From: "Noah T. Winer, MoveOn.org Political Action"
<[email protected]
Date: March 27, 2008 4:14:58 PM PDT
Subject: Clinton donors threaten Party
Click here to tell Democratic leaders:
"The Democratic nomination
should be decided by the voters—-not by
superdelegates or party high-rollers.
We've given money—-and time—-to
progressive candidates and causes, and
we'll support Speaker Pelosi
and others who stand up for Democracy in
the Democratic Party."
Sign the petition
Dear MoveOn member,
This is pretty outrageous: a group of
Clinton-supporting big
Democratic donors are threatening to
stop supporting Democrats in
Congress because Nancy Pelosi said that
the people, not the
superdelegates, should decide the
Presidential nomination.1
It's the worst kind of insider
politics—billionaires bullying our
elected leaders into ignoring the will
of the voters.
But when we all pool our resources,
together we're stronger than the
fat cats. So let's tell Nancy Pelosi
that if she keeps standing up for
regular Americans, thousands of us will
have her back. And we can more
than match whatever the CEOs and
billionaires refuse to contribute.
Clicking here will add your name to our
statement:
http://pol.moveon.org/democracy/o.pl?id=12391-591932-1Y9MBS&t=273
The statement reads: "The
Democratic nomination should be decided by
the voters—not by superdelegates or
party high-rollers. We've given
money—and time—to progressive candidates
and causes, and we'll support
Speaker Pelosi and others who stand up
for Democracy in the Democratic
Party."
We're launching it today with our
friends at the blog OpenLeft.com.
Our goal is to deliver tens of thousands
of signatures to Nancy Pelosi
and other Democratic leaders later this
week.
A few weeks ago, Speaker Pelosi told ABC
News, "If the votes of the
superdelegates overturn what happened in
the elections, it would be
harmful to the Democratic Party."2
She's right, but Clinton's top fundraisers want her to back
off.
According to the New York Times, their
letter "carries an ominous
tone, which stops just short of
delivering a threat. The donors remind
Ms. Pelosi that they are 'strong
supporters' of the Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee."3
Their language was careful, but
their implied threat was universally
understood. (Roll Call carried
this headline: "Clinton donors threaten Pelosi and
DCCC."4)
They're the old guard, and this is how
the Democratic Party used to
function—the big donors called the
shots. But the small donor
revolution has changed that. The 20
people who signed this letter have
given Democrats an average of $2.4
million per year over the last 10
years.5 Small donations now dwarf
that: In February alone, Obama and
Clinton
raised $47 million in small donations.6
Still, old habits die hard. We need to
send a strong signal that we,
the small donors, will back Democratic
leaders who have the courage to
stand up and do the right thing. Please
sign our statement today.
http://pol.moveon.org/democracy/o.pl?id=12391-591932-1Y9MBS&t=274
Thanks for all you do,
–Noah, Justin, Ilyse, Wes, and the MoveOn.org
Political Action Team
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
Sources:
1. "Clinton Donors Warn on Superdelegate
Fight," New York Times, March
27, 2008.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/27/us/politics/27dems.html
2. Ibid.
3. "Clinton donors ask Pelosi to Back Off,"
New York Times Caucus
Blog, March 26, 2008.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3534&id=12391-591932-1Y9MBS&t=276
4. "Clinton Donors Threaten Pelosi and
DCCC," Roll Call, March 26,
2008.
http://www.rollcall.com/issues/1_1/breakingnews/22683-1.html
5. "Pelosi's hecklers gave $24
million," Politico, March 27, 2008.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3535&id=12391-591932-1Y9MBS&t=278
6. "February Fundraising Frenzy for
Presidential Candidates," Campaign
Finance Institute, March 21, 2008.
http://www.cfinst.org/pr/prRelease.aspx?ReleaseID=187
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