. We'll use our fights on the Supreme Court, Iraq and other issues to drive home the point that corrupt Republican leaders consistently put corporate interests and right-wing fringe groups ahead of the American people. We'll turn out voters like we did last fall. And, we'll raise money in critical races, because together, our thousands of small contributions can make a big difference. Please consider making a gift of $25, $50, $100 or more today to each of these candidates:

Please consider making a gift of $25, $50, $100 or more today to each of these candidates.

Your gift before this week's federal fundraising deadline helps the most: the fundraising deadline will be used as one measure of the campaign's strength and the media will report on fundraising as one proxy for who is ahead.

As always, 100% of the money you donate to a candidate goes directly to that candidate's campaign. We will be supporting more candidates in the 2006 election, and we will be asking for your help in choosing them over the coming months.

Thank you for your support.

-Adam, Ben, Rosalyn, Carrie and the MoveOn PAC Team

  June 27th, 2005

P.S. These radical Republicans may well attack Casey, Lampson, and Nelson for their support from MoveOn members--in fact, Santorum's website already goes after us. But before they attack, they should consider that we won't be silenced: we'll simply respond by increasing our support for their opponents.

Sources:

1-DeLay: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/11748484.htm

Santorum: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=795841

Harris: http://capwiz.com/chamber/bio/?id=2481&lvl=C&chamber=H

2- http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/11262057.htm

3- http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/05/04/politics/main692908.shtml

As a New Yorker who feels personally insulted and offended by Rove's exploitation of our 9/11 dead, I ask you to PLEASE answer MoveOn's fundraising plea with whatever you can. Think of what message it sends if in answer to Rove and Fox NEws's denegration of MoveOn, MoveOn gets a noticeable boost in fundraising. Plus it is a way to get at DeLay, already falling fast, Santorum, who looks vulnerable, and Katherine Harris, who is partly responsible for Bush's 2000 illegal road to power.

PLEASE help take back America before it is too late!

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