Muggers.org
The Lowell Sun
Give us your money or else. That's the threat from MoveOn.org, the ultra-liberal political blog, to U.S. Rep. Marty Meehan.
For a week now, MoveOn.org's political extortionists have mounted an Internet campaign against Meehan because he refuses to accede to their wishes. They want Meehan to open his $4.9 million campaign war chest to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which is trying to win back the House from Republicans.
Meehan has resisted, and rightly so.
But what began as playful politics has escalated into a nasty MoveOn.org shakedown.
First, the bloggers sought a $1.2 million contribution from Meehan. They called him "cheap" when he didn't budge. Next, they ratcheted up the pressure, urging Democrats across the nation to e-mail Meehan. On Tuesday, they trotted out a Meehan supporter who has a son serving in the U.S. military in Iraq and fed the father to the press. The Lowell man implied that if Meehan didn't help the Democratic cause, his son might not come home on schedule. Yesterday, MoveOn.org's coordinator Adam Green sent an e-mail to Meehan's Lowell district manager, saying if Meehan forks over $250,000 "there is still time to make this a net positive instead of a net negative for Meehan."
Just think, like a political Mafia, MoveOn.org is willing to settle its score with Meehan for $250,000. But it's an offer Meehan can -- and should -- refuse.
Do 5th District constituents want a congressman in office who kow-tows to irresponsible bully bloggers? What's their next strong-arm campaign -- U.S. citizenship for Guantanamo detainees?
The attack on Meehan has exposed MoveOn.org for the cheap-shot blog artists they truly are. Most of what they spew on the Internet isn't even credible. In Meehan's case, the facts show he's done his fair share for the DCCC and party candidates.
First, the DCCC assessed Meehan $125,000 in party dues for the 2005-2006 election cycle, and the congressman paid up in full.
Second, Meehan also raised another $240,000 for the DCCC. On the local level, Meehan has raised $25,000 for gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick and has two more fundraisers scheduled.
Third, Meehan was the first Democrat in Congress to write a comprehensive Iraq war exit strategy for U.S troops. He doesn't have to pay up-front money to MoveOn.org to prove his point.
Meehan is a convenient MoveOn.org target because he has amassed the largest campaign war chest in the House and doesn't face a November challenger. But the bloggers overlook a crucial point: Donors contributed to Meehan because they support his political beliefs. Why should their donations go to a far-flung candidate who can't be expected to put the interests of Meehan's donors above his own?
If anything, MoveOn.org would be better served to go after Democrat deadbeats.
Sixty-eight House Democrats have failed to pay their DCCC assessments, totaling an astonishing $8.6 million.
Meehan supporters should be outraged by MoveOn.org's heavy-handed tactics.
To think that these Beltway fakers, who call themselves Democratic activists, would reach into the pockets of 5th District Democrats by attempting to embarrass a sitting congressman into submission shows just how
rotten these political scoundrels have become on the campaign scene.
http://www.lowellsun.com/editorials/ci_4554107
