Dear MoveOn member,
If you thought that our elections were already awash in money from right-wing billionaires, get ready for a deluge this year.
The Koch brothers just announced that they're "all in" for the 2018 midterms and plan to spend a mind-blowing $400 million on Senate, House, gubernatorial, and state legislative races to keep America red.1
At the same time, MoveOn ended January $214,235 short of the money we set out to raise—all pooled from regular people chipping in what they can, which on average is $27—to both fight Donald Trump and the GOP Congress and take back the House in November.
I cannot emphasize enough how serious this news is about the Kochs. The money they plan to spend in this year's midterm elections will be 60% more than what they spent in the 2016 presidential cycle.2 It's more than the combined resources spent by the Republican National Committee, the NRA, and the Chamber of Commerce during the entire 2016 election.3
Already, the Koch brothers are making big investments in everything from purchasing large ad buys in Nevada to knocking on doors in Florida.4
After the 2016 election, none of us can take winning in 2018 for granted. And already there are warning signs that the progressive wave we're working toward to win back Congress and redraw the political map is farther out of reach.
Just weeks ago, the Democrats had more than a 13-point advantage on the "generic ballot"—polls that ask people which party they would support in upcoming congressional elections. But now that advantage has dwindled to 5 points.5
We cannot let the possibility of a wave election slip away. Can you make an emergency contribution to MoveOn today to support our efforts to take back the House in November and fight back against right-wing attacks from the Koch brothers?
With your help, we'll be able to:
- Endorse 100 candidates for U.S. House. We'll expand the map and work throughout the year to support progressive challengers and hold incumbent Republicans accountable for their votes. While the Koch brothers pour millions into a handful of high-profile races, we'll be working below the radar to put more seats in play.
- Mobilize millions of MoveOn members. We crunched the numbers, and more than 4 million MoveOn members live near House districts we're targeting. The Koch brother's millions of dollars can't substitute for the grassroots enthusiasm and ingenuity of MoveOn members we'll be mobilizing to impact key races.
- Use our 2018 secret weapon. We can't yet talk about the details publicly, but we've developed a method to persuade voters using Facebook video that's a fraction of the cost of the typical big TV buys the Koch brothers specialize in. We're working on how to bring this powerful new tactic to scale in hundreds of races in 2018.
But we can't afford to fall behind this early in the year. For MoveOn to see through our plans for 2018, we need to close our January fundraising gap—or we're going to have to start to scale back just as the Koch brothers are rewarding the GOP for delivering to them massive tax cuts and are starting to pour money into key campaigns across the country.
Of course, we’re never going to match dollar for dollar the Koch brothers' $400 million—not even close. But we've shown that with people power and a relatively small amount of money, we can take on the right-wing billionaire class and win.
Remember, this fight isn’t about how much money we have. It's about how many people are willing to stand up and join the Resistance as we march to the polls, because the only thing that's ever defeated Big Money is the people.
Thanks for all you do.
–Matt, Kenia, Jayne, Scott, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Koch network to spend $400 million during 2018 midterm election cycle," The Hill, January 27, 2018
http://act.moveon.org/go/33101?t=5&akid=198294%2E10220574%2Eqpjm9a
2. "How the Koch brothers plan to keep America red in November," CBS News, January 29, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/33102?t=7&akid=198294%2E10220574%2Eqpjm9a
3. "Billionaire Koch brothers to spend $400m in attempt to thwart Democrat surge in midterms," The Independent, January 30, 2018
http://act.moveon.org/go/33103?t=9&akid=198294%2E10220574%2Eqpjm9a
4. "How the Koch brothers plan to keep America red in November," CBS News, January 29, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/33102?t=11&akid=198294%2E10220574%2Eqpjm9a
5. "Are Democrats Winning The Race For Congress?" FiveThirtyEight, last accessed February 3, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/33104?t=13&akid=198294%2E10220574%2Eqpjm9a
Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your ongoing support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON
This email was sent to Eddie Alfaro on February 4th, 2018. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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