MoveOn.org
MoveOn.org is a liberal political action committee in the United States that organizes and informs an online community estimated to include 1.7 million people. The group aims to promote grassroots advocacy by its members.Originally started in 1998 as a small, bipartisan, email group to "move on" past the impeachment proceedings of President Clinton, MoveOn grew to national prominence for its strong disapproval of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Since then, it has devoted its efforts toward supporting the Democratic nominees for the 2004 U.S. presidential election and defeating George W. Bush's re-election effort. Bush has dismissed the organization as a "focus group". During the California gubernatorial recall election in 2004, MoveOn broadcast a 30-second television spot opposing the candidacy of Arnold Schwarzenegger on grounds that the actor "has a serious problem with women."
In late 2003, the group sponsored an advertisement creation contest, "Bush in 30 Seconds." They received many contributions, and MoveOn.org's members voted for the finalists. A few ads out of the over 1,000 submitted compared George W. Bush to Adolf Hitler, and provided fuel for attacks against MoveOn.org from the right; none of these ads was a finalist. The finalists were then judged by a panel of celebrities. MoveOn.org attempted to place the winner, "Child's Pay," as an advertisement during the Super Bowl, but CBS rejected the ad, along with one from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, for being "controversial", drawing criticism for what critics alleged was censorship. CBS claimed that the ad was banned due to a longstanding policy of rejecting political advertising on the event. The ad has since aired semi-regularly, along with several other finalists in the competition.
In 1993, billionaire investor George Soros and a partner pledged US $5 million to MoveOn.org, for the purpose of helping defeat Bush.
MoveOn.org is one of three 527 Groups which are providing significant support to John Kerry; the other two are America Coming Together and The Media Fund.
It was announced in March, 2004 that Zach Exley, the director of special projects for the MoveOn PAC, is going to become the director of online communications and organization for senator John Kerry's presidential campaign.
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