>Date: 18 Jan 2003 07:02:31 -0000
>From: "Wes Boyd, MoveOn.org" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "Alison Croggon" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: U.S. opposition to a war on Iraq
>
>Dear MoveOn supporters worldwide,
>
>Yesterday, we launched a nationwide TV ad campaign in the U.S.,
>which has received a great deal of national and local media
>attention.  Our key message is "Let the Inspections Work."
>
>You can see the ad itself on our home page at
>
>    http://www.moveon.org
>
>I've also attached some news coverage of the ad below, which
>describes the ad in some detail.
>
>This ad is part of our campaign to communicate the depth and
>breadth of opposition to an Iraq War, in the U.S.  Although
>the polls show very thin support for war, until now the media
>has not widely reported this.
>
>Our biggest surprise is how many members of the media around
>the world are interested in this story.  Apparently, the
>American public is widely seen as moving lock-step behind the
>most extremist members of the Bush administration.  Journalists
>around the world seem surprised by the strength of opposition
>in the U.S.
>
>Please help us spread the word.  If you know any members of
>the press in your country who should know about our efforts,
>please pass this note on to them.
>
>We've posted our press release regarding the ad, still images,
>audio, and video suitable for broadcast in our press room at:
>
>    http://www.moveon.org/pressroom.html
>
>As a follow-on, this coming Tuesday, more than 7,000 MoveOn
>members will be visiting their senators and members of congress
>in more than 400 local offices across the nation, asking them
>to "Let the Inspections Work."  Opposition to war in Iraq is
>broad and deep in the U.S. and worldwide.  Let's let everyone
>know.
>
>Thank you.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>-Wes Boyd
>  President, MoveOn.org
>  January 17th, 2002
>
>P.S. I've also attached our recent alert to our U.S. audience
>with more details on the campaign below.  Our "Let the Inspection
>Work" petition has more than 300,000 signatories world-wide.
>If you'd like to add your name and comment, go to:
>
>    http://www.moveon.org/winwithoutwar
>
>_______________
>
>Dear MoveOn member,
>
>Today's the day.  Today we're launching a hard-hitting TV ad across
>the nation to underline our key message: "Let the Inspections Work."
>
>In December, we asked members to contribute $27,000 for a print
>ad in the New York Times.  Within days, we had more than $400,000
>committed to our ad campaign.  This allowed us to do several print
>ads, including an ad in USA Today.  To follow up, we ran a radio
>ad created by Betsey Binet, one of our members.  But once we saw
>the avalanche of support, we knew it was time to go to TV.
>
>Over the holidays, we worked on the spot you'll see today.  Our
>goal is to underline the risk of war and we've created a piece
>intended to provoke discussion and controversy.  Without further
>ado, you can view the ad on the main page of our website at:
>
>    http://www.moveon.org
>
>The ad is airing on TV stations in Washington, DC, Los Angeles,
>San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Boston,
>Minneapolis, Phoenix, Cleveland, Portland and Seattle.  The ad
>buy is largely on cable networks, and will show heavily on public
>interest shows on channels such as CNN and MSNBC for the next week.
>At 10am today in each of these media markets, MoveOn volunteers
>will be running press conferences for the local media.
>
>The press has already shown a great deal of interest in this
>story.  Dan Rather broke the story last night, and Eli will be
>appearing on Good Morning America this morning.  I've attached
>below an Associated Press story that's just hit the wire.
>
>The big story that's gathering steam is just how mainstream and
>broad the opposition to war is, as highlighted today in a Boston
>Globe article I've also excerpted below.  That's exactly our intent
>with this ad.  And just to drive the point home, more than 7,000
>MoveOn members will be visiting more than 500 congressional offices
>across the county next Tuesday.
>
>Please stay tuned.  And thanks everyone,
>
>- The MoveOn Team
>   Carrie, Eli, Joan, Peter, Randall, Wes and Zack
>   January 16th, 2002
>
>P.S.  By the way, for the congressional meetings this coming
>Tuesday we asked for your help to get another 30,000 signatures
>and hit the 200,000 mark.  In 24 hours, you've given us three
>times what we asked for -- we've gotten another 90,000, putting
>us well over a quarter-million.  You don't just hit our goals,
>you shatter them.  Thanks.
>_______________
>
>Excerpt from AP article
>
>ANTI-WAR GROUP REVIVES "DAISY" AD CAMPAIGN
>January 15, 2003
>
>By IAN STEWART
>Associated Press Writer
>
>Revisiting one of the most effective television commercials in
>the annals of U.S. politics, a grassroots anti-war group has
>produced a remake of the "Daisy" ad, warning that a war against
>Iraq could spark nuclear Armageddon.
>
>The provocative 30-second commercial - released to the media
>Wednesday and appearing in 12 major U.S. cities on Thursday
>at a cost of $400,000, was prepared with the help of thousands
>of donations to the Internet-based group MoveOn.org.
>
>The original Daisy ad aired only once, during the 1964
>presidential race. Produced by the campaign of incumbent
>Lyndon B. Johnson, it depicted a 6-year-old girl plucking petals
>from a daisy - along with a missile launch countdown and then a
>nuclear mushroom cloud. The suggestion was that if elected
>president, Republican Barry Goldwater might lead the United
>States to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Goldwater lost
>by a wide margin.
>
>The 2003 version follows the same format, with an added montage
>of scenes of military escalation: burning oil wells, tanks in
>the battlefield, wounded soldiers, chaotic protests in a foreign
>city and an ambulance racing through U.S. streets. Then, a similar
>mushroom cloud, and the screen goes to black, with a dire warning:
>"War with Iraq. Maybe it will end quickly. Maybe not. Maybe it
>will spread. Maybe extremists will take over countries with
>nuclear weapons. Maybe the unthinkable."
>
>Then, another "10... 9... 8...," countdown, and a final message:
>"Maybe that's why the overwhelming majority of Americans say to
>President Bush: let the inspections work."
>
>MoveOn.org's leaders hope the ad will enliven the debate on
>the specter of war - and persuade Americans to oppose a
>military solution in Iraq.
>
>"We're playing with matches in a tinderbox," Eli Pariser,
>MoveOn.org's international campaign director said. "We wanted
>to run an ad that would highlight that very real possibility
>and help encourage a national discussion about the consequences
>of war."
>________________
>
>Excerpts from today's Boston Globe
>
>FOES OF A WAR IN IRAQ SPREAD THEIR MESSAGE
>January 16, 2003
>
>By Robert Schlesinger, Globe Staff
>
>WASHINGTON - The ad starts with a little girl pulling petals off
>a daisy and ends with a mushroom cloud - a startling image
>underscoring an appeal for peace. In an updated version of an
>infamous 1964 political spot, modern-day activists are trying
>to urge mainstream Americans to join the movement against
>war with Iraq.
>
>The 30-second television spot, which is scheduled to start running
>today in 13 cities including Boston, is illustrative of a preemptive
>peace movement that has been organizing against a war that hasn't
>started. The movement's leaders are using 21st-century tactics to
>spread their message beyond the traditional ranks of the antiwar
>movement.
>
>"Our members don't really consider themselves activists," said Eli
>Pariser, international campaigns director for MoveOn.org, the group
>that funded and produced the ad. "It's the first time they've been
>involved in political issues. So getting out in the street for them
>is a scary thought, but making contributions and helping pay for
>an ad is something they're only too willing to do."
>
>To produce and air the ad, MoveOn.org raised more than $400,000
>over the Internet from more than 14,000 members between Dec. 5
>and Dec. 7, according to the group, which came into existence
>in 1998 to advocate against impeaching then-president Bill Clinton.
>The group raised more than $26,000 from 1,000 donors in Massachusetts.
>
>...
>
>"On Saturday, you will see many, many people in Washington, D.C.,
>and some of them will be our members,'' said Pariser. ''But what's
>exciting about this is we can get people who are housewives in
>Arkansas or plumbers in Ohio also involved in the same political
>push. I don't think it's a change in tactics necessarily,
>[so much as] adding new tactics that haven't been available in
>the past to reach more mainstream audiences."
>
>The television ad is calculated to get this movement noticed by
>mainstream America. Starting with the girl and the daisy, the
>images shift to what peace activists say could result from a war
>in Iraq: burning oil wells, wounded soldiers, angry crowds.
>
>"War with Iraq. Maybe it will end quickly. Maybe not. Maybe
>extremists will take over countries with nuclear weapons," a
>voice-over says.
>
>The image returns to the little girl before flashing to a nuclear
>explosion. The final message in white letters over a black
>background is: "Let the inspections work," referring to what
>the UN weapons inspectors currently assessing Iraq's efforts
>to develop weapons of mass destruction.
>
>The ad mirrors the television spot "Daisy," which then-president
>Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign ran against Republian challenger
>Barry Goldwater, suggesting that Goldwater was too dangerous to
>have control of the US nuclear arsenal. That ad ran only once
>before being pulled, but it has been rerun countless times as
>a classic of negative political advertising.
>
>The new ad may mirror the old in more than just its theme:
>MoveOn.org spent the relatively small sum of $185,000 on air
>time, apparently hoping just a short run would generate media
>attention.
>
>"The 'Daisy' ad was this ad about the danger that we face as a
>country and about the choices we have to make sure the worst
>doesn't happen," Pariser said. "We felt like we're in a very
>similar situation right now. With the prospect of this war
>in Iraq, we are playing with matches in a tinderbox."
>
>MoveOn.org is part of the Win Without War coalition, one of
>several groups trying to organize a peace movement that
>encompasses people who have in the past been slow to join.
>
>David Cortright, the founder and staff coordinator of Win Without
>War, recalled that the group's genesis came during the October
>antiwar protest in Washington. The rally, said Cortright,
>"was all over the map politically and not very appealing to a
>mainstream perspective." At dinner that night, he and a few others
>discussed forming a coalition that would be "more welcoming to
>mainstream constituencies."
>
>"We wanted to project a more mainstream, patriotic message.
>We feel that the number-one concern about this whole policy is
>that it's going to harm our country," Cortright said. "We don't
>go off and start wars, at least that's our tradition."
>
>The Win Without War group, announced last month as a group of
>"patriotic Americans who share the belief that Saddam Hussein
>cannot be allowed to possess weapons of mass destruction" but
>which also opposes a military solution, was the result. The
>coalition includes groups ranging from the National Organization
>of Women to the National Council of Churches.
>
>"It's an attempt to recognize that it's not just the liberal
>left or the theological left or the political left that is
>organizing," said Dr. Bob Edgar, a former House Democrat from
>Pennsylvania who is now the general secretary for the National
>Council on Churches. "It's just average, ordinary, common people
>who don't normally get excited about issues of war and peace,
>but on this issue they believe that the administration has not
>made its case."
>________________
>
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--



Alison Croggon
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