Article: Mark Crispin Miller Takes Issue with MoveOn "If Romney Wins..." Pitch and Why

That may be an effective pitch for funds, but it's a deeply irresponsible appeal-- because it's saying (a) that Romney's "victory," if it happens, will be perfectly legit, (b) resulting from your failure to have helped MoveOn "get out the vote," and, therefore, (c) that you'll have no choice, once Romney's "won," not only to accept it, but to take the blame for it yourself, because you didn't give MoveOn your money.

Whatever it may do for MoveOn's bottom line, it's a paralyzing message in these final days--a time when all Americans must understand that Romney/Ryan are prepared to steal it, regardless of how many votes MoveOn et al. "get out."

And that message is not paralyzing: on the contrary. When people grasp that the Republicans are set to steal it once again, they are not less inclined to vote--which is the Democratic rationale for clamming up about the likelihood of fraud. When people learn the truth about all this, they're more inclined to vote, because they know that a big turnout will make it that much harder for the loser to prevail.

And, even more important, when people know the truth about election fraud, if Romney "wins," they won't collapse into despair and guilt, as if the Christianists, abetted by the Kochs and Adelsons, have once again out-voted us (which they have never done). If people know enough (at last) to question that dramatic

"win," they'll push hard for a real investigation when it matters most--after the election.

And that would be a triumph, not for the Democratic Party and its ever-grasping satellites, but for American democracy itself.

MCM

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Justin Ruben, MoveOn.org Political Action <moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
Date: Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 12:13 PM
Subject: If you don't, and Romney wins ...
To: Mark Crispin Miller

Hi--the very latest polls show that President Obama has some momentum going into these final days, but things are just so close that we can't afford to let up for a second. Let's bring this thing home together--chip in now.

We have five days left to do everything we can to keep Mitt Romney out of the White House. This is the last possible moment when a donation can support the largest independent voter turnout operation in the country and help reelect President Obama.

Chip in $5

Dear Mark,

If there's any part of you that thinks you might donate a little something (or chip in a little more) to help win the presidential election, well...Now. Is. The. Time.

Seriously--this is it. If Romney pulls ahead in the polls later this week and you start to panic, it will simply be too late for us to change our plans in any meaningful way.

Every analysis says this election is basically tied and will come down to voter turnout. And we need to raise $350,000 more to fund our final get-out-the-vote push.

If you really truly can't afford to give at this point--we understand. But if you can chip in $5 today and you don't, and then Mitt Romney barely wins...you won't be able to live with yourself.

This is it. Can you chip in $5 right now?

Yes, I can contribute $5.

For those of us who do our taxes on April 14th, or buy Christmas presents on ... Christmas, let me be even more clear--GOOD INTENTIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH. MITT ROMNEY COULD WIN. NEXT WEEK WILL BE TOO LATE.

Donations in the next 24 hours are critical. And here's why it matters:

We're still making final decisions about how many voters we can afford to reach out to using the new voter turnout method we pioneered! More money = more votes.
There are always a bunch of urgent last-minute needs that crop up in a massive get-out-the-vote operation. In a tight race, they can make all the difference. We need to be in a position to meet those needs.

Please help!

Can you contribute $5 before it's too late?

Thanks for all you do.

--Justin, Victoria, Tate, Wes, and the rest of the team