Lewis pledges $12 million to oust Bush for presidential race

[leQ]

i wonder if lewis should fear getting arrested or raided like soros.

Washington- Peter B. Lewis, the Cleveland-based insurance billionaire and philanthropist, has pledged more than $12 million to try to oust President Bush from the White House.

Well known for his monetary gifts to Case Western Reserve University, Princeton University and elsewhere, Lewis has been providing money recently to liberal organizations that operate independently of the Democratic Party.

The groups - MoveOn.org and Americans Coming Together - will try to motivate people to register and vote, using newspaper ads, television and radio commercials, e-mail, and public appearances to make their case.

They say that Bush misled the nation on the need to attack Iraq and they've criticized him on the economy and other policies.

"One of the major themes is highlighting the difference between what the administration says and what it does," said Wes Boyd, founder of MoveOn and its MoveOn Voter Fund.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/106863320599611.xml">The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

[pfitz59]

1. First Soros, then Lewis... Who's next?

Turner? Case? Gates? Doubt any of the Waltons will contribute. Glad to see wealth moving to the lighter side!

[madrchsod]

2. mr lewis

also believes pot should be decrimnalized. he`s a very interesting man,i`m glad to see another billionaire against bush....

[KoKo]

3. This is very interesting. Notice he gives to organizations operating

independently of the Democratic Party. Maybe he was against the Iraq War Resolution and frustrated with congress like some of us....but will do anything to get a Democrat elected.

This means a grassroots movement is defintely forming outside the traditional party that's more activist than DNC/DLC.

Good News!

[Frodo]

4. He didn't have a choice.

He can't legally give that much to the party.

Welcome to the world after Campaign Finance "reform".

[xxqqqzme]

28. MoveOn has become our

third party, whether they acknowledge it or not. This occurred 2 me on Sunday while watching Gore's speech....2nd one sponsored by MoveOn...MoveOn can mobilize thousands of people w/ a single e-mail....MoveOn getting media coverage...and their credibility is pristine.

MoveOn needs to tackle touch mascreens. I'm certain they can find a fresh way 2 attack the problem. Maybe Gore's next speech?

[Flying_Pig]

5. This is fantastic. It appears we won't have much problem beating

Bush's $200+ million war chest. Unlike the 2000 election, this time there is passion. Liberals are finally picking up the sword, and it appears we are going to givethe Repugs a taste of their own medicine!!

YaY!!

[Gin]

6. There is a "SILENT MAJORITY" and slowly but surely we will oust that

dimwit from the white house. Sayonara shrub!

[0rganism]

33. Indeed, the GOP's "warchest" suddenly doesn't seem so insurmountable

And MoveOn is operating on congressional elections as well. This could turn 2004 into a watershed year for Dems, maybe even a reverse of 1994?

[sleipnir]

7. Think this is Big??

Just wait until the international donations roll in. There are thousands of very rich people around the globe who hate Bush and want to get rid of him. It's going to be a global election, with many people giving to Moveon.org and the like, since they can't contribute to a party. I see that billions will pour in to support the Dem nominee!!!

[Beetwasher]

9. Move On Has Become A MAJOR Player

In a very short amount of time. Very impressive.

[MessiahRp]

20. I agree

Wes Boyd and the boys at MoveOn have absolutely done a great job getting donors and getting people involved. I myself have been signing petitions and writing letters for them and they may be the next best thing to the conscience the DNC doesn't have. :)

Rp

[hippiegranny]

36. i am extremely impressed with moveon

i am donating to their latest drive for ad placememt and p.r. projects. here is a sample of the email i got:
>Your gift won't just help run ads. In the next week, we'll also be launching a great new PR campaign to make sure the ads' message gets free news coverage all across the country. We'll do this the MoveOn way -- engaging hundreds of local volunteers to hold press conferences and talk to reporters about the effect of President Bush's policies in our communities.

Together, we're changing the way politics works.

[Occulus]

10. Oh, wouldn't it be a stunner

if the Dem campaign ended up with, say, half a billion overnight?

[joeunderdog]

23. I agree wholeheartedly. Europe and Asia hate the Chimp.

They are raising tarrifs on American imports, are Boycotting American goods and are making their feelings know to the Big Business dancing partners accross the pond(s). Ask someone who does (did) business overseas. Europe and Asia and are going to make it as much of a foreign policy nightmare for businesses as it is for the Armed ServicePeople. They will rally their resources to oust the Man Who Wants to Rule the World.

[Beetwasher]

8. Making Sure the Dems Don't Have A Knife At A Gun Fight

Bring it!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

11. wow lots of big money rolling in to Liberal orgs..200 million to NPR

12 million from soros and 12 million from lewis...lots of people pissed atg bushco*

[Timefortruth]

24. NPR is simply not liberal.

The freepers say it is because it reports both sides, but it just isn't liberal in fact they have been slanting to the right lately. I wish it were, it would be nice to level the playing field. In fact I didn't contribute at the last fund drive because they have been covering lies as if they are the truth, they try so hard to be mainstream that they compromised their integrity.

[joeunderdog]

25. This is a backlash against Bush for overplaying his hand.

He lit a fire under the asses that haven't been off the couch in decades. If he'd've quit while he was ahead, offered token concessions, pretended he cared...maybe people could've kept their heads in the sand til after the election.

But no. He had to offend every group, vote his arrogance and become engulfed in his own ego. Hope he doesn't change a thing. People really do see him for what he is...THE WORST PRESIDENT EVER.

[TheBlob]

12. Link doesn't work n/t

[TahitiNut]

29. See below

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/106863320599611.xml

[0007]

13. At first I thought of Jerry Lewis, the comic.

Wish Jerry Lewis would get on the tube and rattle the cage of Americans, especially the ones that have lost jobs and money to Enron and the families that have lost love ones un-necessarily in Iraq.

paging Mr. Lewis, paging Mr. Jerry lewis

[TheBlob]

16. Ain't gonna happen

Jerry Lewis has been defending the "President" from left wing attacks for some time.
Sure he still loves JFK, but his core fan base is Conservative these days.

[eissa]

14. This CAN be worrisome

Did anyone catch Wolf Blitzer yesterday talking with a democratic strategist (sorry, forgot her name). He was grilling her about the Soros donation and asking what the difference was from shrub getting all the big money. He then asked her to name just one person from the right-wing who has the kind of money Soros has and will be donating to the repukes. She responded by saying that most of the contributors to the repuke party are in big money, but didn't mention any names. She should have said Scaife.

[Kurovski]

32. on MSNBC's Capitol Report Mssr. Scaife was mentioned Re: this issue

by Gloria Borger (izzat her name?)

if you haven't seen Capitol Report lately, check it out. It actually is pretty balanced and they sometimes ask tough questions.

[TheDonkey]

34. I love capital report.

Sometimes the hosts go whore on us, and the CEO of NBS appears to spout rethuglican talking points but usually it's pretty balanced and informative.

I believe you meen CNBC's Capital Report but it might be on MSRNC as well.

[realFedUp]

15. Nothing sexier than a rich liberal Democrat

If I get married again...I want one of these. :-)

[Entente]

17. Yay!!!

Look what Soros started: The Revolution!

[DemonFighterLives]

18. Starting to feel a little hope

The link didn't work for me either.
http://www.cleveland.com/politics/index.ssf?/base/ispol/1068643832310520.xml
Great news.

[CBHagman]

19. Look for 'cans and various media types to spin this.

Bush lives in a cocoon and has personally enriched himself while screwing up badly in business and government, and yet the RW pundits and the compliant media types will spin this as elites trying to buy an election. I'll be very astonished if I don't hear drivel like that by this weekend. I fully expect Howard Kurtz to be especially disingenuous on this.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

21. Of course Howie "Ho" will be spinning this!

Is there a day when his head isn't up Bush's Lilly White Back End!

[Noordam]

22. COME ON DOWN Ted

we need your Billions too.......... Oh, take back CNN too.... :evilgrin:

[MostlyBlackCat2]

26. WORKING LINK PLEASE??

I realize that most people don't care if they have a link to the whole story, (wiping sarcasm off dripping screen) but can we have a working link please? thanks.

[TahitiNut]

27. Here's the link (leQ didn't edit [link] URL)

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/106863320599611.xml

[Pastiche423]

30. Working link

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/106863320599611.xml

On edit: "So far this year, he has made contributions of $1,000 to Democrat Eric Fingerhut's U.S. Senate campaign and $1,000 to Howard Dean's quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, records show."

Happy B'day, My. Lewis!

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

31. This is SOOOOO Cool!

It's fun watching all the repugs moan and groan and whine "It's not fair." while Dubya and Cheney are jetting all over the country with an staff of god-knows-how-many staffers & MIB's collecting what's expected to be a quarter BILLION dollars.

[radfringe]

35. I can hear the crying on the right

First off the reich-wing is going to scream "Democrats are taking 'special interest' money"

and next there will be a gazillion reich-wing bills flying through Congress regarding campaign finance reform that will be tilted and spun that will allow repugs to accept "money" but not Dems