Friends,
A few days ago I had a letter published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I wrote the letter to encourage them to endorse John Kerry for President. In 2000 they endorsed Bush.
This letter was written as part of the "Operation Fool Me Once" Campaign, which I learned about in the dKos diaries and stories. People across the country are writing letters to the editor of papers that endorsed Bush in 2000. It encourages them to re-read their endorsements from 2000 and consider endorsing Kerry. Many of the endorsements in 2000 talked about Bush being a "uniter not a divider", about his ability to keep budgets balanced, and his comment that he did not believe in nation-building. Things that seem pretty silly today.
I realize there have been diaries about this today, but I urge all of you to get involved in the campaign. You can go to http://www.youreaccountable.com to get all the info you need. The letter I wrote below took about 15 minutes of my time. IT IS EASY TO DO THIS!
Major city papers are already coming out with their endorsements (the complete list is at the end of this note), including Seattle, Portland, St. Louis, Detroit, and Atlanta. Not surprisingly, all endorse Kerry. Papers that have changed their mind from 2000 include the Seattle Times, the Oregonian, and the Lone Star Iconoclast which is the paper for Crawford, Texas (where Bush's ranch is located).
Get involved quickly! This is easy, but we need everyone's help THIS WEEK. Write one tonight.
For my Ohio brethren, the Ohio papers that endorsed Bush in 2000 include the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Columbus Dispatch, both Cincinnati papers (Enquirer and Post), and Canton Repository. I expect these papers to endose in the next week or so; if you can write a letter in the next few days, please consider doing it! Go to http://www.youreaccountable.com for all the info.
My letter printed on Friday:
In 2000, the Plain Dealer endorsed George W. Bush for President. This year I hope you realize the mistake you made then and endorse John Kerry for President this year.
In your 2000 endorsement, you claimed that Bush possessed "authenticity" and hailed his ability to work with Democrats. You wrote, "America cries for a coming together - for leadership that will reason across party lines to answer the needs of our schools, our elderly, our infirm and our future."
The results? Bush has not been held accountable for any of the disastrous positions he's taken. He has not been a uniter, but divided this nation
into haves and have nots. He's squandered global goodwill after September 11 by his unilateral invasion of Iraq. Our schools are in worse shape, in part because of his under funded No Child Left Behind Act. Seniors do not support the new Medicare reforms. And my children are looking out far into the future and see nothing but government red ink from the massive debts run up from Bush's tax cuts and policies.
In Al Gore's speech this year at the Democratic Convention, he said, ""I sincerely ask those watching at home who supported President Bush four years ago: did you really get what you expected from the candidate you voted for?" And so I ask the Plain Dealer, did you really get what you bargained for when endorsing Bush four years ago? Did any of us?
Please consider endorsing John Kerry for President. Thank you.
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Newspapers that have made endorsements:
For John Kerry
Saint Louis Post-Dispatch
Seattle Times
The Oregonian
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Philadelphia Daily News
The Lone Star Iconoclast (Crawford, TX)
Philadelphia Inquirer
Detroit Free Press
Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ)
The Day (New London, CT)
Portland Press Herald (Portland, ME)
For George Bush
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Pueblo Chieftain (Southern Colorado)
Mobile Register
Amarillo Globe-News (Texas)
The Sun (Lowell, MA)
The Courier (Findlay, OH)