MoveOn.org Launches Campaign Connecting Schwarzenegger to Bush

With more than 600,000 members in California, our state represents a formidable portion of MoveOn.org’s base. However, despite being based in the Bay Area, the online advocacy group has focused its efforts almost entirely on national issues.

According to Boyd, that changed when California members received a questionnaire via e-mail two weeks ago asking their opinions on the statewide special election. The response was overwhelming - 97 percent said they’d be voting on November 8, and 9 and out of 10 expressed passion about the election and distain for both Schwarzenegger and his initiatives.

The response surprised Boyd, and a quest for donations went out as a result. Over 1,800 people anted up, and the television ad campaign began.

The ad itself seeks to draw connections between the Bush administration and Schwarzenegger’s, arguing that both push right-wing agendas extremely harmful to the country. Despite the Governor ignoring Bush during the president’s recent visit to California, the ads serve to remind that the Governor’s initiatives all push for changes Bush himself would endorse. Boyd believes the ad will resonate strongly with voters.

“People are connecting the dots between Washington and California,” said Boyd. “People are fed up with the right-wing nonsense…they’re mad and they’re pissed off and they’re telling their friends.”

Democracy for America, another primarily web-based political advocacy group that grew out of the Howard Dean for President campaign, is also involved, along with the Courage Campaign, a new coalition designed to provide infrastructure for the state’s progressives. Founder Rick Jacobs says the campaign came together in the past few months, building off the energy of the state-wide campaign to defeat Bush.

“California is where politicians come to raise money, and that’s ok” said Jacobs. “But it’s time to spend money and time and attention for building infrastructure for progressives in this state.”

The ads will pay eight times a day on CNN in San Diego, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Sacramento, and San Francisco. Recent polls show support for the Governor’s propositions continuing to drop, and the ads may prove significant in the election’s outcome.