Dear MoveOn member,

It’s getting ugly out there.

All across the country, right-wing extremists are disrupting congressional town-hall meetings with venomous attacks on President Obama’s plans for health care and clean energy.

* Last night in Tampa, Florida, a town hall meeting erupted into violence, with the police being called to break up fist fights and shoving matches.1
* A Texas Democrat was shouted down by right-wing hecklers, many of whom admitted they didn’t even live in his district.2
* One North Carolina representative announced he wouldn’t be holding any town-hall meetings after his office began receiving death threats.3
* And in Maryland, protesters hung a Democratic congressman in effigy to oppose health-care reform.4

We’ve got a plan to fight back against these radical right-wingers. We’ve hired skilled grassroots organizers who are working with thousands of local volunteers to show Congress that ordinary Americans continue to support President Obama’s agenda for change. And we’re building new online tools to track events across the country and make sure MoveOn members turn out at each one.

But we need to scale up our efforts quickly to make sure this plan works. To really swing into action during this month’s congressional recess, we need to raise at least $250,000 immediately. Can you chip in $15 to support our work?

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/august.html?id=16748-7648820-qGXL5Fx&t=1

If the shouts of the right-wing mobs are the only voices our senators and representatives hear over the recess, we’ll have a hard time passing health care and clean energy legislation.

That’s why we’re launching our Heat Up Congress campaign so quickly to fight back, using new technology to implement rapid response town hall turnout, organizing personal phone calls from small business leaders and donors to their representatives, running new ads, and activating an energized network of on-the-ground organizers and volunteers.

This month could decide the future of health care and clean energy in America—and we’re already one week in. If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, now’s the time to get involved. Talk to your neighbors, go to a town hall meeting—and today, please chip in $15 to support our work:

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/august.html?id=16748-7648820-qGXL5Fx&t=2

Thanks for all you do.
–Justin, Matt, Nita, Kat and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. “Tampa Town Hall On Health Care Reform Disrupted By Violence,” The Huffington Post, August 6, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51727&id=16748-7648820-qGXL5Fx&t=3

2. “Local Fox Reporter Attends Town Hall And Finds ‘Some Attendees Admit They Don’t Live In The District,’” Think Progress, August 4, 2009
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/04/gene-green-townhall/

3. “Dem Congressman’s Office: His Life Has Been Threatened Over Health Care Bill,” Talking Points Memo, August 5, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51724&id=16748-7648820-qGXL5Fx&t=4

4. “The Danger Over the Right’s Anger,” Politico, August 3, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51726&id=16748-7648820-qGXL5Fx&t=5