ConNiPtioNs

Register for the MoveOn.org PAC Primary

Anyone who has not registered for Tuesday's online primary at MoveOn.org should do it now. They have letters from each of the candidates here.

Read the articles below for details.

Register Here

from: washingtonpost.com



Democratic Hopefuls to Vie for Early Endorsement

By Brian Faler

Saturday, June 14, 2003; Page A09

The left-leaning advocacy group Moveon.org will hold its first online presidential primary later this month, a contest that could have a significant impact if any of the nine Democratic presidential candidates is able to seize the group's endorsement.

The group will endorse, direct volunteers and raise money -- including holding an "urgent" fundraiser in time for the Federal Election Commission's June 30 deadline -- for whomever is able to win at least 50 percent of its members' votes. If none of the candidates reaches that threshold -- and it may be difficult, given the size of the field -- the group will put off announcing its endorsement until this summer.

It is an unusually early contest; most outside groups wait for a front-runner to emerge before even considering announcing their preferences.

"Ordinary people, at the grass roots, often stand back until a lot of this is decided -- and it doesn't make a lot of sense," said Wes Boyd, the group's president, explaining its decision. "Why not play as much as the folks who attend the rubber chicken dinners play?"
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Democrats' Online Appeal

By Harold Meyerson

Wednesday, June 18, 2003; Page A25

As revolutions go, this one began with remarkably little fanfare.

Last Thursday MoveOn.org sent out an e-mail to its members -- all 1.4 million of them -- asking if they'd like to take part in an online Democratic presidential primary later this month. Candidates would answer questions that MoveOn put to them, and if one of them managed to pull a majority of the members' votes, the organization would endorse him.

This is no straw poll: MoveOn does real politics. Founded by some Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as a way for liberals and others to electronically register their rage at the impeachment lunacy of 1998, MoveOn has already become a force in American politics. It has coordinated its members to lobby Congress on a host of issues, was a center of opposition to the Iraqi war, and has proved itself as a source of grass-roots campaign contributions ($4.1 million in 2002) to progressive candidates.
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