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?
Yes, I'll become a monthly donor to help beat Mitch McConnell and end GOP control of the Senate.
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?
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
https://act.moveon.org/go/82157?t=6&akid=242056%2E40999114%2E9PhlBZ
2. "'Moscow Mitch' McConnell 'fuming' with trolling," MSNBC, August 1, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/82158?t=8&akid=242056%2E40999114%2E9PhlBZ
3. "How a McConnell-backed effort to lift Russian sanctions boosted a Kentucky project," The Washington Post, August 14, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/82214?t=10&akid=242056%2E40999114%2E9PhlBZ
4. "Mitch McConnell campaign tweets image of tombstone with opponent's name," Politico, August 5, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/82159?t=12&akid=242056%2E40999114%2E9PhlBZ
5. "AOC calls out Mitch McConnell for photo showing young men with cardboard cutout of her," CNN, August 6, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/82160?t=14&akid=242056%2E40999114%2E9PhlBZ
6. "Keeping Focus on Gun Bills, Democrats Urge McConnell and Senate to Act," The New York Times, August 13, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/82161?t=16&akid=242056%2E40999114%2E9PhlBZ
7. Ibid.
8. "Mitch McConnell campaign tweets image of tombstone with opponent's name," Politico, August 5, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/82159?t=18&akid=242056%2E40999114%2E9PhlBZ
9. "McGrath raises $2.5M in 24 hours after announcing challenge to McConnell," CNN, July 10, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/82279?t=20&akid=242056%2E40999114%2E9PhlBZ
10. "'Moscow Mitch' McConnell 'fuming' with trolling," MSNBC, August 1, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/82158?t=22&akid=242056%2E40999114%2E9PhlBZ
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No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
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