The Future of MoveOn

[The Straight Story]

The Future of MoveOn: By RANDY SHAW
NEWS COMMENTARY (11-30-04)

My wife and I hosted one of the over 1,600 house meetings held Sunday night to chart the future of MoveOn PAC. The tightly structured event asked participants to select their top issue and strategy for the next two to four years, but left no time for the larger questions about how people can get involved in grassroots activism in between elections or how the group should prioritize its funds.

Should MoveOn PAC return to primarily relating to its members as donors, or can the organization become a national network of grassroots groups for the college-educated middle class that comprise most of its membership?

Created as an Internet strategy to build opposition to President Clinton’s impeachment, MoveOn.org and its Political Action Committee have become two of the great political successes of the past decade. MoveOn enrolled tens of thousands in e-mail action campaigns, joined with the Howard Dean campaign in waging the first aggressive attacks against President Bush, and ran anti-war and economic issue ads that were consistently brilliant and strategic.

In 2004, MoveOn Pac transformed itself from a group that raised money for hard-hitting newspaper ads and television commercials to an entity that also funded political organizing. The MoveOn PAC harnessed its grassroots base for phoning and door-knocking in swing states, joining ACT and ACORN as the key 527 groups that galvanized record Democratic voter turnout.

http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=11-30-04&storyID=20195

[NVMojo]

1. well, let's see ...I thought they were about more than just the election

I thought they cared that US citizens were being sent to Iraq to kill innocent people ...that liars control our federal government ...that privacy is disappearing ...the list goes on. Don't they still want to fight? Cuz the fight ain't over unless we all just lay down and play dead or become Repukes.

[boi1946]

2. I think they should continue---

don't see why we are not trying to use MoveOn to "educate" the ignorant about VoterGate right now---if nothing else, running a commercial asking "Did your vote count?" with a few of the most glaring and well-documented stats from Ohio or Florida, or testimony from some of the people at the Ohio hearings. Then we could start on the Patriot Act!

[Nordic]

3. I was just thinking the same thing earlier today

Why not run commercials all the time?

We certainly need to.

Nobody else is telling the truth about America.

Why wait for another election?

[jamboi]

4. Absolutely. Run Ads and campaign all the time, not just during elections.

We need progressive voices in the media, all the time. Fox news is out there day in and day out. I posted a topic about this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=203&topic_id=75640

[GensPrimoris]

5. URGENT: Virtual action on MoveOn site today, 12/4, at 9 am Pacific Time

People:

Read below for info on a virtual action today at 9 am to get Move On to do the right thing. Tell others. In a hurry? Just read steps 1 through 5.

This has been organized by the Voting Integrity Project (http://usvip.org /). Join. Together we can make MoveOn's "Great Goals..." idea becomes MoveOn's "Great Actions..."

Dear Friends,

Do you have any "reasonable doubt" about the integrity of the 2004 election? Do you feel that irregularities, suppression or manipulation may have affected the outcome?

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

The US General Accountability Office is now investigating more than 57,000 irregularities, and there are re-counts underway in Ohio and New Hampshire. Two lawsuits have been filed in Florida.

On Saturday morning, a group of concerned citizens, organized under the banner USVIP (Voting Integrity Project) will be posting a "great idea" on the MoveOn Action Forum. Under the heading Count Every Vote - Act Now!, we will urge MoveOn to mobilize their membership (us!) to demand an immediate independent investigation of the 2004 U.S. Presidential election; including the recounts in Ohio and New Hampshire.

For this action to be successful, it must be read by the greatest number of MoveOn members possible. For that to happen, we need your help in keeping it near the front of the line of "great ideas." To do that, we want you to select "agree" and give it a 5-star rating and urge your friends and associates to do the same.

Timing is critical. New ideas are posted regularly and each goes briefly to the top of the "recent comments" list. The number of votes determines which stay near the top of the pile and are more likely to be read. That's why we need everyone to vote for this action soon after we post it. We will post at a scheduled time and ask that you take action as soon after that as you can. The longer you wait, the further back a new "great idea" can fall in the queue, requiring you to take more time to look for it.

We plan to post Count Every Vote - Act Now! on Saturday, December 4th at 9:00AM PST (12:00 EST). If you are not already familiar with the MoveOn Action Forum, look at it today so you understand the process. Print or save these 5 easy steps for your convenience on Saturday.

Step 1: Go online to: www.MoveOn.org .

Step 2: Scroll down to the bottom of the home page to "Other Ways to Help." Go to the 3rd item listed there, called "Speak Out," and click on "great goals for our nation."

Step 3: Scroll down past the first 5 items listed under "Top Comments On" to the 2nd section of comments listed under "Recent Comments On." In the "Recent Comments" section look for: "Count Every Vote - Act Now!" (You may need to select for the "next 5" comments in order to find us, i.e., Count Every Vote - Act Now!

Step 4: Vote to agree with the action item and give it an importance rating of 5 stars.

Step 5: After voting, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the "Submit My Ratings" button.

On Friday, we will send an action reminder notice to everyone who has signed up on http://usvip.org / (U.S. Voting Integrity Project). We appreciate you forwarding the reminder message to your email lists. Ask them to register directly at http://usvip.org / (Voting Integrity Project.) The link is in the upper right-hand corner and
reads: "Join Us - Help Defend Democracy!" While you're there, we hope you will bookmark USVIP.org

Thank you for taking this action to protect democracy! Your involvement will make a difference. Your vote counts and now we need to make certain our votes are counted!

Sincerely,

U.S. Voting Integrity Project

[GensPrimoris]

6. Virtual action on MoveOn site: You can Act Now

Up at www.usvip.org:

"Our post is up on MoveOn.

You need to log in on the forum at MoveOn and then cut/paste this address into the URL field:
http://www.actionforum.com/forum/index.html?forum_id=264

You'll see our post there - COUNT EVERY VOTE - ACT NOW! Rate it as 5 stars, then scroll down and hit the SUBMIT button.

We are trying to figure it all out. We will send an update to all members as soon as we do.

Thanks for voting! And thanks for your patience."

Go Vote.

[newyawker99]

7. Hi GensPrimoris!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[GensPrimoris]

8. I thank you

and cheers to you!

I think real reaching is out what it's going to take to get our country where we know it can be. With just over a month since the election, I am heartened by what I see as involvement and commitment on the part of others like me. Others like all of you.

Thank you.

Check out http://usvip.org

[Bucky]

9. Our MoveOn meeting in Houston is turning into an ongoing Dem group

We were mostly strangers who came together--and important object lesson in just how big this country is. MoveOn-ish type Democrats from mostly, the central area of just one city came to three different meetings and hardly any of us knew each other.

So the group I was in decided that we would go on having monthly meetings and see what we could do to stay active locally. Hell, we even got a blog going on, now (but just as a means of communicating with each other--not something that a casual reader would find interesting unless they wanted to join up).