|
Dear Friend,
Last night I withdrew my candidacy from the recall race
and today I am
writing to sound an alarm about what is at stake in
this election. I am
devoting all my time and energy in these remaining six
days to defeating
the recall -- and to defeating the Arnold Schwarzenegger-Pete
Wilson
forces that are trying to use the recall to hijack our
state. Please
help me do that by forwarding this message.
I have signed MoveOn's "Recall No, Democracy Yes"
pledge and I urge you
to do the same. More than 260,000 people have pledged
to do something --
such as forwarding this email! -- in these last days
to defeat the
recall and stop Arnold Schwarzenegger. Click here to
sign the pledge:
http://moveon.org/pac/recall/
http://moveon.org/pac/recall/?id=1728-173168-vitvW0xBE4VR3.n4JPAoiQ
From the beginning of my campaign I have said that I
opposed the recall
on principle. It was backed by a bunch of Republican
sore losers looking
for a backdoor way to overturn an election they lost.
Nevertheless, once
the recall was set, I felt that the opportunity it offered
to elect a
truly independent and progressive governor was too important
to let
pass. And so I entered the race.
Now that it's clear that's not going to happen, my highest
priority is
to issue a wake up call and bring a sense of urgency
to what is at
stake. The people of California simply cannot afford
to have Arnold
Schwarzenegger as their governor.
In 2000, we were taken in by a charming, affable man
who promised us
compassion but gave us war in Iraq, a soaring deficit,
millions of lost
jobs, two million more people living in poverty, and
the rollback of
vital environmental protections. I look at Arnold Schwarzenegger,
and
see more of the same. We don't need another figurehead
for all the usual
Republican special interests. Let's not be fooled again.
When this race started, Arnold Schwarzenegger was an
unknown quantity.
And a week before the election there is still far too
much we don't know
about him.
If, as he says, he is going to balance the budget but
raise no taxes,
shouldn't he have to tell us -- before the election,
not after --
precisely what vital programs and services he proposes
to cut to make
that happen -- and precisely who is going to feel the
pain of those
cuts?
Arnold Schwarzenegger has spent millions of dollars
crafting and selling
a political persona that is completely contradicted
by reality:
* He promised to take no special interest money, but
then turned
around and raised millions from special interests for
his campaign.
* He painted himself as an outsider, but then surrounded
himself
with Pete Wilson operatives and a Who's Who of GOP insiders.
* He went on Oprah to appeal to women, but didn't include
a
single woman on his team of economic advisors. In a
state where there
are tens of thousands of women in positions of power,
including both
U.S. Senators, there was not even one woman who he thought
worthy of
adding to the mix?
* A vote for the recall is a vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
We
must not vote for a fantasy leader and end up with a
nightmare: a Bush
Republican who thinks the answer to all of California's
problems can be
found in making life even easier for businesses and
giant corporations.
We can defeat the recall. But what will it take? It
will take forwarding
this email to all your friends, and picking up the phone
and talking to
those friends who might need your encouragement to vote,
or who might
need to hear more about what's at stake from you before
they make up
their mind. There are already 260,000 of us working
against the recall
in these simple ways. Sign the "Recall No, Democracy
Yes" pledge to join
us:
http://moveon.org/pac/recall/
http://moveon.org/pac/recall/?id=1728-173168-vitvW0xBE4VR3.n4JPAoiQ
Sincerely,
-- Arianna Huffington
October 1st, 2003
|
