Barack Obama: Another Appeal

6 06 2008

Dear Friends,

For the last seven months, I’ve been reaching out to all of you to ask you to support Barack Obama.  Many of you have written back with both encouragement and criticisms – I appreciate all of them.  If you don’t have time to read my entire note – the executive summary is: I’m asking you again to step up and contribute to his campaign here.

Some of you have mailed checks over the past few months; some of you donated online – and I’ve thanked you individually.  But most of you did not, so as we enter this new phase of the campaign, I am asking again.

Some have bemoaned the influence and corruption of money in politics, and told me that’s why you’re not going to contribute.  I think you’ve got it absolutely wrong – the best way to combat the corruption of big money in politics is for small donors like you to step up.  As the new leader of the Democratic Party, Senator Obama announced this week that the party will mirror his campaign, and no longer accept money from PACs or lobbyists.

Turning this kind of big money away is not easy, because campaigning costs money – big money.  One needs to advertise, travel, pay smart people to help you, and so on.  But turning this money away is the right thing to do, and it helps return the power to where it belongs: The People.

In the fall, we are up against a strong Republican Party and a well-respected contender.  The differences between the candidates are stark; and the stakes for our nation could not be higher.  We face unprecedented national debt; we hold a completely unsustainable and counterproductive international posture; our Constitutional rights are in tatters because of a criminal Administration and a timid Congress; and it is high time for The People to stand up.

I am asking you to stand up and help – with your voice, with your actions, with your awareness – but today, I’m specifically asking you to do it with your money.

You can help us change this country.  Please donate to Senator Obama’s campaign by going to this page and clicking the “donate” button.

If you can donate a lot, donate a lot.  If you can only donate a little, do that.  But don’t just do nothing.  We need every one of you to help fuel the renaissance in national leadership that so many of us have been dreaming about.

Thank you.

  • jdl1966
    " We face unprecedented national debt; we hold a completely unsustainable and counterproductive international posture; our Constitutional rights are in tatters because of a criminal Administration and a timid Congress; and it is high time for The People to stand up."

    I COULD NOT AGREE MORE. But Obama is simply not the answer, and I will go on record saying that his disillusioned platform will only accelerate our decline.

    IMHO the only way to deal with these issues -- I mean truly deal with them -- is at the LOCAL level, with a return to states' rights and more active control of our federal leadership. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue: it is a philosophic one that transcends party politics. Our federal government is OUT OF CONTROL -- and both parties are to blame for this. We need to reel them in; we need to use technology as our collective voice to expose the fraud and hypocrisies of Congress, and to organize ways to hold our federal reps more accountable.

    The President simply doesn't matter to these ends -- he/she does not make and sign the laws that are bankrupting us, or taking away our liberties...CONGRESS does. And thus the LAST THING this country needs right now is a President from Capitol Hill...we need a Governor from a state that has a balanced budget, and we need a line-item veto. We need to put a pinch on the allowance we give to Congress. We need more local control. Putting a slick talking Senator in charge accomplishes nothing; in fact, it could greatly aggravate the current situation.

    Anthony, in general I agree with your concerns. And I agree with your predilection for using technology to organize "The People"...But I think you are badly misguided and drunk on grape Kool-Aid if you think Obama is the answer. He *is* the problem, not the solution. And McCain or Clinton are no better. The Capitol Hill Club needs serious renovation, starting with about 400 early retirements and a book burning party wherein we undo 75% of the laws of the recent past.

    Why don't we put our heads together and see what we can do to take control of Congress, as that is where the power -- and corruption -- lies? I will pledge resources of cash and time to that end, but focusing on Election 2008 will do nothing to solve the larger, and growing, problem.
  • OK.
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