I see this phrasing more and more, "unapologetic democrat", "up-front liberal". It's interesting to me that these kinds of descriptive words are found to be necessary. . . 
Posted on 06/29/2003 5:45:28 AM PDT by csvset
| BERKELEY (KRON) -- Hundreds of thousands of voters turned out for the first on-line Democratic Presidential primary. And the winner, according to www.moveon.org , is Vermont Senator Howard Dean. Dennis Kucinich and John Kerry were a distant second and third. And the rest each earned 2% of the vote. This vote illustrates the importance of www.moveon.org’s role in the political arena, and a Bay Area woman is behind the website. If this is your idea of life in the political fast lane, you may be in for a surprise. The hottest person in national politics these days may be a woman, sitting at her computer in Berkeley. She is Joan Blades and she runs an organization known as 'move-on'. The primary Move On agenda is a new administration in 2004. Blades is an unabashed Democrat who discovered five years ago she could have a national reach from her living room couch. “I was incredibly surprised originally and now I have this understanding that it's possible for people to do remarkable things online,” she says. What Blades did was go on-line to oppose Republican efforts to impeach and remove President Bill Clinton. She and her husband sent an e-mail petition to a handful of family and friends urging the country to just Move-On. “Our socks were knocked off by having over 100,000 people sign up within a week. And we sent it to under 100 of our friends and family,” Blades says. Those 100,000 have grown to 1.4 million cyber-activists.
And the campaigns have moved from supporting Bill Clinton to opposing the war in Iraq, and lobbying for progressive candidates. In the 2002 elections, move-on members raised more than $4 million, and that has made them the most potent political force on the Internet. “They really are at the cutting edge of the beginning of a new model for how citizens participate in the political process,” says New Democrat Network activist Simon Rosenberg. “Traditionally,” Joan says, “it's been the major donors and the corporations and the pundits that actually make that decision. And we're trying to put some of that decision making power in the hands of average citizens. To do that, Move-On offered nine leading Democratic presidential contenders a chance to compete in an on-line election. < All nine agreed, mainly because winning this cyber-primary could give a candidate a huge leg up early in the process. “There's a potential for huge grass roots support with financial and volunteer for whichever candidate ends up going the full distance,” Blade says. So, for two days this week, the e-polls were open, and when it was over, 317,000 votes had been cast, by computer, on-line. That’s more votes than in the Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries combined. Blades sees in that diversity the chance to revive a democratic party that she believes has forgotten how to lead. The 'move-on' message is when we've seen leaders, our people respond. And we want people to have a vision and lead. And that's what's going to have to happen in this election,” Blades says. With more than a million members, Move On may very well be in a position to make that happen.
Move On isn't endorsing anyone yet since no one won more than 50% of the vote. Another primary will be held in a few months. Whoever eventually get that endorsement could get tens of millions of dollars from Move On's members. (Copyright 2003 KRON 4 News. All Rights Reserved.) |
No Simon, they're years behind the folks here at FR.
From: "Wes Boyd, MoveOn PAC"
Subject: Make the primary real
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003
Dear MoveOn member,
The votes are counted, the exit polls are complete, and the results from the MoveOn primary are in. Over 300,000 MoveOn members have cast votes -- a turnout bigger than the election turnout in many states -- and news outlets from CBS to Reuters have covered the story as it unfolded this week.
The MoveOn primary has allowed hundreds of thousands of ordinary voters to speak at a time when usually only pundits, pollsters, and wealthy donors have influence. Now it's time to put our money where our mouth is. The end of this month -- June 30th -- marks a key deadline for candidate fundraising: candidates will truly sink or swim based on whether they show that they can raise money.
Since no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, we're encouraging everyone to support the candidate they voted for. That's why we've attached a fundraising appeal from Al Sharpton (the candidate who you voted for) below, and that's why we strongly encourage you to give what you can -- from $20 to $2,000 -- TODAY.
You can give to Al Sharpton's campaign online right now at: http://www.al2004.org/contribute.htm
So how did the candidates do? The statistics below are only a part of the picture: perhaps the most significant fact is that virtually all of the candidates would have the enthusiastic support of a majority of MoveOn members. Taking back the primary process for ordinary people is an important goal, but the vote made clear that we're ready to defeat Bush no matter who the Democratic nominee is.
As a result of the primary, well over 100,000 people have joined a presidential campaign or contributed to one. We're already building a movement to defeat Bush in 2004.
Here are the vote totals:
BRAUN 7021 2.21%
DEAN 139360 43.87%
EDWARDS 10146 3.19%
GRAHAM 7113 2.24%
KERRY 49973 15.73%
KUCINICH 76000 23.93%
GEPHARDT 7755 2.44%
LIEBERMAN 6095 1.92%
SHARPTON 1677 0.53%
OTHER 6121 1.93%
UNDECIDED 6378 2.01%
317647 100.00%
The complete results, along with some analysis, are available on our website at:
http://moveon.org/pac/primary/report.html
It's been an amazing week for MoveOn.org PAC. Every Democratic presidential campaign has invested time and energy into the primary. The national news media have covered the process with gravity. Together, we've begun to shift the balance in how these choices get made -- from wealthy benefactors and snarky pundits to ordinary, active citizens. Thank you.
Sincerely,
--Carrie, Eli, Joan, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn Team
June 27th, 2003
P.S. For links to all of the candidates' donation pages, go to:
http://www.moveon.org/pac/cands/
---------------------------- AL SHARPTON'S LETTER
Dear 2004 Democratic Primary Voter,
The 2004 presidential primary election is upon us and I need your financial help. I need your contribution to effectively raise the issues that the average American really cares about and to represent the economic interests of the common man or woman?
I believe my campaign is the best chance to have the issues heard and discussed which most dramatically affect African Americans, other minorities, the average working person, and the less fortunate in this country. The primaries are where Democrats have the broadest and clearest choice. I intend to be the Democratic nominee, but even if I’m not, I still need enough financial support to put a strong human rights agenda before the American people.
In 2004, we have a chance and a choice to have important issues put squarely on the national agenda. I have a track record as a fighter and I’ve been on the firing line for a long time. I bare a knife scar in my chest, as well as the spiritual and emotional bruises of the many battles in which I have successfully engaged - from fighting against police brutality to fighting for economic justice.
I have a 10-point platform on my website (http://www.al2004.org) representing grassroots needs. It addresses the fact that there’s NO AFFIRMATIVE RIGHT TO VOTE in the U.S. Constitution – if there had been, Al Gore, instead of George Bush, would be President. The Constitution also contains no RIGHT to health care, and no RIGHT to an education of equal high quality. I argue that if Charlton Heston can believe that the 2nd Amendment gives all Americans an individual RIGHT to a gun, we can believe that all Americans deserve an individual RIGHT to vote, to a good education and to health care in the Constitution. Fighting to advance the idea of putting these RIGHTS in the Constitution as new amendments not only appeals to African Americans, but to a much broader American constituency who has similar needs. My campaign can contribute to building "a more perfect Union."
I can only represent the average American and these ideas well, put a professional campaign organization together, and get my message out if I have enough financial support to do so. That’s why I’m appealing to you to contribute the maximum you can with a personal check – no business, labor or church checks allowed. There’s a $2,000 limit, but all contributions up to $250 are matched dollar-for-dollar by federal matching funds – that is, a $100 contribution is actually a $200 contribution; a $250 contribution is really $500; a $2,000 contribution amounts to $2,250. To get the match, you will need to include your name, full address, telephone number, occupation and employer for FEC purposes.
I thank you in advance for your financial support. If you know others willing to contribute, please urge them to do so. It will be a good investment in our future.
Sincerely,
Reverend Al Sharpton
You can contribute online at:
http://www.al2004.org/contribute.htm
---
Paid for by MOVEON.ORG PAC, P.O. Box 9218, Berkeley, CA 94709. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. Website: www.moveonpac.org.
I'm sure the results were very scientific with a very small margin of error. No one would ever want to corrupt an e-poll.
MoveOn.org, meanwhile, has leveraged the Internet to create an organization with the ability and credibility to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was originally set up in 1998 by two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who believed the impeachment of Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal was damaging the political process. Joan Blades and her husband, Wes Boyd, thought it was time to “move on” from the scandal and established the site as a way of reaching people with similar views who would help them coordinate protests and send their views to politicians and the media.
During the impeachment row, MoveOn.org generated more than a million e-mails and 250,000 phone calls to Congress. After Sept. 11, the Web site became involved with peace causes, and as the likelihood of war with Iraq heightened last fall, MoveOn.org’s database of supporters expanded. Using the estimated $15 million raised from backers, MoveOn.org went on the offensive with a series of antiwar commercials launched during the Super Bowl broadcast in late January. The ads, one of them featuring actor-activist Martin Sheen of “West Wing” fame, urge President George W. Bush to “let the inspections work.”
Knew Bubba was involved here somewhere.
Who pays for MoveOn?
Initial funding for MoveOn was provided by Joan Blades and Wes Boyd. We have also received generous contributions from many other individuals. Because MoveOn.org has only a tiny staff, our costs are very low. You can support our work with a secure online contribution. Almost all of our funding comes through these donations from people like you. Our charitable activities are supported in part by grants from the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund, the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation, the Iraq Peace Fund, and anonymous donors. Fiscal sponsorship is provided by the San Francisco Foundation Community Initiative Funds, a tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Now if they're a non-profit they can have a PAC that makes political contribtions? And who are the anonymous donors? And what percentage of their money comes from anonymous donors? Sounds hinky to me.
I see this phrasing more and more, "unapologetic democrat", "up-front liberal". It's interesting to me that these kinds of descriptive words are found to be necessary. . .
That I really don't know. I'm sure that someone here on FR knows the answer to that.
Apparently being informed is not a requirement for journalists these days.
In case any MO's or DU's are monitoring this thread, Dean previously served in the Vermont House from 1982 to 1986.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.