Hey, It Made Me Send in a Check!

In Tuesday's mail, I got a letter with the name "James Carville" printed in the envelope's upper left corner. That alone made me curious enough to open it. The letter inside was a fundraising masterpiece. I wish I could write as tight and punchy as Carville. It was blunt, accurate and it stirred me to write out a check to the DNC the moment I finished reading it. I hope it has the same effect on you.

Check it out:

(James Carville letterhead)

Dear Karen Zipdrive,

It is time for a few words that too many people in Washington are afraid to say.

If we give this Bush crew four more years in the White House to do their dirty work, we won't recognize the America they created.

THEY WRECKED THE ECONOMY.

Faster than you can say "tax breaks for the wealthy," they turned huge budget surpluses into historic budget deficits. They've sat on their hands as American families have watched billions of dollars vanish from their hard-earned savings and retirement accounts.
Democrats created 20 million jobs in eight years. But over 2 million Americans have lost their jobs since George W. Bush started mismanaging our economy.

THEY'RE PRIVATIZING MEDICARE.

They're trying to wreck Medicare. They are telling people that to get the drug benefits they need, they have to abandon Medicare as we know it and leave their fate to a faceless HMO. Then they pass a drug benefit, backed by the prescription drug companies because it is guaranteed to keep drug prices sky high.

THEY'VE SQUANDERED OUR GOOD WILL.

Remember when America was a respected ideal for nations around the world?
Not anymore.

When the other nations of the world reached a historic agreement to reduce global warming, Bush told them to shove it. He broke our agreements controlling military defenses. His administration is imposing a gag rule on global HIV/AIDS funding- no money to fight AIDS for organizations that dare to tell women the whole truth about family planning.

And they wonder why America has become an object of contempt around the world.

WORST OF ALL, THEY LIE.

They craft a plan to let polluters off the hook and call it their "Clear Skies " initiative.
They clear the way for timber companies to destroy our public lands and call it their "Healthy Forests" plan. They call their new law protecting high prices for prescriptions a "drug benefit."

They say we can't pass our problems on to the next generation, then they create budget deficits that pour red ink all over our children's futures.

They talk about racial equality, then they appoint judges with abysmal records on civil rights.

Now we find ourselves in Iraq, with Americans dying every day. The president told us we needed war because he had evidence of a nuclear weapons program. But now they admit the evidence never existed at all.

How many reasons do you need to want to do something to replace this administration and give Americans the future we deserve?
If you have had enough, then you don't have to wait to take your stand.

Sit down, right now, and write the most generous check you can afford to support the Democratic National Committee.

Giving to the Democratic National Committee is one way every Democrat can help win the next presidential election and help restore decency and common sense to the White House.

Even if we stood no chance of beating those guys in the upcoming elections, we'd owe it to ourselves to fight them tooth and nail.

But, we can defeat them and this time, we can win so convincingly that even the Supreme Court can't bail them out.

But to win this election, your Party needs you. This election will be decided by contributions of $25, $50 and $100.

If we are going to win this election, it's up to you now. There are no more excuses to make. The choice is yours.

You can sit on your hands and watch the Bush campaign raise 250 million dollars to fund a vicious, relentless attack on our presidential nominee. Or you can stand and fight.

You can watch them rob Social Security to fund more tax cuts for the rich, privatize Medicare and wreck the environment. Or you can decide you've had enough of government of, by and for the wealthy and well-connected.

You can give George W. Bush four more years to shape a Bush Supreme Court that will set limits on our democracy for decades to come. Or you can take the power to name Supreme Court Justices out of his hands.

It's time to draw a line in the sand. Time to get mad and to get active.

I've been there. I ran Bill Clinton's presidential campaign in 1992- a campaign no one thought he could win.

I know we can defeat George W. Bush this year. But only if Democrats like you will stand up and be counted. And only if Democrats like you send the small donations it will take to pay for a successful presidential campaign.

So quit complaining, Start contributing. Let's join together now to send Bush an eviction notice and change our future in America.

Sincerely,
James Carville

P.S. So send in your check. Then, let's take it to these guys. Like Harry Truman said, "We won't give 'em hell. We'll just tell the truth and it will feel like hell."

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To send in your tax deductible contribution, make the check out to DNC and mail it to:
Democratic National Committee
c/o James Carville
430 S. Capitol Street SE
Post Office Box 96032
Washington, DC 20090-6032
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A note from Karen Zipdrive:
If this letter moved you to contribute to the DNC like it did me, please mention that you mailed in a contribution in my comments. ALL Contributors' names will be entered in a drawing to win a vintage lesbian pulp fiction paperback from my personal collection. Even a $5 contribution can help.
Please enter to win by January 31, 2004. The winner will be announced in early February.
Let's get started throwing Bush out of office, friends. It's time to put our money where our mouths are.

(and please feel free to reprint Carville's letter on your Blogs, or e-mail forwards of his letter to your friends)