Some news outlets are calling this a done deal—but the fight's not over yet. An updated version of Jo's email outlining our next steps is below.
Dear MoveOn member,
I think we're actually within striking distance of a huge victory for diplomacy. But we're not there yet.
Right now, The New York Times reports that we now have enough Democrats on our side to hold together the historic diplomatic deal that the Obama administration negotiated to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.2
Now—if every single senator keeps their pledge—President Obama can veto any bill disapproving of the Iran agreement and have enough votes in Congress to protect his veto. That means his diplomatic deal survives.
Let me put our progress so far in perspective: When we began this fight, we knew it would be an uphill battle just to sustain President Obama's veto and keep us off the path to war. But now, a bill disapproving the Iran deal might not even reach President Obama's desk at all ...
This represents a real paradigm shift in how America deals with conflict and danger abroad. A "diplomacy first" approach. But we still need to keep fighting—to keep the war hawks from sending an anti-diplomacy bill to President Obama's desk in the first place.
I hope you'll chip in $3 and help us get over the finish line?
Here's the challenge:
- We're still seven votes short of being able to keep the war hawks' bill off of President Obama's desk altogether.
- We have 16 days to convince seven more undecided senators to join us. If they do, it will be a HUGE victory for peace and diplomacy.
- Convincing additional senators means expanding our target list and going all-in for this final stretch: flooding on-the-fence senators with phone calls, creating high-visibility media events, flying key activists to Washington D.C. before the vote, and mobilizing more on-the-ground actions.
We need to raise another $50,000 to make these additional commitments.
Whatever you're doing right now, can you take three minutes to make a $3 contribution so that we can win this? I mean really, truly win?!
It's really important that we stop this bill from landing on President Obama's desk in the first place. Here's why:
In the rational world outside of Congress, it's unbelievable that Republicans (and some Democrats) are even trying to sabotage this agreement. And in the rational world, this reckless and yet sadly predictable behavior is already having a real impact on our reputation around the world.
Samantha Power, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, wrote last week about how her team's ability to negotiate in the U.N. is undermined when war hawks make America's commitments look unreliable.3 More national security experts wrote this week about how blocking the agreement would put our credibility in question and our coalition with Europe at serious risk.4
The best possible outcome—the one that makes diplomacy the default option in the future—is making sure Democrats don't force President Obama to veto a bill disapproving the Iran resolution in the first place.
With the momentum we have right now, we're on a path to do just that. We have 16 days to persuade seven more senators to get there—and win.
Can you chip in $3 to help us make this a done deal?
Yes, I'll chip in for the final push.
To be honest, we never thought we'd get this far. But with incredible organizing this summe we've all but proven that even while being outspent 10 to 1, real grassroots energy beats "astroturf" campaigns any day.5
Let's prevent the neocons and war hawks from even sending a bill to President Obama's desk—to make them think twice the next time they want to drive us to war.
Thanks for all you do.
–Jo, Maria, Bobby, Brian, and the rest of the teamP.S. MoveOn members are driving a moving billboard dubbed "the SchumerMobile" through New York City all week to hold Senator Chuck Schumer accountable for his backward stance. We're still being vastly outspent, though, and we'll need to double down if we want to prevent a bad bill from making it out of Congress. Click here if you can chip in.
Sources:
1. "Obama Clinches Vote to Secure Iran Nuclear Deal," The New York Times, September 2, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=306821&id=131572-10220574-o2K4vdx&t=1
2. Ibid.
3. "Congress, Don't Isolate America Again Over Iran," Politico Magazine, August 26, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=306734&id=131572-10220574-o2K4vdx&t=2
4. "Damaging our credibility with our European allies," The Hill, August 31, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=306735&id=131572-10220574-o2K4vdx&t=3
5. "Bust: Iran opponents' August fail," Politico, August 31, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=306678&id=131572-10220574-o2K4vdx&t=4
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PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to eddie alfaro on September 3, 2015. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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