Dear MoveOn member,
This is Ben Wikler, MoveOn's Washington, D.C., director.
I'm writing from Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings, and the energy here is unprecedented.
The Democrats are bringing the fight. Now it's urgent that we turn up the heat outside—because when we fight, we win.
And now, The New York Times reports that, "As a White House lawyer in the Bush administration, Judge Brett Kavanaugh challenged the accuracy of deeming the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision to be 'settled law of the land.'"1
This bombshell could change everything, but only if we ratchet up the pressure now. To win, we need two Republicans to vote no—the two who voted no on Trumpcare last year. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine could be the key decisive vote in this fight, which is why are investing heavily in on the ground tactics in Maine right now. And we are also working around the clock to convince Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who voted no on Trumpcare, to vote no on Kavanaugh.
Will you chip in $3 to help turn up the pressure?
Yes, I'll chip in right now to MoveOn's emergency campaign to help stop Brett Kavanaugh.
I've seen past Supreme Court confirmation hearings, and this is not how things usually go.
Republicans are racing through this confirmation, because they are scared the longer it lasts, the more likely they won't have the votes. They could well be bluffing when they say they have the votes already, especially as these new revelations come to light.
To stop Kavanaugh, we need to show Collins and Murkowski that this is no ordinary Supreme Court confirmation.
On the first day of Kavanaugh's hearing, 70 brave protestors were arrested. Senate Democrats are livid about the 42,000 pages of documents that were dumped on the committee just hours before the hearings began and spoke out fiercely—energy that they've carried into their questioning of Kavanaugh through the second day.
On the second day, with allies, we organized an inspiring demonstration in Washington, D.C., where activist after activist vowed to fight this nomination to the end. And today, Democrats are putting damning new information into the public record—despite Republicans' insistence that documents remain "committee confidential."
We have to act with the same ferocity and determination of the brave protesters here in Washington.
And we have to act quickly.
We're hearing that Republican Senator Collins could make a decision this weekend. Just as on the Affordable Care Act, we need to convince her to do the right thing. Or to at least delay making a decision.
Every delay in this fight is a step closer to victory. The longer we have for the truth about Kavanaugh to come out, the more we can organize and the better our odds of success. That's how we won the fight to stop Trumpcare last year, and it's how we will win this fight. That's why I'm asking:
Brett Kavanaugh has refused to say whether President Trump can pardon himself or be subpoenaed, claiming that he's never thought about it and that these are "hypothetical questions"—despite the fact that Trump himself has claimed that he has the power to pardon himself while he's currently under investigation.2 He won't even discuss whom he has spoken with about the Mueller investigation.
He said the courts should strike down net neutrality.3 He refused to say he'd uphold Roe v. Wade.4
When the grieving father of a 14-year-old Parkland shooting victim tried to shake his hand, he turned his back on him.5
And now, news has broken that he doesn't believe that Roe v. Wade is settled law—even though he told Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski otherwise.6
In short, this hearing is not going well for Kavanaugh at all.
But we need to keep the pressure on—and that means making sure key senators of both parties understand that the public thinks this is a sham, partisan process, and that we want a court that will uphold our rights, not attack our communities. This is the case we're making around the country—and with a new surge of activity in Maine and other key states that could make the difference. And we must act quickly, BEFORE Senators Collins and Murkowski announce their positions, and it's too late to win.
Will you chip in $3?
Yes, I'll chip in $3 to help stop Brett Kavanaugh.
MoveOn isn't just rallying. In the first 24 hours of Kavanaugh's hearings alone, MoveOn members made over 10,000 calls to the U.S. Senate.
To turn up the heat, MoveOn's Video Lab team is creating powerful ads with the voices of real people who would be hurt. Over the next several days, we're supporting actions in Alaska and Maine, where Senators Collins and Murkowski will cast two of the deciding votes on Kavanaugh's confirmation. We're looking at opportunities to buy ads in Maine's biggest newspaper. We're even working with Mainers who have voted for Collins in the past but feel a vote for Kavanaugh would be a betrayal—elevating their voices across the state.
The stakes in this fight are so high, but I have hope because of the Resistance energy I'm seeing here and the way it's affecting the senators whose votes will decide the outcome. We won on Trumpcare, and we have a real chance of winning again.
Will you chip in $3 to help turn the pressure up even higher and stop Kavanaugh?
Thanks for all you do.
–Ben, Isbah, Zachary, Jessica, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Leaked Kavanaugh Documents Discuss Abortion and Affirmative Action," The New York Times, September 6, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49526?t=6&akid=215682%2E10220574%2En829Ey
2. "Trump says he has 'absolute right' to pardon himself of federal crimes but denies any wrongdoing," The Washington Post, June 4, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49533?t=8&akid=215682%2E10220574%2En829Ey
3. "Kavanaugh Defends Dissent in Net Neutrality Decision," Broadcasting & Cable, September 5, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49534?t=10&akid=215682%2E10220574%2En829Ey
4. "Brett Kavanaugh was asked about abortion in his confirmation hearing. His answer tells us nothing." Vox, September 5, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49535?t=12&akid=215682%2E10220574%2En829Ey
5. "Father of Parkland victim says Kavanaugh would not shake his hand at Supreme Court confirmation hearing," ABC News, September 4, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49536?t=14&akid=215682%2E10220574%2En829Ey
6. "Leaked Kavanaugh Documents Discuss Abortion and Affirmative Action," The New York Times, September 6, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/49526?t=16&akid=215682%2E10220574%2En829Ey
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 support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?
Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
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