Michael Moore's get out the vote national tour

Michael Moore On Tour; Slackers of the World, Unite!
Saturday, September 25th, 2004
Michael Moore On Tour; Slackers of the World, Unite!

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow I begin a little 20-state, 60-city tour to try and convince the fed-up, the burned-out, and the Nader-impaired to leave the house for just a half-hour on November 2nd and mark an "X" in a box (or punch a chad or touch a screen) so that America and the world can be saved. (I don't mean "saved" as in all workers will henceforth control the means of production. That's, um, going to take a few more years.)

What I'm asking is that our fellow Americans, as the collective landlord of a public housing project at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., take just a few minutes to evict the tenant who is currently wrecking the place (not to mention what he's doing to the rest of the neighborhood). After all, isn't this one of the coolest things about a democracy, getting to give some payback to those in power? "YOU'RE FIRED!" Oooh, that feels good -- especially if the recipient of the pink slip is someone who wants to send your kid off to war.

So, having nothing better to do for the next month (and eager to visit such swinging states as Iowa! Ohio! Arkansas!), I have decided to go to every battleground state in the country and do whatever it takes to get out the vote. I will do your laundry, I will clean your house, I will give you a year's supply of beer nuts if you will commit to me to go to the polls on Tuesday, November 2.

I'm calling it "The Slacker Uprising Tour", a coast-to-coast effort to bring the non-voting majority out of hibernation and kick some political butt. My goal is to get as many of the 100 million non-voters in America as I can to give voting a try -- just this once. I want at least 56% of all eligible voters to vote and thus set a modern-day turnout record.

I'm putting out the red alert call to slackers everywhere to help me lead this revolt. I want everyone in their teens and twenties who exist from one packet of Ramen noodles to the next bag of Tostitos to take your fully-justified cynicism and toss it like a Molotov right into the middle of this election. As "non-voters" you have been written off. But if only a few thousand of you vote, it could make all the difference. You literally hold all the power in your hands. That's even cooler than holding a TV remote.

I, the original slacker -- I, who have endured all sorts of attacks for my slacker demeanor -- yes I am coming to an arena or stadium just outside your dorm room (or that little space off the furnace room where your parents still let you stay, rent-free). Why arenas and stadiums? Because there are so many of us -- AND they serve beer and chips. From the Sun Dome to the Key Arena, from the Patriot Center to the Del Mar Race Track, I will be there and I will bring prizes and presents and clean underwear for all in need.

Before I arrive, I have arranged for free screenings of "Fahrenheit 9/11" in each city. When I get there I will have with me dozens of voter registrars who will register new (or recently transplanted) voters (please check here for voter registration deadlines -- they are fast approaching in most states in the next 10 days!). Absentee ballot applications will also be available. And the good people of Move-On, ACT and other groups will be present at each of my appearances to sign up volunteers to get out the vote on election day.

Details of where I will be appearing will be available in your local media. Many venues, due to advance word already out there, have "sold out" (at most stops, students get in for free and community people pay a nominal fee -- usually $5 -- to cover costs). Again, check your local media to find out the times and dates and how to get advance tickets.

A partial list of the cities I'm visiting includes: Seattle, Big Rapids (MI), Mt. Pleasant (MI), Tucson, Dearborn, Phoenix, East Lansing, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Albuquerque, Toledo, Columbus (OH), Ames (IA), Cleveland, Fairmont (WV), Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Bethlehem (PA), Fairfax (VA), Carlyle (PA), State College (PA), Minneapolis, Gainesville, Nashville, Miami, Memphis, Orlando, Salem (OR), Jacksonville, Tampa, Kansas City, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Madison, Green Bay, Las Vegas, Reno, Denver, and, of course, Tallahassee, Florida. Others will be posted later.

While on the road, I will try to keep my blog up-to-date and post some pictures we take in each city. The three campuses on the tour which register the most students to vote (or who have the most non-voters committing to me to vote) will receive a special scholarship from us at the end of the tour.

Thanks, in advance, to everyone out there who is working hard during this election. I know it will make a difference.

Let's leave no non-voter behind.

Yours,

Michael Moore
[email protected]
www.michaelmoore.com
www.michaelmoore.com/takeaction/vote/

P.S. Good news! This current weekend our distributor has added an astounding 600+ new theaters to the list of those still showing "Fahrenheit 9/11." This is highly unusual for a film entering it's fourth month of release, but the demand has been strong to bring it back in many areas and our wonderful distributors have responded. This is a perfect time to either see it again on the big screen or take a friend who hasn't seen it, as it won't be around in theaters for long. The DVD and home video come out October 5!

I don't know how he expects voters to get to the polls when they're stuck in his gravitational field.

BBB

thanks a bunch. I am going to go to his website and send a link to someone I know who will appreciate it.

I got a link to this at one of my care2connect sites. I forwarded it to some folks who need to think about voting. I don't care who they vote for - as long as they start taking responsibility for the state of things around them.

GET OUT THE VOTE !
watched andy rooney on the 60 minutes last night. he thinks people who really don't care about the election in the united states should not go and vote. he doesn't want anyone with no interest in the election to cancel out his vote. it made me think - while i believe that people should go and vote, i also believe that they should be informed about the issues in an election (any election). just putting an X somewhere to be able to say 'ya, i voted' , is probably not what i would want people to do. what's your opinion ? just go and vote, even if you don't know what the issues are ? you can see what andy said >>>DON'T CANCEL MY VOTE

Unless Micheal Moore and Clinton's people finally getting in the act with Kerry's compaign start to pull miracles, I don't think it is going to matter. Too little too late, I think.

Even the debates are going to be a joke. There are so many rules in them that there can't be an honest dialogue. Canadidates can't even ask each other questions. (one of bush's rules)

Michael Moore getting out the vote
Dear Friends,

This is it: One month to D-Day! That's "Dump Bush Day," November 2nd.

It's now time to roll up our sleeves -- each and every one of us -- and get to work. There will be nearly 10 million of you who will read this letter either on my list or on my site. An army of ten million cannot be defeated! The time for hitting the snooze button has passed, voter registration deadlines start Monday and we only get one shot at this!!!

My plan is simple. Will you join me in the following?

1. REGISTER FIVE PEOPLE TO VOTE THIS WEEKEND. There are only a few days left in most states before voter registration is cut off. Keep asking like-minded people you know if they are registered. If they are not, take them to this website where you can show them where they need to go to get registered. Offer to take them there yourself. Take them to lunch afterward! If you can, pick up registration forms from your local city or county clerk (or get them from you local Democratic Party or Kerry HQ). Carry them with you everywhere you go. Hook up with local groups standing outside shopping centers and events this weekend or Monday or Tuesday and register people there. Nothing is more critical in the next 48 to 72 hours than to get our people registered. The wealthy and the conservatives are already registered -- the poor, the single moms, the recent transplants to your town are not. And neither are students and young adults (check local and state laws, some of which make it very hard for college students to register and vote). VOTER REGISTRATION ENDS ON MONDAY IN Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. Make no mistake, if you live in any of these states - realize now that WHAT YOU DO OR DON'T DO THIS WEEKEND will have an effect on this election!!!

2. CALL AND VOLUNTEER NOW. There is nothing more important in the next 31 days than spending whatever free time you have working to remove George W. Bush from the White House. Again, call the local Democratic Party HQ or the local Kerry HQ or the ACT office and say you want to help. They will put you to work making calls, going door to door, putting up yard signs, lining up rides on Election Day for senior citizens, etc. Removing Bush and electing Kerry will require physical labor on all our parts. We just can't sit home and wish it to happen. (A Warning: Some local Dem HQs are not always as organized as you would hope them to be. If you call and they don't have it together, don't get discouraged. Just move on to my next point, #3...)

3. START YOUR OWN KERRY CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS! If the Dems don't have it together in your area, don't complain, just take matters into your own hands and run your own campaign for Kerry. Or, even if there is a strong Kerry presence in your county seat, there still may not be in the outlying areas where you live. There's nothing wrong with you and your friends saying, "OK, today we inaugurate the Kerry HQ here in Hooterville...or Kurt Cobain High...or Dorm Building 5!" If you can't get signs or leaflets, make your own! Don't wait for someone to do it, otherwise it won't get done. Send me pictures of your own renegade Elect Kerry/Dump Bush HQ and I will put them up on my site!

4. IF YOU DON'T LIVE IN A SWING STATE, GO THERE AND START SWINGING. Virtually everyone in this country lives within driving distance of one of the 20 battleground states where the election will be close. Pick one weekend this month and go on a fall color tour to dump Bush. Pack up the kids or the neighbors, pick a town -- any town -- in your nearest swing state, reserve a room at the local Motel 6 and hit the road! Volunteer online or call ahead to the local party HQ to say you are coming and you want them to put you to work (again, if there is no one there to put you to work, make your own handbills, print out a thousand of them, and just show up in Anywhere, Ohio and start going door to door). There are other groups doing work in the swing states that you can hook-up with, like ACT and Driving Votes who could really use your help getting out the vote. You don't have to feel left out of this election just because you live in New York or California or Illinois or any of the other 29 states the candidates won't be visiting. Take matters into your own hands. Think of what a great educational experience it will be for your kids -- or yourself. JUST ONE WEEKEND THIS MONTH -- PLAN IT NOW!

5. TAKE OFF WORK OR SCHOOL NOVEMBER 2. We need everyone working the polls, the phones, the neighborhoods from dawn to dusk. Poll watchers are needed to make sure there is no cheating. Help is needed in all 50 states and you can do it from home or you can park yourself in a swing state for the day.

There you have it. Five Simple Steps. I'll be doing my part as I travel the country to the 20 swing states. Please join with me in this effort. Kerry is doing his part, he won the first debate (stop the kvetching...of course YOU would have done a better job! But YOU'RE not running for president! He beat Bush...Bush must go!!). Remember, what's at stake in this election is bigger than John Kerry, bigger than political parties and all the other noise that accompanies politicians and their elections. This is about that mother from Flint, Michigan -- and all the other mothers from all the other towns in America -- who have lost and WILL LOSE their sons and daughters in Bush's never-ending war in Iraq.

Please, put aside whatever keeps you from jumping in to do the necessary work to remove George W. Bush from office. This can only be accomplished when you, right now, stop reading this letter and make that call (or click that mouse) to get involved.

Thanks so much...

Michael Moore
[email protected]
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
www.michaelmoore.com/takeaction/vote/

P.S. If you are having trouble registering or voting, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

P.P.S. If you have a chance to see Going Upriver, the great new documentary about John Kerry in theaters this week, do so! See film info in BBB's post below.

John Kerry Documentary "Going Upriver"
THINKFilm Plans October Release for John Kerry Doc "Going Upriver"
by Wendy Mitchell

Another hotly anticipated political documentary will be coming to theaters before Election Day. THINKFilm has signed on for domestic distribution of "Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry," directed by the Democratic presidential candidate's long-time friend George Butler ("Pumping Iron," "Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition"). The doc will have its world premiere at September's Toronto International Film Festival, followed by an October 1 theatrical release in select U.S. cities.

"George Butler is a master storyteller and nobody creates cinematic portraits of daring men at pivotal points in their lives like he can," said Mark Urman, THINKFilm's head of U.S. theatrical distribution in a prepared statement. "We are thrilled to be involved with this project and look forward to mounting a campaign and orchestrating a release that, for a number of reasons, will be unlike any we have ever done."

THINKFilm described the film thusly: "Through footage and photos taken by Butler throughout his 35-year friendship with Kerry and narrative provided by Doug Brinkley's best-selling book 'Tour of Duty' serving as a loose blueprint, Butler tells the story of John Kerry's remarkable life." The film includes previously unseen footage, and follows Kerry from the Vietnam War to his anti-war activism and his political career.

"Think is a great company and we are delighted to be working with them," said Butler in a prepared statement. "With their track record in distributing films such as Jonathan Demme's 'The Agronomist,' I know my film is in excellent hands."

The deal was negotiated by Liz Manne of Duopoly, White Mountain Films legal council Steve Dembitzer, executive producer Bill Samuels and CEO of Palisades Pictures and executive producer Vin Roberti, on behalf of the filmmakers, and Randy Manis, EVP of acquisitions and business affairs, on behalf of THINKFilm. Roberti's Palisades Pictures has committed up to $1 million to help with costs of marketing the film.