The RNC's MoveOn Memo

The Fix's Chris Cillizza wrote yesterday about the RNC's pre-emptive strike against MoveOn, which will blanket vulnerable Republican congressional districts with petitions calling for an immediate end to Iraq. We've got the full RNC memo -- after the jump.

MEMORANDUM
TO: Members of Congress
FROM: RNC Communications
RE: MoveOn.org
DATE: December 13, 2005


The left-wing organization MoveOn.org has announced its intentions to conduct events and activities in your states and districts in opposition to the war in Iraq. It’s imperative that their efforts are met with a swift response, exposing their liberal views far out of the American mainstream.

The following document provides a comprehensive outline of who MoveOn.org is as an organization, what they advocate for, their funding sources, and examples of their past efforts on behalf of the far-left. This document should serve as a resource to disseminate the facts about MoveOn.org and the policies they advocate.

As always, additional information can be made available if necessary.

TOP LINE MESSAGE

• MoveOn.org is a left-wing organization that is funded by out-of-touch activists like George Soros and Stephen Bing.

• The primary bankrollers of MoveOn.org advocate for policies like drug legalization that are far out of the American mainstream.

• A MoveOn.org petition called on world leaders to "use moderation and restraint in responding to" terrorist attacks.

• Before the war in Iraq, MoveOn.org remade the 1964 ‘daisy’ ad, warning that a war against Iraq could spark nuclear Armageddon.

• MoveOn.org has a history of running false and misleading advertisements to oppose President Bush’s policies.

• MoveOn.org’s website displayed advertisements comparing President Bush to Adolph Hitler.

EXTENDED RESEARCH

MoveOn.Org Background:

“The MoveOn Family Of Organizations Consists Of Three Entities.” “MoveOn.org, a 501(c)(4) organization, primarily focuses on education and advocacy on important national issues. MoveOn PAC, a federal PAC, primarily helps members elect candidates who reflect our values. And MoveOn.org Voter Fund, a 527 organization, primarily educates voters on the positions, records, views, and qualifications of candidates for public office.” (MoveOn.Org Website, www.moveon.org, Accessed 3/18/05)

MoveOn.Org Email Claims It Bought And Owns Democrat Party: “Now It’s Our Party: We Bought It, We Own It, And We’re Going To Take It Back.” (Adam C. Smith, “Unshaven, Unbowed And In Our Face,” St. Petersburg Times, 2/18/05)

“[M]oveOn.Org, The Pro-Kerry Advocacy Group That Spent $21-Million On The 2004 Election …” (Eric Deggans, “The Party Poopers,” St. Petersburg Times, 1/16/05)

MoveOn.Org Voter Fund Established On September 18, 2003 And Raised $12,558,215 In 2004 Cycle. (IRS 527 Committee Search Website, www.irs.gov, Accessed 9/30/03; Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed 3/18/05)

Top Donors To MoveOn.Org Voter Fund 527 Were Herbert And Marion Sandler ($2,505,014), Peter B. Lewis ($2,500,000), George Soros ($2,500,000) and Stephen Bing ($971,427). (Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed 3/18/05)

• Sandlers Were Fourth Largest Donors To Democrat 527 Groups, Giving $14,009,039, Including To The Joint Victory Campaign And Citizens For A Strong Senate. (Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed 3/18/05)

• Peter Lewis And Billionaire Philanthropists George Soros And John Sperling Have “Bankrolled The Pro-Pot Movement.” (Joel Stein, “The New Politics Of Pot; Can It Go Legit?” Time, 11/4/02)

o Lewis Was Second Largest Donor To Democrat-527 Groups In 2004 Cycle, Giving $23,997,220, Including To Joint Victory Campaign 2004, ACT NOW PAC, America Votes 2004 And Democracy For America. (Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed 3/18/05)

• Soros Said A “Supremacist Ideology” Guides Bush Administration, Which Reminds Him Of Nazis. (Laura Blumenfeld, “Soros’s Deep Pockets Vs. Bush,” The Washington Post, 11/11/03)

o Soros Contributed The Most Money, $27,030,105, Of Any Donor To 527s In 2004 Cycle, Including To Joint Victory Campaign 2004, ACT NOW PAC, And Democracy For America. (Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed 3/18/05)

• Bing Described As “Playboy-Producer-Philanthropist” (Eric Alterman, “The Hollywood Campaign,” The Atlantic Monthly, 9/04)

o Bing Was Fourth Largest Contributor, Giving $13,952,682, To Democrat-527s In 2004 Cycle, Including To Joint Victory Campaign 2004, Voices For Working Families, And Campaign for Americas Future. (Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed 3/18/05)

o “[B]ing Is The Largest Donor In Natural Resources Defense Council History, Having Pledged A Year Ago More Than $10 Million Over Four Years To Build A Climate Center To Focus Attention In The United States On Global Warming.” (Rachel Abramowitz, “A Player In Every Sense,” Los Angeles Times, 7/3/02)

o "[T]he Constant Refrain From The Politically Connected In Hollywood Is ‘What We Need More Than Anything Is More Steve Bings.’” (Eric Alterman, “The Hollywood Campaign,” The Atlantic Monthly, 9/04)

o Bing, Who Enjoys Strip Clubs And Las Vegas Casinos, Lives In Two-Bedroom Bel-Air Home But Bought Seven Adjoining Houses With Plan Of Demolishing Them To Create “Palatial Grounds.” “A determined bachelor, he lives in a small two-bedroom home in Bel-Air but has bought the seven adjoining houses with the intention of knocking them down and creating palatial grounds. He’s a fan of strip clubs, has been a high roller in Las Vegas for years, and yet he can discuss the dense Robert Caro biography of Lyndon Johnson.” (Rachel Abramowitz, “A Player In Every Sense?” Los Angeles Times, 7/3/02)

MoveOn.Org PAC Raised $31,870,607 In 2004 Cycle. (Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed 3/18/05)

• MoveOn.Org PAC Gave $203,442 To Democrat Candidates And $0 To Republican Candidates In 2004. (Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed 3/18/05)

• Howard Dean’s Democracy For America Gave $5,000 To Moveon.Org PAC In 2004 Cycle. (Political Money Line Website, www.tray.com, Accessed 3/18/05)

MOVEON.ORG’S LIBERAL ANTI-WAR GROUP

MoveOn.Org Opposed War In Afghanistan:

MoveOn.org Petition Called On World Leaders To "Use Moderation And Restraint In Responding To" Terrorist Attacks.

After 9/11, MoveOn.org Collected Signatures For Statement Calling For “Justice, Not Escalating Violence That Would Only Play Into The Terrorists’ Hands.” (Tony Pugh, “Against Tide, They Clamor For Peace,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/21/01)

MoveOn.Org Opposed $87 Billion For Troops And Reconstruction In Iraq And Afghanistan:

MoveOn.Org Opposed $87 Billion For Troops And Reconstruction In Iraq And Afghanistan. “An online political activist group is criticizing President Bush’s $87 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan in a television ad … The commercial is part of MoveOn.org’s effort to defeat the supplemental spending bill pending in Congress.” (Will Lester, “Political Notebook,” The Associated Press, 10/15/03)

MoveOn.Org Opposed War In Iraq And Recreated 1964 “Daisy” Ad:

“Revisiting A Jarring Television Commercial From The Cold War Era, A Grass-Roots Anti-War Group Has Remade The 1964 ‘Daisy’ Ad, Warning That A War Against Iraq Could Spark Nuclear Armageddon.” (Ian Stewart, “Anti-War Group Revives The ‘Daisy’ Ad,” The Associated Press, 1/16/03)

• “Like The Original, The 30-Second Ad By The Internet-Based Group Moveon.Org Depicts A Girl Plucking Petals From A Daisy – Along With A Missile Launch Countdown And A Nuclear Mushroom Cloud. …’” (Ian Stewart, “Anti-War Group Revives The ‘Daisy’ Ad,” The Associated Press, 1/16/03)

MoveOn.Org Contest Had Ads Comparing President Bush To Hitler:

Two Ads Comparing President Bush To Hitler Appeared On MoveOn.org Voter Fund Website. “One ad begins with Adolf Hitler making speeches, until a picture of President Bush appears. Another also uses Nazi and Bush images, with the tag line: ‘What were war crimes in 1945 is foreign policy in 2003.’ The videos appeared on the Web site of MoveOn.org’s Voter Fund as part of a nationwide contest for an anti-Bush television ad on which the liberal group plans to spend a considerable sum.” (Howard Kurtz, “Anti-Bush Ad Contest Includes Hitler Images,” The Washington Post, 1/6/04)

Abraham Foxman Of Anti-Defamation League Called Ads “Vile And Outrageous” And Group’s Comments Explaining Them “Hardly Comforting.” (Anti-Defamation League, “Hitler Ad Should Never Have Appeared On MoveOn.org,” Press Release, 1/5/04)

MoveOn.Org Called For Censuring President:

March 2004: “MoveOn’s New Spot … Claims That Bush Did Not Tell The Truth A Year Ago When Laying Out The Case For War With Iraq, And It Urges Congress To Censure The President.” (Liz Sidoti, “New Anti-Bush Ads Assail President On Economy, Iraq War,” The Associated Press, 3/17/04)

MoveOn.Org Ad Showed Hooded Statue Of Liberty:

“Moveon.Org … Is Responsible For The ‘Fire Cheney’ TV Ad That Shows The Statue Of Liberty With A Hood Over Its Head.” (Bill Holland, “Getting Out The Vote,” Billboard, 7/3/04)

MOVEON.ORG OPPOSING SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM

MoveOn.Org Launched Campaign Against President’s Plan Using “False” Advertisements:

Non-Partisan FactCheck.Org: “Moveon.Org Launched A False TV Ad In The Districts Of Several House Members, Claiming Through Images And Words That President Bush Plans To Cut Social Security Benefits Nearly In Half.” (FactCheck.Org, “MoveOn.Org Social Security Ad,” www.factcheck.org/article303.html, 2/1/05)

FactCheck.Org: “In A Full-Page Newspaper Ad In The New York Times MoveOn.Org Repeated Its Misleading Claim, Saying ‘Privatization Means Cuts Of Up To 46% In Guaranteed Benefits.’” (FactCheck.Org, “MoveOn.Org Social Security Ad,” www.factcheck.org/article303.html, 2/2/05)

“An Indiana Television Station That Aired An Ad Attacking President Bush's Social Security Reform Tacked On A Message Of Its Own After Receiving Objections From Republican Leaders.” (Tom Coyne, “TV Station Modifies Social Security Ad To Clarify Message,” The Associated Press, 2/7/05)

• “Jim Behling, President And General Manager Of WNDU-TV In South Bend, Said The Station Amended A Commercial From MoveOn.Org In Response To A Letter From The Republican National Committee That Called The Ad’s Claims ‘Baseless.’” (Tom Coyne, “TV Station Modifies Social Security Ad To Clarify Message,” The Associated Press, 2/7/05)

MoveOn.Org Launched Social Security Ad Contest:

MoveOn PAC Held Social Security Ad Contest Modeled On 2004’s “Bush In 30 Seconds” Contest. (Press Release, “MoveOn PAC, John Cusack & Cartoonist Aaron McGruder To Kick-Off 'Bush In 30 Years' Flash Animation Contest To Stop Bush Social Security Plan,” U.S. Newswire, 2/28/05)

MOVEON AT ODDS WITH DEMOCRAT PARTY

DLC, Kerry Advisors, Pundits Criticize MoveOn.Org:

MoveOn.Org’s Washington Director Tom Matzzie: “The Candidates Want Nothing To Do With The DLC, It’s So Out Of Vogue.” (Adam C. Smith, “Unshaven, Unbowed And In Our Face,” St. Petersburg Times, 2/18/05)

• Matzzie: “If The DLC Disappeared From The Democratic Party Tomorrow, No One Would Notice. If MoveOn Weren’t Part Of The Party, People Would Notice And Care.” (Adam C. Smith, “Unshaven, Unbowed And In Our Face,” St. Petersburg Times, 2/18/05)

DLC CEO Al From: “You’ve Got To Reject Michael Moore And The MoveOn Crowd.” (NBC’s “First Read,” 3/1/05)

• “Rank-And-File Democrats ‘Are More Like Us Than MoveOn,’ Which [Al] From Called A Group Of ‘Elites, People Who Sit In Their Basements All The Time And Play On Their Computers.’” (NBC’s “First Read,” 3/1/05)

Senior Kerry-Edwards Campaign Adviser Marcus Jadotte: “MoveOn’s Building Up Their Own Brand And They’re Building (Its) Own Fund-Raising Base - Possibly At The Expense Of The Democratic Party.” (Adam C. Smith, “Unshaven, Unbowed And In Our Face,” St. Petersburg Times, 2/18/05)

Peter Beinart, The Editor Of The New Republic, Urged Democrats To Take Back Their Party From “Soft” Antiwar Groups Like MoveOn.Org. “[Beinart’s] cover piece in the Dec. 13 issue urged Democrats to strike a much more hawkish stance in the war against terrorism. Most provocatively, Beinart urged Democrats to ‘take back their movement’ from antiwar elements in the party that he called ‘softs,’ a group that included filmmaker Michael Moore and MoveOn.Org, the giant online liberal advocacy group that led opposition to the Iraq war.” (Ronald Brownstein, “Democrats Split Again Over Party’s Agenda,” The Los Angles Times, 1/2/05)

MOVEON.ORG POLITICIZED KATRINA RELIEF FOR LEFT-WING AGENDA

MoveOn.Org Ran Ad Featuring Katrina Victims:

"The Televised Images Of Poverty-Stricken Evacuees From Hurricane Katrina Are Part Of A Provocative, Last-Minute Effort By A Liberal Interest Group [MoveOn.org] To Divert Federal Judge John Roberts' Path To Confirmation As Chief Justice." (Mark Memmott, "Group's TV Ad Uses Storm's Aftermath To Target Roberts," USA Today, 9/8/05)

• "Lending Further Evidence That Katrina Is Rapidly Becoming A War Between The Parties, The Political Action Committee Of MoveOn.org Announced A Public Rally Across From The White House ..." (Dan Balz, "Clinton Draws Heat in Role Of A Conspicuous Critic," The Washington Post, 9/8/05)

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