Dear fellow MoveOn member,
Mitch McConnell just keeps getting bad news.
Another wave of polls has come out showing that McConnell is the #1 most
unpopular member of the entire U.S. Senate with his own voters.^1
News reports say McConnell is privately "fuming" that he’s become known as
"Moscow Mitch" because of his obstruction on election security.^2
And yet, news outlets have just reported that McConnell killed a bill to
sanction a Russian company involved in election interference only days
after that same company committed to building a factory in McConnell's
home state.^3
And his campaign sparked another wave of bad press by putting up
tombstones with the names of his Democratic opponents the day after the El
Paso shooting.^4 Meanwhile, his supporters sparked their own controversy
posing with a cutout of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and taking photos
pretending to attack and molest her.^5
I've been talking to my friends at MoveOn, and we agree that we have a
real shot at beating McConnell and taking back control of the Senate, but
there's one big challenge: Kentucky is not going to be a competitive
battleground state in the 2020 presidential election, so MoveOn will need
to fund an entirely different array of campaign tactics to build upon
McConnell's unpopularity by fueling and supporting the grassroots wave to
unseat him—paying for polls and ads, producing hard-hitting videos ... you
name it. And they need to do that without taking away resources they’ve
budgeted for the states we need to win to beat Donald Trump and other
Republican senators.
John, I believe that MoveOn members have the power to defeat
McConnell, take back the Senate, and end Trump's presidency, but I know
how much election campaigns like this cost, and MoveOn will need a
consistent stream of funds all the way through the election in order to
commit to defeating McConnell at the same time they work to end GOP
control of the Senate and defeat Trump.
Which is why I'm asking: Will you join me and chip in $5 a
month to fuel MoveOn's 2020 election campaign?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll become a monthly donor to help beat Mitch McConnell and end
GOP control of the Senate.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
McConnell might be the one Republican in Washington who's even worse than
Trump—but just like Trump, he just keeps sinking to new lows.
Take, for instance, his response to the shootings in El Paso and Dayton.
The American public is clearly demanding action, and bipartisan
legislation to require background checks on gun sales has already passed
the House.
The Senate version of the bill is sponsored by Pennsylvania Republican Pat
Toomey and conservative West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin. Polls show
that majorities of Republican voters support it.^6 It's the quintessential
example of a consensus bill that the Senate was made for.
But McConnell won't even allow a vote.^7
Instead, the day after the shooting, his campaign put up pictures of
tombstones with the names of his Democratic opponents, blatantly inciting
the kind of political violence the country had just experienced.^8
Voters in Kentucky clearly have had it with McConnell. More than 60% of
Kentucky voters say "it's time for someone new" in his Senate seat, and
his opponent raised a stunning $2.5 million on her first day as a
candidate.^9
McConnell knows that he's in trouble. That's why he's "fuming" about the
"Moscow Mitch" nickname getting so much attention.^10 And why his
corporate backers are already on the air with TV ads smearing his
opponents to try to save him.^11
But if MoveOn members step up, MoveOn can fund the campaign operation they
need to beat McConnell—without taking resources away from the
all-important 2020 presidential election and other key Senate races.
MoveOn is already starting to run billboards across Kentucky, funded by
MoveOn members, to call him out for inaction in the face of gun violence
and white supremacist actions, as well as for his loyalty to big
corporations and lobbyists. But there is so much more that MoveOn can
do—and must do—if we're to defeat McConnell and other vulnerable
Republicans and take back the U.S. Senate.
Will you chip in $5 a month to help make it happen?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll become a monthly donor to beat Mitch McConnell, end GOP
control of the Senate, and defeat Donald Trump in 2020.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Robert Reich
Sources:
1. "Mitch McConnell: Favorable/Unfavorable," RealClearPolitics, accessed
August 14, 2019
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
2. "'Moscow Mitch' McConnell 'fuming' with trolling," MSNBC, August 1,
2019
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
3. "How a McConnell-backed effort to lift Russian sanctions boosted a
Kentucky project," The Washington Post, August 14, 2019
[link removed]
4. "Mitch McConnell campaign tweets image of tombstone with opponent's
name," Politico, August 5, 2019
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
5. "AOC calls out Mitch McConnell for photo showing young men with
cardboard cutout of her," CNN, August 6, 2019
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
6. "Keeping Focus on Gun Bills, Democrats Urge McConnell and Senate to
Act," The New York Times, August 13, 2019
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
7. Ibid.
8. "Mitch McConnell campaign tweets image of tombstone with opponent's
name," Politico, August 5, 2019
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
9. "McGrath raises $2.5M in 24 hours after announcing challenge to
McConnell," CNN, July 10, 2019
[link removed]
10. "'Moscow Mitch' McConnell 'fuming' with trolling," MSNBC, August 1,
2019
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
11. "Watch: GOP group runs ad in Mitch McConnell's home state slamming him
for blocking election security bills," Newsweek, August 8, 2019
[ [link removed] ][link removed]
Want to support MoveOn's work? The MoveOn community will work every
moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the
damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the
nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that
we must never give up on. And to do it MoveOn needs your ongoing support,
now more than ever. Will you stand with MoveOn?
[ [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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