Recently, Republicans targeted one of the organizations they fear most: MoveOn.org. Their excuse was an ad MoveOn.org ran that essentially accurately accused General Petreus of betraying American interests by mouthing the Bush line on Iraq. And sadly, several Democrats went along with them. In the discussions that followed, I have heard comments accusing MoveOn.org of being more of a problem than a benefit for the Democratic Party. Well, I think it might be time to remember what MoveOn.org did in 2006. From the MoveOn.org website:

* Volunteers made 7 million phone calls, organized 7,500 house parties, and launched 6,000 in-district events. More people volunteered in 2006 than in 2004.

* We raised and spent $27 million in this two-year election cycle. We spent $25 million on taking back the House. Over 250,000 members contributed $3.6 million to individual 250,000 members contributed $3.6 million to individual 250,000 members contributed $3.6 million to individual House candidates and over $2.8 million to fund MoveOn TV ads in targeted districts.

* Our “Caught Red-Handed” TV ads demonstrated early that Democrats could win a majority in Congress by taking on Republicans others thought couldn’t be defeated. Of the nine long-shot races we targeted with these ads, Democrats won at least five.

* On-the-ground action by members helped ensure that Republicans who supported the Bush fiasco in Iraq would pay the price at the polls.

* We funded strong progressive candidates like Jerry McNerney (OH) and Bruce Braley (IA) in their campaigns to win House seats, and Sherrod Brown (OH) and John Tester (MT) in their tough Senate battles.

And here is a summary of what MoveOn accomplished:

Many of these Congress Critters who were helped by MoveOn.org, some of whom probably would not have won without MoveOn.org, voted to condemn them over an ad that was perhaps controversial, but fundamentally true. Let me quote Michael Bouldin from Daily Gotham as to just why this was a really boneheaded move by the Democrats:

Of course, as these things go, the Petraeus/Betray Us ad was mild. You may have heard the name Ann Coulter before - yes, she's the one who called for the assassination of President Clinton and liberal Supreme Court Justices and then, for good measure, called John Edwards, father of four, a fag. Has the Congress censured her? No, of course not. Or the Smearboat Veterans. Or Michelle Malkin. Or any other rightwing presence since Joe McCarthy, and him only weakly. That's because the right sticks together, and stands up for its own. This is also how they legitimize their hateful modes of discourse...

What you've done, my dear Democrats, is tar one of your own, one of your strongest and most effective allies, with the odium of censure by a government. Let's ignore for a second the First Amendment implications of this astonishing piece of idiocy - on strictly partisan grounds, this was a self-inflicted wound.

No, actually, it was worse than merely self-inflicted: it was avoidable. You control Congress via a majority delivered to you, inter alia, by MoveOn.org. This language could have been stripped out of the bill it was attached to - and do you think the republicans, if circumstances were reversed, would have batted an eyelash and done anything but?

Talleyrand said once in another context that something was worse than a crime - it was a mistake. Precisely. You may think that MoveOn is a standalone force, devoid of allies. Newsflash: it's not. I'm a member, as are most people in the netroots. You've censured, for all intents and purposes, myself and a lot of my friends...

You have some clear choices to make, all of you, not just the ones who voted to condemn MoveOn. You can either realize that the republicans are against you, and that there is no good will, no middle ground, left with them, and thwart them at every turn. Or you can continue to be played, and look forward to renewed minority status.

I have been a member of MoveOn.org practically since its inception when they opposed impeachment of Bill Clinton over a blow job. Hillary Clinton did the right thing in this case, standing up for MoveOn.org. Perhaps she remembers their inception and what they did for her husband and is appreciative. Kudos to Hillary. Not such kudos for many Democrats. I don't know about you, but I was one of those loyal Democrats who supports our troops who donated extra to MoveOn.org after the censure vote. So did many others (to the tune of $1,796,287.18 so far). If you haven't yet, you might want to do so to stand up for an organization that tells it like it is, even if it controversial, and that is one of the strongest and most effective organizations opposing the right wing extremists and chickenhawks.

Here is a list of Democrats who did the right thing:

Senate:

Akaka (HI), Bingaman (NM), Boxer (CA), Brown (OH), Byrd (WV), Clinton (NY), Dodd (CT), Durbin (IL), Feingold (WI), Harkin (IA), Inouye (HI), Kennedy (MA), Kerry (MA), Lautenberg (NJ), Levin (MI), Mendendez (NJ), Murray (WA), Reed (RI), Reid (NV), Rockefeller (WV), Sanders (VT), Schumer (NY), Stabenow (MI), Whitehouse (RI) and Wyden (OR)

House:

Abercrombie, Ackerman, Allen, Baldwin, Becerra, Berman, Blumenauer, Corrine Brown, Capps, Capuano, Castor, Clarke, Clay, Cohen, Conyers, Crowley, Davis (IL), DeGette, Ellison, Filner, Frank (MA), Al Green, Grijalva, Gutierrez, Hastings (FL), Hinchey, Hirono, Holt, Honda, Inslee, Jackson-Lee (TX), Jefferson, Johnson (GA), Jones (OH), Kilpatrick, Kucinich, Lee, Lewis (GA), Lofgren, Markey, Matsui, McDermott, McGovern, Meek (FL), Michaud, Miller (NC), Miller, George, Moore (WI), Moran (VA), Nadler, Neal (MA), Olver, Pallone, Payne, Price (NC), Rush, Ryan (OH), Sánchez, Linda T., Schakowsky, Scott (VA), Serrano, Sherman, Slaughter, Solis, Stark, Tierney, Towns, Van Hollen, Velázquez, Wasserman Schultz, Waters, Watson, Watt, Waxman, Weiner, Wexler, Woolsey, Wynn and Yarmuth

I am proud that my Congresswoman (Yvette Clarke) and many of the Congressional Reps I personally know (e.g. Maxine Waters, Anthony Weiner, Jerrold Nadler and Nydia Velazquez) did the right thing. I am curious why Loretta Sanchez is not on this list while her sister, Linda Sanchez, is. Both are good Reps. from formerly Republican districts in California and I am proud I donated to both of them when they first ran.

Fellow Democrats. It really is time to start learning your lessons. If I might suggest a place to start, each and every Democrat out there should read Drew Westen's book The Political Brain. Doing so might actually turn our party into a party of consistent winners. Personally, for the near future, my money is going to MoveOn.org.