Dear MoveOn member,
On Monday, MoveOn members questioned 2020 Democratic presidential candidates at the We the People presidential forum.
I joined MoveOn members as they questioned Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Beto O'Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Jay Inslee, Kirsten Gillibrand, Julian Castro, and Cory Booker on how they'll commit to strengthening our democracy so that it works for all of us, not just the wealthy and well-connected. I felt inspired and confident that, together, we can make an impact in this presidential primary and that we are paving the way for a bold, visionary, progressive politics that responds to the needs of everyday people.
Here are a few pictures of Silver, Chuck, and Rachel, MoveOn members from Buffalo, NY, Orange City, FL, and Leeds, MA, respectively, asking questions about the Electoral College and money in politics and representing us before the national press—and together with MoveOn staff, meeting movement leaders and candidates:
(You can see all the highlights from We The People here by watching this video produced by MoveOn's Video Lab.)
At the We the People forum—which was organized by allies including the Center for Popular Democracy, Communications Workers of America, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Indivisible, NAACP, Sierra Club, Demos, and Service Employees International Union—I was also able to meet and engage with several candidates on behalf of MoveOn members. I thanked them for joining us for the forum—and more importantly, I invited them to work with us to find more opportunities to spend time with MoveOn members, hear our concerns, and join us in our fights.
This presidential primary season, we are seeing candidates lean in and listen to the progressive base. They are recognizing that they must take our demands seriously if they want to emerge as the Democratic nominee for president—and that includes prioritizing and strengthening our democracy with a commitment to clear, bold, transformative ideas.
We know there is a critical role MoveOn members play in this primary—pushing candidates on issues that matter to us, demanding they take bold, visionary stances, praising them when they act with courage and vision, and calling them out when they fail to. Which is why MoveOn joined We the People as one opportunity to bring the voices and concerns of our members to the 2020 candidates and the national stage.
Participation is just one of the many ways that MoveOn is going to keep bringing the voices of our millions of members to shape the primary debate to make sure we nominate a strong, progressive candidate with bold, compelling ideas, a commitment to tackle racial and economic justice, and a responsiveness to grassroots movements to defeat Trump in 2020.
We already have plans to do all this:
- Use our in-house Video Lab, multiple social media presences, and role in live events to push the wide-open 2020 field to be responsive to MoveOn members and challenge all the candidates to inspire us with big, progressive ideas.
- Push at key moments that will define what type of candidates we'll see emerge in 2020—whether it's drawing red lines such as asking them not to attend and speak at the right-wing, partisan AIPAC conference in D.C. (which no Democratic candidate attended, in part thanks to our pressure, unlike in 2007 when both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton deeply participated in the conference), or to support bold visions such as the Green New Deal to ensure that we're discussing solutions ambitious enough to meet the crises we face.
- Continually hear from our members about the issues you care most about—and deliver that message in a variety of forms, including petitions, earned media, and even in person, to the leading candidates.
- Create opportunities around the debates to elevate the priorities of MoveOn members around the country and in key, early states.
- Ask MoveOn members which candidates they wish to support—as we did with our straw poll in December, and as we will when we're closer to the primaries—to help us determine whether and whom to endorse.
- Encourage MoveOn's millions of members to bring our full passion to this primary season, and create the conditions for a powerful, progressive candidate to emerge. That will mean that we want to give all our members, again and again, the chance to raise our voices, join actions, and shape the debate.
The 2020 election cycle is underway—and as we continue to speak to all the campaigns on behalf of our millions of members, challenge them, and engage them in the issues of the moment, we'll keep sharing updates like this.
Thanks for all you do.
—Rahna, Reggie, Allison, Dan, and the rest of the team
P.S. To pull off our ambitions elections plans, we need your early, ongoing support. All too often, we get a wave of donations at the end of an election cycle. But we really can't plan the game-changing electoral strategy MoveOn needs without knowing we can count on your early, ongoing support. Don't wait until next year—please become a monthly donor right now, today, instead.
Can you chip in $5 a month to help fund MoveOn's elections work?
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This email was sent to Eddie Alfaro on April 5th, 2019. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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