On Tuesday night, Republicans in the Senate had to pick a side: They were either with the American people or with President Bush.

They chose Bush. They blocked a key vote to end the war. And we're going to make them pay for that choice.

As senators go home for August break, our partners at Americans Against Escalation in Iraq have put together the biggest campaign since the beginning of the war. It's called Iraq Summer, and it's going to present the Republicans with another choice: End the war, or face political extinction.

Iraq Summer hit the ground a few weeks ago. 90 organizers—including Iraq vets and military families—are busy building strong networks on the ground, organizing events and putting up hard-hitting advertising.

It's really important to keep this organizing going all the way through August. So we're aiming to raise $250,000 for AAEI and MoveOn's Iraq Summer campaign by the end of this week. Can you chip in $25 to turn up the heat on pro-war politicians—and make sure they pay in their home states for voting to keep the war going?

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/iraqsummer.html

If we want to end the war, we need to make it politically impossible for Republicans to stay the course.

And that's exactly what Iraq Summer is doing. Iraq Summer organizers are showing up at town hall meetings and asking tough questions, holding rallies, and training local volunteers on working with the media.

    * In Maine the Iraq Summer team kicked off its efforts with a rally in the beginning of July. Since then, Iraq Summer and MoveOn members have kept up constant pressure—pushing Senator Snowe over the edge.1 She recently signed on as a co-sponsor of the Levin-Reed Amendment to bring most of our troops home by April.
    * In Kentucky they staged a protest outside of a speech given by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a few weeks ago and made the local news—proving that voters in Kentucky want our troops home.2 Soon after, they launched a major ad campaign in Kentucky against him. 3 His approval ratings continue to plummet.
    * Last week in New Hampshire, Iraq Summer organized a letter delivery to Senator Sununu's office and added to the pressure he's been feeling on the war. They made the local news last week and then were at it again this week, helping out with our citizen counter-filibuster.4

And the field directors are a truly dedicated and impressive bunch.

    * Susan D. is a field director in Iowa. She's the mother of an Iraq war veteran and speaks passionately about the toll that this war is taking on families across the country.
    * Jackie R. is a field director in New Mexico. She's dedicating all her energy to ending the war. Jackie comes from a conservative Cuban family and will be working in Latino communities to put real pressure on Representative Heather Wilson and Senator Pete Domenici to make sure they do more than complain about the war—they vote to end it.
    * Joshua L. is an Iraq veteran and he's leading our work in Illinois. He's concentrating on making sure Representatives LaHood, Johnson and Kirk start voting with their constituents to end the war. He's already been making waves at town hall meetings.5

Can you chip in $25 to help MoveOn and Iraq Summer run the biggest campaign in history to end the war?

https://pol.moveon.org/donate/iraqsummer.html

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Tom, Eli, Jennifer and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
  Thursday, July 19th, 2007