Dear MoveOn member,
After Democrats took back the Senate and won the White House, it seemed
that they would finally have a chance to implement the people's agenda.
But since January, moderate Democrats like Joe Manchin have been
roadblocks to passing that agenda—by refusing to abolish the racist
filibuster and insisting that Republicans will magically come around and
negotiate with Democrats.
We know that's not going to happen. And with Democrats holding on to the
majority in the Senate by the skin of their teeth, we have precious little
time to pass legislation to protect our democracy, stop the GOP from
disenfranchising people of color, and show the country why Democrats
deserve to stay in power in Congress.
Listen: Manchin's support for the filibuster is infuriating. His
resistance to passing the American Jobs Plan without Republican support is
migraine-inducing.
But we can move him. He's moved in the past. He voted to impeach Donald
Trump, despite the fact that Trump twice won his state overwhelmingly.
That's why MoveOn is launching a massive effort to organize our members to
call on Manchin and other moderate Democrats in the Senate to stop waiting
for Republicans to change and, instead, move to pass bold, progressive
legislation right now. We're coordinating MoveOn members from West
Virginia and other critical states for a summer of action: meeting with
senators, hosting events, running ads, and more to demand a bold recovery
NOW.
Will you chip in $5 a month to help power this work, call on
Joe Manchin to work with Democrats to get rid of the racist filibuster,
and build out MoveOn's 2022 midterm elections campaign to keep the GOP out
of power?
[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll chip in monthly.
[ [link removed] ]No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
The conventional wisdom inside the Beltway is that there's no point in
even trying to push Joe Manchin, because he'll never change his mind. But
as is so often the case, the conventional wisdom is wrong.
There are three big reasons why we know that we can still change Manchin's
mind about the filibuster:
1. We've done it before. Manchin didn't want to pass COVID-19 relief
without bipartisan support, but after a massive grassroots outcry, he
did. That's just one example of the many times he's responded to
public pressure.
2. The GOP attacks on voting just keep getting worse. Every day, it seems
there's a more extreme attack on our democracy being passed in some
red state or another. In Texas, they've gone past voter suppression
and want to let partisan judges simply throw out the election no
matter who gets the most votes.^1 And the pressure is getting to
Manchin: Last week, he announced he would be open to voting for a bill
to protect voting rights!^2
3. Polling shows that voters even in Manchin's deep-red home state of
West Virginia overwhelmingly support protecting voting rights and
passing Biden's infrastructure plan.^3,4 And if it's so pointless to
pressure Joe Manchin, then why is the Koch network running big-money
TV ads in West Virginia urging him not to support the American Jobs
Plan and the For the People Act?^5
Oh, and then there's reason #4: We have no other choice. There's just too
great of a risk that Republicans will win back at least one house of
Congress in the midterm elections, and this could be our last chance to
save American democracy.
We've launched one of the most ambitious campaigns in MoveOn history, the
Bold Recovery Now campaign, to make sure that Congress swiftly passes
President Biden's American Families Plan and American Jobs Plan.
Throughout the summer, MoveOn members from states with senators who do not
yet support President Biden's progressive legislative plan will
participate in lobbying visits with members of Congress, organize their
communities at home, and create a groundswell of constituent support to
move their senators in the right direction. This is the type of direct
pressure that works in the halls of Congress—because elected officials
know that constituents will hold them accountable at home if they let them
down.
And that's not all we have planned.
We're fighting all over the country to stop voter suppression. We've
flooded Senate offices with phone calls demanding that Congress step in to
save American democracy. And we are preparing to run a massive midterm
elections campaign to keep the GOP from taking back power in Congress and
putting our democracy at risk.
We can change Joe Manchin and other moderate Democrats' minds and defeat
the GOP in 2022, but we need to go big—and since Donald Trump left office,
donations are down. So we're counting on our members to step up. Will you
chip in $5 a month to help make this work possible?
[ [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.
–Emma, Mark, Melissa, Casey, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Voting Rights Showdown," Brennan Center for Justice, June 2, 2021
[link removed]
2. "Democrats Unite Behind Voting Rights Bill as It Faces a Senate
Roadblock," The New York Times, June 21, 2021
[link removed]
3. "Memo: Voters in Key States Support the Build Back Better Agenda," Data
for Progress, May 13, 2021
[link removed]
4. "Poll shows Manchin wildly out of step with West Virginia voters on
voting rights bill," Yahoo News, June 8, 2021
[link removed]
5. "Ad war erupts in West Virginia as both sides try to pressure moderate
Democrat Manchin," CNBC, June 10, 2021
[link removed]
Want to support MoveOn's work? The GOP is launching an all-out campaign to
take down the Democratic majority in Congress and reinstall Mitch
McConnell as Senate majority leader in 2022. To defeat the GOP, MoveOn is
going all-in with TV ads, a nationwide grassroots organizing campaign, and
more.
Will you chip in to power our effort to defeat McConnell and the GOP in
2022?
[ [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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