Dear MoveOn member,
Basically every news outlet is posting poll numbers that are looking quite
terrifying. Trump leading in the general election. Trump leading in the
swing states. Trump leading with Gen Z.^1
But the reporting on these polls is leaving out a very important point,
John: Polls are not crystal balls.
Polls give us a snapshot of how voters are thinking in this particular
moment in time—they give us a direction, not a prediction! Just look at
summer 2020 polls: Biden and Trump were separated by 10 points.^2 The
final election was decided by less than half that.^3
When it comes to next steps for defeating Trump and the MAGA Republicans,
here are some numbers that are really catching our attention right now:
Disinformation is rampant, as 17% of voters believe President Biden is
responsible for the fall of Roe v. Wade, and twice as many people think
that the economy was better under Trump, despite record job growth under
Biden.^4,5
So we know that Trump's lead is due partly to people's misconceptions,
which gives us a huge opportunity—if we can get through to enough of those
people, we can change the course of this election.
John, in the past week we have been telling you about a
dangerous fundraising shortfall that MoveOn is facing. We want you to know
just what's at stake if things don't turn around: We are at risk of having
to make major cuts to our election program and reaching far fewer
potential voters than we need to in order to change the public perception
of Trump.
We are asking for your help to turn things around and defeat Trump and his
MAGA cronies. Please chip in $5 a month, or whatever you can
afford, so MoveOn can see our plans through, defeat Trump, and get back to
building a country where everyone can thrive.
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
You may be asking yourself, how can people not know the truth about what
Trump did to our economy, our civil rights, and our democracy?
Disinformation campaigns like we've never seen before, reaching more
voters than ever.
In fact, since November, there's been twice as much pro-Trump content as
pro-Biden content on TikTok, seen 9.1 billion times.^6 Yes, billion. Meta
has encountered thousands of accounts with the prime objective of
spreading disinformation on Instagram and Facebook, with more popping up
every day.^7
That's why our planned microinfluencer program is more needed than ever.
Whether it be on TikTok, Discord, or Instagram, micro-influencers—social
media personalities with as many as 100,000 followers—are driving major
trends. Their followers look to them for advice on everything from fashion
to health tips to the latest video games, and they are a powerful source
of information for Gen Zers and millennials. We are building a cadre of
200 microinfluencers ready to share factual, compelling messaging we know
will work, each speaking at least five times during the fall about the
issues we know will most influence our target voters, and also
collaborating with MoveOn for content. These influencers will also
encourage viewers to get involved with our get-out-the-vote activities,
including vote tripling.
We're also planning to double down on our member testimonials to spread
the truth online. In 2018, our Real Voter Voices project moved tens of
thousands of voters to help achieve a blue wave. We are building on that
success by creating a new program to collect thousands of testimonial
videos from MoveOn members, speaking authentically about the stakes of the
2024 election, why they are voting, and candidates they are supporting. We
will then put some of these videos through a rigorous process of message
testing to pinpoint which of them are the most powerful and engaging to
surge voters, and we'll then use social media ads to distribute them to
surge voters in battleground states.
We know that when people know the truth about our issues, they reject
Trump and MAGA policies. We need to make up our shortfall right now to
reach the voters we need. Will you chip in $5 a month to
help out?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
We know we're asking a lot of you right now.
Summer is coming up, and you may be busy with vacation planning and so
many other things. Donating in May to help work for an election in the
fall may not have been on your to-do list.
But we also don't want to wake up on November 6 to a Trump presidency,
knowing we could have done more.
MoveOn is going to use this summer to our advantage, by making a ton of
noise, reaching out to 1.5 million surge voters—young voters and people
who became more engaged after Trump won in 2016 but who do not
consistently vote—in swing states that we know will make a difference.
We're collecting stories for member testimonial videos, throwing election
parties, printing hundreds of thousands of informational literature
pieces, and training thousands of volunteers. All of that is the
groundwork that needs to be laid before we can truly leverage our vote
tripling tactic—which, if done correctly, is as much as five times more
effective than traditional methods.
So those polls that are freaking you out right now? Don't let them make
you feel helpless, because you are not. Help MoveOn do something about
them.
How much we can do depends on your involvement right now,
John. Please donate $5 a month now to MoveOn's
election project.
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Mohammad, Kelsey, Allison, Evelyn, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Latest Polls, President - General Election, 2024," FiveThirtyEight,
May 29, 2024
[link removed]
2. Ibid.
3. "Presidential election, 2020," Ballotpedia, accessed May 24, 2024
[link removed]
4. "17% of Voters Blame Biden for the End of Roe," The New York Times, May
15, 2024
[link removed]
5. "Mellman: Diving deeper — The Trump economy vs. the Biden economy," The
Hill, May 22, 2024
[link removed]
6. "The Trump-TikTok Flirtation," Puck, May 9, 2024
[link removed]
7. "Thousands of fake Facebook accounts shut down by Meta were primed to
polarize voters ahead of 2024," AP News, November 30, 2023
[link removed]
Want to support MoveOn's work? The MAGA movement's book bans have forced
teachers and librarians across the country to remove books from their
shelves and censor what young people can learn. MoveOn is fighting back,
including by filling a "Banned Bookmobile" with books that the far right
has banned and driving it to key cities and towns to raise the visibility
of book bans, hand out banned books for free, and bring people together to
stop censorship. To keep up the fight against book bans and the MAGA
politicians who support them, we need your help.
Will you start a monthly gift to power and sustain MoveOn's critical
work?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
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