MoveOn Rally Saturday October 30th with President Al Gore!!!! - Denver

[Hawkeye-X]

This Saturday, join former Vice President Al Gore and hundreds of other MoveOn members for one last huge rally before November 2nd. The election is the greatest challenge we've taken on together, and this rally will be the greatest gathering of MoveOn members yet. Tens of thousands of volunteers will be traveling from safe states to join us in our neighborhoods nation-wide for this grand finale. Can you come to the rally this Saturday?


Sign Up


In Philadelphia, hundreds of volunteers rally before going out to talk to voters.

Dear MoveOn member,
We've held house parties, bake sales, and town hall meetings. And every time MoveOn members get together, we have a great time. This Saturday, former Vice President Al Gore will join us in Denver for one last huge rally before November 2nd. The election is the greatest challenge we've taken on together, and this rally will be the greatest gathering of MoveOn members yet.

Tens of thousands of volunteers will be traveling from safe states to join us in our neighborhoods for this grand finale. We'll hear from former Vice President Gore and local MoveOn organizers who will lay out how we're going to win this election, then you can join us in reaching out to voters right afterward.

Can you and your friends and family join the rally this Saturday? Sign up for free tickets at:

http://www.moveonpac.org/rallies/denver/

If you've been meaning to get involved with this election effort and haven't found the time, this is how you can plug in. Bring your friends, your family, your dog -- anyone and everyone!

This election is going to come down to turnout. Fortunately, we've got a plan. After we get energized at the rally, we'll go out and talk to voters in the area. We're not looking to argue with anyone. Mostly, we'll talk with friendly Kerry supporters who need encouragement -- or a ride -- to get to the polls.

Get free tickets for the rally, at:

http://www.moveonpac.org/rallies/denver/

Momentum wins political races. Right now, we have the momentum and we aim to keep it that way. Join us as we look ahead to the election on Tuesday. After you sign up, here's another way to keep the momentum: print and display our new "Give Bush the Boot!" poster in your car or home window. Download the poster at:

http://www.moveonpac.org/lnvb/poster/

Thank you, for all you do.

Sincerely,

--Adam, Eli, Hannah, James, Laura, and the whole MoveOn PAC Team
Thursday, October 29th, 2004

P.S. Leave No Voter Behind is getting great press. Check out this op-ed from Detroit, Michigan:

Person-to-person lobbying makes U.S. politics special
Special to The Detroit News, October 22, 2004

Lana Pollack

The phone rang at 9:02 Sunday morning. The friendly caller from moveon.org knew she had to wait until 9 o'clock before starting.

"Would you be the precinct captain in your township?," she asked after explaining the importance of getting out the vote on Election Day. "We've already lined up some volunteers and we'll train you."

To her, I was a name on a list. To me, her call was a flash from the past and a reminder of the best characteristic of our democracy. ...

While fundraising for political ads has taken center stage in way too many races, old-fashioned person-to-person retail politics has never been fully eclipsed.

This year amid the cacophony of ill-tempered charges and countercharges, there's been a refreshing grassroots resurgence. With millions of voters wired into the Internet, political groups of all stripes have discovered innovative ways to inspire small contributions from first-time donors, recruit new volunteers and hype their version of truth without the filter of a single news organization.

Computer-generated printouts have replaced the 1968 recipe box full of 3 x 5 index cards with voter names and addresses, but the essentials of personal campaigning are timeless: Recruit help, call on voters and tell them why you believe your candidate will best serve them, their families and America - then listen while they tell you about their concerns and political preferences.

You contact those who are friendly to your candidates again on Election Day. The rest you leave to fate or your opposition.

Every volunteer willing to knock on a stranger's door to talk about politics or dial a phone number for an unknown person demonstrates amazing commitment and remarkable confidence. No one wants to be intrusive or enjoys being insulted. People who do this care a lot about our country. ...

http://www.moveon.org/r?r=619

PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC www.moveonpac.org
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

[Kanary]

1. I'd like to participate, but moveon is so behind the times, they ask for

personal info on an INSECURE SITE!!

Unbelievable, in this day and age!

As a woman living alone, there are risks I can't take, and moveon needs to get with the times.... it's really not that hard.

This is NOT an invitation for another DU-type attack..... this is an obvious oversight on the part of moveon, and needs attention.

If you are a member, please get them to pay attention to this.

Kanary

[Hawkeye-X]

2. I've got my tickets, and I'll be there with my wife!!

See y'all tomorrow! Kanary - who CARES about insecurity at this point. It's our democracy that's in the balance. Stop being SO goddamned anal about it.

Hawkeye-X

[Kanary]

3. Thank you so very much for caring about *my* security.

That is such a good example of the ugliness rampant with the DEMs right now.

So, when some idiot gets my address because of the carelessness of moveon, and breaks in and maybe attacks me and leaves me for dead, you won't give one shit, right?

Thanks.

You've made me quite aware of just how REALLY caring this party is.

Fuck it all.

and for you, buhbye...

Kanary

[m berst]

5. who cares??

"who CARES about insecurity at this point"

Best wishes HawkeyeX and I hope you and your wife have a good time.

I have heard a lot of "not now" and "this is the wrong time" and "who cares about that stuff now" talk anytime anyone tries to express a concern - usually a concern that should, and at one time WAS core to what it meant to be a Democrat and a liberal. Sure we are a couple of days away from an election, but I can show you dozens and dozens of quotes that express this same "go away" sentiment starting back the night of the Iowa primary.

I don't mean to pick on you personally here, but I would like you to consider what I am saying. Why is a single woman expressing her concern about privacy and security described as "anal" and given a "who cares" sneer? Anal suggests petty and irrelevant. A single woman's concern for safety and security is not petty and is not irrelevant. Beyond the purely personal, I believe that there is a chronic disregard for the poor, the marginal, the vulnerable and the disenfranchised in this country that is epitomized by some of the attitudes and actions of moveon.org and other progressive organizations that are dominated by people who refuse to see their own biases and prejudices in their frantic effort to ascribe all evil to "them" - the "fundies" the "freepers" and whatever other malignant and derogatory label we can come up with for the other half of the country who through ignorance or hatred votes Republican. To be hateful in the cause of fighting hate is the reason why people are turned off by politics.

The mad and frantic rush to "win" by the better off among us who have completely hijacked the agenda of the Democratic party is what is at issue here. Many people cannot participate in these events - the very people for whom we should have the most compassion, not the least - and many, many others do not because of the subtle, and in this case not so subtle "get lost, loser" message they get when they try.

The particular person you just contemptuously blew off does not matter to you much I suppose, but the problem is that there are millions out there whom you also blew off, and to do that is detrimental to the Democratic party and it contributes to the hatred and anger that feeds the fascist agenda of the opposition, as well.

If "winning" requires dismissing and ridiculing the concerns of the more vulnerable or less fortunate among us who won't get on the rah-rah program, what does the win really mean?

Excerpt from a speech by Jesse Jackson a few years ago ...

Not very long ago I was in South Carolina speaking to a small school. I saw a strange and unusual sight. I saw a 6-foot-8 athlete walking across the campus holding the hand of a 3-foot dwarf. There was this contrast.

She was looking up and he was looking down.

They got to where the sidewalks crossed and she jumped up on the bench and they embraced and kissed. And he gave her books, she went skipping down the sidewalk.

I tried to act normal but it looked funny to me.

I said to my companion, (the president of the school) "what am I looking at?"

He said, "I thought you would ask. You see, that is his sister, as a matter of fact it is his twin sister. By some freak of genetics, he came out a giant, she came out dwarfed. He's a top athlete in this state. We couldn't afford to get him. All the big schools offered him scholarships. The pros offered him a contract. But he said I can only go to the college where my sister can get a scholarship. The NCAA said, 'But we can't give two scholarships. We have bright lights. We have pro possibilities.'"

He said, "But if my sister can't go, I can't go."

Somewhere that young boy learned something about ethics, about real caring, about real character.

If my sister can't go, I can't go.

All of us are not born giants, with silver spoons in our mouths and gold slippers on our feet. Some of us are born short, short of hope, short of opportunity, abandoned, neglected, homeless, motherless, teeth crooked, eyes mangled, genes busted.

But somebody has to measure their giantness not by reaching up but by reaching out and caring and sharing.

Democrats, if we pursue that ethic, that love ethic, that care ethic, we will win. We will win and deserve to win. Keep hope. Never surrender. Keep hope alive.

[Kanary]

6. "If my sister can't go, I can't go"

What a beautiful story! Thank you so much for posting that. If we all lived by that maxim, what a much different world we would have!

The deep irony here is the last few months has been a concerted push to get women to vote, as the women's vote was recognized as crucial to the Democratic aims. Yet, here is a very clear indication that it's all a sham...... "We want your vote, but we want you to get the hell out of our faces". No wonder so many women haven't voted! It's this very disdain that has turned them off. Women know the difference between being used, and being actually invited into the party.

This very contempt is sealing the fate of the party. Not only many at DU have said very openly that after the election they're seaching for a third party -- this is the last chance! --, but everyone I know locally is saying the same thing. We've had too many years of being treated like shit.

My elderly neighbor, a lifelong Dem, dropped out of the party a few years back for this very reason! As I've worked on campaigns this year, I've heard more and more people tell me the very same thing. What is it going to take to get it across that you don't use guilt and harrangue people to "GET OUT THE VOTE", you treat them as you want to be treated, and welcome them into the party, and address their concerns??? Will it ever occur to the Dems that a big part of the problem is their own selves? The media doesn't pose NEARLY as much of an obstacle to the party as this kind of shit does.

I have kept copies of some of these ugly and contemptuous dismissals I've seen here at DU, and this one will be added to my collection. When people ask why the Dems have become so weakened, I will pull out these samples, so they can see for themselves. ANd, you can be sure I will show this to those at the Dem office who want to strengthen the party. It's time to confront this shit for what it is.

As for me, this was my turning point. This was the one straw too many. I've already voted, so come Monday, I change my registration and get the hell out of this ugly party. I will also be writing to Gore and showing him exactly why so many have given up. From what I understand, they couldn't get rid of all the tickets, so he might be wondering why he wasn't speaking to a full house. He might find this of interest.

Thanks again for your kind words. It shouldn't have ever been necessary, but it's much appreciated.

Kanary

[haydukelives]

4. I'll be there

Looking foward to it.