MoveOn.org's Godfather Tactics

Dear MoveOn member,

$3,578,117!

That's how much progressives pledged this week to fund primary challenges against any Democratic senator who blocks an up-or-down vote on health care reform with a public option.

It's a huge sum, and the clearest signal yet that any Democrat who helps Republicans filibuster health care reform will face an enormous backlash from the grassroots.

Here's another way to make sure conservatives think twice before joining with Republicans: Many of these senators hold coveted committee chairmanships that give them significant power within the Senate.

Our friends at Democracy for America have launched an open letter urging Senate Democrats to strip committee chairmanship from any Democrat who filibusters health care. Will you join in? Clicking below adds your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/norewards/o.pl?id=17815-17182837-6INyX.x&t=3

The message of the letter is simple. It says, "If ANY member of the Democratic Caucus joins a Republican filibuster of health care reform with a public option, the Caucus must immediately strip that Senator of all Committee Chairmanships."

In the Senate, the majority caucus has control over who chairs committees. Committee chairmanships are highly coveted because the chairperson has a lot of power over which bills get considered and what's in them.


But chairing a committee is a privilege, not a right. So if a member of the Democratic Caucus joins with Republicans on the most important vote in a generation, then they certainly don't deserve a position of power controlled by Democrats. The Democratic Caucus needs to make that clear to its members.

The fact that 66,000 MoveOn and Democracy for America members pledged more than $3.5 million to a primary challenge makes clear just how angry they'd be with any Democrat who helps Republicans doom health care reform. But as conservative Democrats decide what they're going to do, they should know that it's not just the grassroots they'd have to worry about if they filibuster, but also their colleagues.

Can you sign the open letter to the Democratic Caucus? Clicking below will add your name.

http://pol.moveon.org/norewards/o.pl?id=17815-17182837-6INyX.x&t=4

Thanks for all you do.

–Justin, Laura, Kat, Daniel, and the rest of the team

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I didn't know Don Corleone was advising moveon.org. Obviously I didn't add my name to the letter but I figured you'd all like to read this one.

"It's a huge sum, and the clearest signal yet that any Democrat who helps Republicans filibuster health care reform will face an enormous backlash from the grassroots."

I think that after the recent elections where 2 out of 3 major races were lost by the Liberals, Conservative Democrats, (yes, they do exist), are a little more worried about this grassroots movement.

Great job raising your $3,578,117 MoveOn.org but anyone can send a $54.21 check to you, (that's the average given by the 66,000 members), and claim they represent the country.

However, real grassroots shows when thousands of people attend town hall meetings to voice their concerns to representatives. It shows when thousands attend tea parties to show discontent with government. It shows with D.C. rallies and protests. It shows when the President's approval rating drops 15 points in 9 months, and it showed last Tuesday when voters turned against the "progressives".

The fact that New Jersey went Republican even though Obama repeatedly campaigned for Corzine and he lost is huge. New Jersey is a Liberal state that voted for Obama yet the Liberals lost. The president and company can pretend it means nothing all he likes if it puts a smile in front of the camera but I think he's too smart to see what's happening and not think it matters.

2010 will be the real test of Obama's agenda and the "progressive" agenda in general. Many seats are up for grabs in 2010 and if we see a repeat of '94 then perhaps the Liberals will start to pay attention.

The "progressives" have pushed us far enough......

all of the tea parties etc. have scared them into calling us extremist for one simple reason......

they are seeing how strong our conservative message can be, and they are realizing how powerful the Conservatives can be when we push back.

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By the way I know it's been awhile since there's been anything new on this blog and I apologize for that. We have families too. Besides, even a political junkie like me needs a brain break for the sake of sanity once in awhile.

As always thanks for reading and following this blog. It helps to know there are those of you out there who support what we do here at he counted wrong.