MoveOn.org to Target Senate Races- - $30M!

[babylonsister]

:applause:


http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002690354

MoveOn.org to Target Senate Races
By Emily Cadei and Bob Benenson, CQ Staff


MoveOn.org, a liberal group known mostly for its involvement in presidential politics, is now taking on the Senate. The political action committee — at a press event Tuesday that coincided with the “Take Back America” conference of liberal activists being held in Washington, D.C. — announced its intention to use its financial and grass-roots clout to assist Democrats in their efforts to achieve a “filibuster-proof” majority of 60 seats in the Senate.

“We know that taking back the White House is not enough,” said Ilyse Hogue, MoveOn’s communications director. “We watched what not having 60 votes in the Senate has done to our agenda. We know that we can’t afford this kind of obstructionism if we are actually going to spend the next four years addressing the issues that are critical to the success of our country.”

The goal of 60 seats, the three-fifths majority needed to end debate and move to Senate floor votes on legislation, faces formidable obstacles, even though the Democrats — maintaining momentum from the six-seat gain in the 2006 elections that boosted them to their current razor-thin majority — are staging many more competitive takeover bids than are the Republicans in this year’s national campaign.

The Democrats, for organizational purposes, currently control a bare majority of 51 seats. Getting to 60 would thus require a monster gain of nine seats, which would entail a sweep of races for Republican-held seats currently rated by CQ Politics as highly competitive — and victories in some contests in which the Democrats are currently rated as underdogs.

Some Democrats say, though, that even if they gain enough seats to get close to 60, they will be able to sway some Senate Republican moderates to join with them to break filibusters, at least on selected issues.

MoveOn has not settled on the roster of Democratic Senate candidates it will be backing, but Hogue said the organization “will not only look for races where Democrats are competitive . . . but we will actually look for races where we can make them competitive, where we can take people who are lagging behind in the polls and push them over the top.”

MoveOn.org has budgeted $30 million for its election year activities, including efforts to elect Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to the presidency, but has yet to determine how that amount will be distributed.

[scarletwoman]

1. Well, I hope they throw some money into the Minnesota senate race.

I'm not particularly fond of Al Franken, but it's looking like he'll probably end up with the DFL endorsement unless Nelson-Pallmeyer pulls off a major upset.

In any case, I sure as hell want Norm (the Weasel) Coleman out. It ought be doable -- tough, but doable.

sw

[babylonsister]

2. I hope Al gets some money, too. There are lots of needy causes out

there. I hope, whoever is running against McConnell gets a pocketful; I'd so like to see his rear heading towards the sunset.

[Breeze54]

3. "and to achieve a “filibuster-proof” majority of 60 seats in the Senate"

:kick: & Recommended

[orleans]

4. i wish groups/people had taken more of an interest in this

back in 2004

[NJSecularist]

5. Great news

I wonder which seats they will be targetting. Al Franken in Minnesota will probably be one of them .

[Breeze54]

6. Huh?

:crazy:

[NJSecularist]

7. Al Franken's POSSIBLE seat.

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Kentucky DUers:

Will it be worthwhile to spend money to defeat McConnell the Crook?

[babylonsister]

9. That's my fondest wish, and I'm in TX! nt

[Fireweed247]

10. wishful thinking to believe a filibuster proof majority will stop the corruption

The House of Reps and Senate are lead by corrupt Democrats, and full of mostly corrupt Republicans AND Democrats. The Dems have the power and ability to do something now, this filibuster proof majority is just a bad excuse.
We have to vote out the corrupt politicians- ALL of them.

[scarletwoman]

11. It won't stop the corruption, but it WILL take away one of their excuses.

You do understand, I hope, that Senators come up for a vote only once every SIX years? And those six year terms are staggered -- only some Senate seats are up for election this year. Two years from now, some other Senate seats will be in the running.

You gotta work with the reality on the ground, not some fantasy of "throwing the bums out". We have to be prepared for a long struggle and plan accordingly.

The only way that change is going to happen is from the ground, not from the top down. We have to use whatever levers are available, and one of those levers is a 60 seat majority. That in itself means nothing, but we on the ground can MAKE it mean something with persistant pressure.

It's vitally important that we take away the too-convenient excuse that the Dems don't have a filibuster-proof majority. Work like hell to get them their 60 seats, and then DEMAND unrelentingly that they start acting on our behalf.

sw

[Fireweed247]

12. "DEMAND unrelentingly that they start acting on our behalf"

That is what we are already doing, and they have no real excuse. They couldn't do anything when they were the minority, now they can't do anything as the majority.

When the Republicans are in the minority, they still get their way.

We cannot keep waiting and hoping and watching the horrible good cop bad cop routine. I get what you are saying but people are dying. They cannot afford for us to keep playing politics. And we can throw every one of the bums out of the House of Reps. We can elect a real leader for the House that will cut the funding to Iraq by not bringing forth a bill giving them the money. Simple. We can have a House leader that will bring HR676 to the house floor for a debate and vote.

[scarletwoman]

13. Fine. Throw them all out. Who will be replacing them?

The seats in Congress will go to someone. Do you have a couple hundred good anti-war candidates in mind to take all those seats?

[Fireweed247]

17. We need everyday Americans*not politicians* to step up and run

There is a list going here but it needs more Democrats. Green and Independent runs are useless at this point.
http://peacecandidates.com/peace_candidate_list

Here are the requirements to run and deadlines
http://peacecandidates.com/states

[babylonsister]

14. a.m. kick! nt

[DainBramaged]

15. That is FIVE times the money the RNCC has in their coffers

For these races.

Happy days are here again.

[babylonsister]

16. That's good to hear! nt