Copied below is the text of part of a message I received today from Nita Chaudhary, of the Political Action Committee of MoveOn.org. This follows by a couple of days an offer of a “free” commemorative sticker, an offer about which I wrote in my last posting. As the reader can see, MoveOn has upped the ante in its bid for funds. Instead of asking readers to “chip in” to the organization when they order their free sticker, they are now indicating that the sticker has been expanded in size into a poster, and that one must send $20 (or more) in order to get the poster.
Dear MoveOn member,
As President-elect Obama (isn’t that still so fun to say?) reminded us in his speech on election night, this victory itself is not the change we seek—it’s a chance to make that change. To win things like clean energy, health care for all Americans, and an end to the war in Iraq, we need to keep fighting alongside Barack Obama.
That’s why we’re launching a massive new campaign to help pass Obama’s progressive agenda.
And to raise the money for that campaign, we’ve decided to offer an amazing Shepard Fairey “Victory” poster to everyone who donates $20 or more. Can you help launch our campaign to back up Obama—and get this beautiful poster to celebrate our win? Click below:
As happens so often when I receive these “messages” from MoveOn, there are questions I would like to ask the organization, especially in this case about the “campaign to back up Obama,” which is the announced purpose of this fund-raising. But of course a “member” of a “grassroots” organization like MoveOn has no opportunity to do this; ours is simply to receive messages and contribute money and spread the word: whatever word MoveOn is giving us to spread. I would ask, if I could, exactly how a campaign on behalf of the causes cited in the letter would be conducted. It couldn’t be to contribute to the campaign funds of an already-elected President and already-elected members of Congress. Are we talking about a lobbying operation here? That might not be a bad idea, though it would go against the campaign rhetoric of Obama that he would be fighting against the influence of “special interests.” But is MoveOn even set up to be a lobbying as opposed to a campaign-raising organization? In its pitch for funds, MoveOn makes a point of having only a “tiny” staff, so that contributions go almost entirely to the causes it is supporting. Is a tiny staff prepared to do lobbying with the many executive and legislative offices with which lobbyists deal? If the staff is going to expand into another K Street lobby operation, aren’t the “members” entitled to know what is going on? Is it my job as a “member” simply to send in the money, get the icons and celebrate the victory by saying over and over “President-elect Obama” (as long as it’s “still fun to say”)
P.S. This just in: still another to chance to celebrate the Obama victory and enrich yet another agency, in this case the Democratic National Committee, which says it is in debt for its expenditures in the late presidential election. In an e-mail today from the DNC, the party asks for a bailout from internet contributors, offering a $30 t-shirt emblazoned with the same kind of “victory” material offered by MoveOn. There seems to be no end to what this celebration is going to cost the Obama fan.
Jerry D. Rose – Editor, The Sun State Activist
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