Date: Tue, 11 May 2004 From: Eli Pariser, MoveOn.org Political Action Subject: Help us build on Saturday's huge success.
Together, we did something remarkable on Saturday. Working with a coalition of grassroots groups, we registered tens of thousands of voters and made over 300,000 phone calls in a single afternoon. In Philadelphia, a huge crowd gathered to see speakers before fanning out across the city to register voters. In Seattle, WA and Reno, NV and Lewiston, ME and 90 other cities in all 17 of the key "battleground" states, 7,500 folks walked door-to-door, talking to their neighbors and registering tens of thousands of them to vote. And at more than a thousand phone banking parties, MoveOn members made more than 300,000 phone calls to swing state voters in a single afternoon -- a staggering and wholly unprecedented feat. And Saturday was just the beginning. Over the coming weeks and months, we're going to build a field campaign that will help MoveOn members across the country register and mobilize voters every day between now and Nov. 2nd. Professionals often spend $8 or more per registered voter, but for $50, we can help MoveOn members contact 325 voters and register 65 of them. Can you help us raise $1 million to start hiring local organizers and build on our tremendous success on Saturday?
Please contribute now at: This is the first time we will have MoveOn staff on the ground. They'll work in some of the most important states for the election, contacting and training MoveOn members for election work and acting as a local point of contact. Together, we're demonstrating that we can turn our passion -- our hopes and dreams for a better country -- into effective work on the ground that will win the election. It's also good news for democracy: after decades of TV-driven campaigning, people are starting to talk to each other again about the issues that affect us all. The reports from the events, organized together with our partners at America Votes and America Coming Together, are great. You can get a sense of how invigorating this work is by checking out some of the comments people sent us about their get-out-the-vote experiences:
"The third door we knocked on was opened by a man who, after listening for 5 seconds said, 'I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been! Thank you so much for doing this!' Wow, what a high!" -- Leo and Sue, Seattle, WA "The best part for me was the camaraderie. It honestly felt like, for a day at least, we were able to pull back a dark cloth that has hung over America since 911. The one that keeps us quiet and isolated and afraid. Taking action with others who share the spirit of progressive politics felt damn good." -- Alan, Championsgate, FL "A woman sitting with her two sons in a barber shop wasn't interested in registering. I talked about her sons' future, the policies that affected their education, their potential military service when they get older. Nothing worked. Then the barber got on her. 'Why aren't you registered? What's wrong with you? This is our community?' That did it. She registered and promised to vote. Biggest success." -- Doff, Philadelphia, PA And the phone banking parties were just as exciting:
"[The best part was] seeing many people who were nervous to make calls at the beginning leave the party with big smiles, saying how much fun it was. It's phenomenal how much 30 people can accomplish in one afternoon!" -- Jessica, San Francisco, CA "Our party was in Central Park. The best part was when unaffiliated passersby decided to join us; one jogger ran home to get her cell phone and came back for the entire afternoon. Lots of people said they would participate next time." -- John, New York, NY "It is hard to say my favorite moment. Seeing all those wonderful strangers enter my home and then work so beautifully together for this common cause was absolutely thrilling for me. And when unanimously everyone wanted to continue together as a group and keep meeting to make the calls." -- Joanie, New York, NY "We were scattered all over the deck, and inside the house. When someone got an enthusiastic response, they would cheer letting us all know we had a winner. . . . Some callers thought we should have monthly calling parties." -- Thomas, Santa Rosa, CA "It was particularly nice that most [attendees] described themselves as people who had not been politically active before. I hosted an open party and had some concern about inviting strangers to my home. But I'll definitely do it again. Everyone was wonderful." -- Elinor, New York, NY "It was really invigorating to see the quiet determination of folks who feel strongly enough about MoveOn's mobilization efforts to give up a portion of their day off to call a bunch of strangers. There were clothes to be washed, papers to be graded, and lawns to be mown; yet there we all were, making 'cold calls!'" -- Kris, Clinton, NY
Help us extend this work into a full-blown volunteer-driven MoveOn field campaign by contributing now at: Studies have repeatedly shown that person-to-person contact is much more important in convincing someone to vote than advertising. So the power of our time and energy really is greater than Bush's hundreds of millions of dollars. Help harness that energy effectively, and together we'll take back our country and the White House.
Sincerely,
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