Subject: Stop corporate judges with a new TV ad. Judges campaign takes off!

From: "Ben Brandzel, MoveOn PAC" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 15:32:07 -0800

Dear MoveOn member,

This was a big week in the struggle for fair judges. Senate
Minority Leader Harry Reid led the Senate Democrats down the Capitol
steps and pledged an all-out war against the Republican plot to break the
Senate and stack the courts with partisan, corporate judges. Thousands of
MoveOn members formed local teams and phoned in 26,692 calls to Senators
across the nation. And hundreds of MoveOn members joined Senator Byrd and
seven other leading senators to rally for fair judges in Washington DC.

It's time to take the battle for fair judges and democracy in the Senate to
the air waves.  The Republican plan calls for Dick Cheney to eliminate a centuries-old rule requiring federal judges to get broad support in the Senate
-- they call his maneuver the "nuclear option."  Moderate Republicans are
nervous, because they know that Cheney's plan assumes that real people won't 
care about Senate rules, and won't pay attention.  And we only need six
Republican votes to win. 

The key to victory is to prove that the public is watching. Together, if we can
raise $250,000 today, we can put our new "Rubber Stamp" TV ad on the
air nation-wide tomorrow--and run radio ads in the home states of moderate 
Republicans who could still go either way. Can you chip in? If just
10,000 of us contribute $25, we can do it.

You can check out the ad and donate securely at:

https://www.moveonpac.org/donate/rubberstamp.html?id=5235-86329-WYZCUPJkNWMOh9IyqQW99w

We've also put up a "thermometer"--so you can see how we're doing on our 
fundraising goal over the course of the day.

This national ad buy is the most visible thrust of a major grassroots
campaign to shift the consensus early on Bush's pro-corporate, ideological 
judicial nominees and the "nuclear option."

Yesterday, we held a rally featuring Senator Byrd, the fiery 87-year-old
Senator from West Virginia who became a progressive hero for his outspoken
stance on the war in Iraq. In a raucous and energetic rally, Senator Byrd
told hundreds of MoveOn members about the Republican outlook on the
courts:

  These instant Constitutional "experts" want to warp the Senate's
  Constitutional purpose with a witch's brew of half-truths, twisted logic
  and vicious attacks on American history. Why? Because they don't like
  the rules. They want to change the rules so they can pack the courts.

  They want to change the rules in the middle of the game to get their own
  way. Who cares about the consequences for the rest of the country? Who
  cares about minority views in a free society?...

  They want the Senate to rubber stamp their judges, just like they wanted
  the Senate to rubber stamp the wrong-headed war in Iraq!

  This is a nation built by God-fearing people who want to preserve
  liberty. The people fear the policies of this White House and its
  judicial nominees. They worry about the $1 billion a week that we spend
  for the war in Iraq. They worry about the ballooning federal deficit.
  People are afraid for their social security. People are afraid for their
  basic rights.

  Are we going to be muzzled by a majority that wants to silence us on all
  of these issues? Delay, deliberation, and debate may be a waste of time
  to some, but it's free speech and the American way to all of us who love
  our country.

It was a high-energy event with a great line-up of progressive leaders.  
Senator Byrd was joined by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, and 
Senators Dick Durbin, Patrick Leahy, Ted Kennedy, Charles Schumer, Barbara 
Boxer, and Hillary Clinton, as well as our friends from the Alliance for 
Justice, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and People for the 
American Way. You can watch highlights from the rally and read Senator Byrd's 
full speech at:

https://www.moveonpac.org/donate/rubberstamp.html?id=5235-86329-WYZCUPJkNWMOh9IyqQW99w

The campaign to save our courts is growing at the grassroots, too.

Almost 350,000 of us have signed our national petition to oppose Bush's 
already-rejected, re-nominated, corporate judges. 

And last week, we launched Operation Democracy--our neighbor-to-neighbor
field network-- with 15,000 members gathering in 1,500 living rooms across
the country to draw up local campaign plans to defend the courts.
Yesterday, those local teams reported that they'd generated 26,692 calls
to Senate offices around the country, and handed out 14,613 flyers to
boot. 

Operation Democracy teams found support in every corner of the country.  Karen, a team 
member in Mobile, Alabama, reported that "It was good to know that the 
young people in Alabama, a very RED state, were very receptive and want 
to make a change."

This kind of grassroots ground swell is the last thing Republicans
expected--they thought they could push the button on the "nuclear option"
and no one would notice. If we can keep up the pressure, we can help turn 
this whole fight around. Can you help send a message to the nation and 
key Republican senators by putting our new TV ad and targeted radio ads 
on the air?

You can donate now at:

https://www.moveonpac.org/donate/rubberstamp.html?id=5235-86329-WYZCUPJkNWMOh9IyqQW99w

Together, the three million of us and our friends in the Leadership
Conference for Civil Rights, People for the American Way, and the Alliance
for Justice--along with dozens of other allied organizations working on 
the environment, labor rights, women's rights, civil liberties and more--are
making a real impact. Thanks for everything you're doing to defend our
democracy and make sure our judges are fair.

Sincerely,

--Ben Brandzel, Eli Pariser, and the MoveOn PAC team
  March 17th, 2005

P.S. By the way, if we're unable to use your contribution for the purpose
you specify, either because of oversubscription or for another unforeseen
reason, it's our policy to use your contribution for other advertising,
public relations, advocacy or organizing activities.

PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC, www.moveonpac.org

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

________________

Subscription Management:
This is a message from MoveOn PAC. To remove yourself (David Harris) from this list, please visit our subscription management page at:
http://moveon.org/s?i=5235-86329-WYZCUPJkNWMOh9IyqQW99w