Dear fellow MoveOn member,
I woke up in a cold sweat this morning, having seen the news last night that Donald Trump raised $24.8 million in less than 24 hours, after he publicly kicked off his re-election campaign with a massive rally in Orlando, FL, on Tuesday night.1
It's a staggering amount of money that breaks every record in presidential campaign fundraising. Trump's campaign manager said that Trump is "crushing the competition."2 Unfortunately, when it comes to fundraising, he's right. $24.8 million is nearly quadruple the amount any of the Democratic candidates raised in the 24 hours after they announced their candidacies.3
The head of the GOP tweeted out the news, saying that it was proof that "enthusiasm across the country for this president is unmatched and unlike anything we've ever seen."4
We can't afford to discount the news and these GOP comments because there's truth to them, even if a second Trump term is anathema to you and me, Eddie.
In recent polling, Trump is the presidential candidate who people are most enthusiastic about.5 And he has a real path to victory in 2020, based largely on the power of incumbency and the superficial strength of the economy—and, as is now clear, the substantial financial advantage he is expected to have over his eventual Democratic opponent.
As the Democratic primary candidates compete against each other, MoveOn is getting to work right now building the campaign, staff, research plans, and technology that we will need to defeat Trump in 2020.
Trump filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to run for re-election on January 20, 2017, the day he was inaugurated, but Tuesday was the public kickoff of his 2020 bid.
If you think that Trump can't win re-election, I beg you to take this latest news seriously and reconsider.
If you think the recent polls that show some Democratic candidates beating Trump in key swing states is reason to relax, please know that polling experts agree that head-to-head matchups this far out from the election are meaningless.6
The reality is that Trump's astonishing 24-hour fundraising campaign haul only widens an existing gulf in resources between Republicans and Democrats. And remember: While Democrats compete against each other, Trump can stay laser-focused on winning the general election.
Trump reported $48.7 million cash on hand at the end of March. The Republican National Committee had an additional $34.7 million during the same period.7
The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, had just $1.3 million cash on hand, after factoring in debt.8
MoveOn is setting the stage for the general election and defeating Trump right now. And they need your help. Will you chip in $3?
Yes, I'm in! I'll help power MoveOn's early work to take back the White House in 2020.
In 2018, thousands of MoveOn members pounded the pavement in critical swing districts. Teams of MoveOn members showed up at campaign offices of MoveOn-endorsed Democrats around the country, phone banking and knocking on doors to help them win.
MoveOn's Text Team and MoveOn volunteers sent millions of texts to voters using MoveOn's texting program, Spoke. Volunteers helped folks register to vote, shared information about MoveOn-endorsed candidates, and signed up new volunteers to help get out the vote.
And MoveOn's "Real Voter Voices" program was one of the most effective uses of money out there. Real Voter Voices was a groundbreaking new voter persuasion program propelled by personal videos recorded by MoveOn members. It was extremely effective. This innovative program was proven to be five times more cost-effective at getting out the vote than traditional programs such as TV ads and snail mail.
In addition to continuing effective tactics like these in 2020, MoveOn is also working to take on disinformation. I'm glad that MoveOn is doing this critical work, because even if Democrats choose a bold, progressive presidential candidate, I'm worried that Russian trolls and white supremacist groups will succeed again in spreading false, misleading information that will confuse voters, suppress voter turnout, and keep Trump in the White House.
MoveOn has a 20-year track record of building the kind of campaigns progressives need to win. In 2018, MoveOn ran its biggest midterm elections program ever—and we took back the House. Now, MoveOn needs to run its biggest general elections program EVER. Are you in?
Thanks for all you do.
–Robert Reich
Sources:
1. "$24.8 Million Raised in 24 Hours: Trump Adds to His Financial Advantage," The New York Times, June 19, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/67426?t=5&akid=237266%2E10220574%2EyrUrkj
2. "Trump raises $24.8 million in less than 24 hours, RNC says," Politico, June 19, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/67427?t=7&akid=237266%2E10220574%2EyrUrkj
3. "$24.8 Million Raised in 24 Hours: Trump Adds to His Financial Advantage," The New York Times, June 19, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/67426?t=9&akid=237266%2E10220574%2EyrUrkj
4. "Trump raises $24.8 million in less than 24 hours, RNC says," Politico, June 19, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/67427?t=11&akid=237266%2E10220574%2EyrUrkj
5. "'Hung jury': A look at Trump's approval rating since the release of the Mueller report," USA Today, May 6, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/67428?t=13&akid=237266%2E10220574%2EyrUrkj
6. "Should We Take These Early General Election Polls Seriously? $#!% No!" FiveThirtyEight, June 14, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/67429?t=15&akid=237266%2E10220574%2EyrUrkj
7. "Trump Campaign Raises $24.8 Million in Less Than 24 Hours," PBS News Hour, June 19, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/67430?t=17&akid=237266%2E10220574%2EyrUrkj
8. Ibid.
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.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON
This email was sent to Eddie Alfaro on June 20th, 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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