A Stunning Victory and Upset

Mike's Letter

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November 4th, 1998 12:00 AM

Dear Friends --

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We did it!

The Counter Coup has won.

Impeachment is dead.

CNN just called it "a landslide."

History was made tonight. And all of you made it happen.

From out of the blue, as I and many of you predicted, tens of thousands of angry citizens came out in droves and committed an act of civil disobedience, voting straight Dumbocrat, and whacking the Republicans like a Mack truck they never saw coming.

Not since 1822 -- that's NOT a typo! I said 1822! -- has the party in the White House picked up seats in the middle of the second term of a President. That's 176 years! In other words, IT NEVER HAPPENS!

Well, it happened tonight. The Democrats will pick up at least 5 seats in the House and 1 to 2 seats in the Senate.

Every pundit, commentator, and news agency -- and I mean ALL OF THEM -- had predicted the Republicans would win anywhere from 20 to 40 seats in the House and 4 to 6 in the Senate. They started to revise these figures downward over the weekend when it appeared there was something "in the air". But none of them, other than Jeff Greenfield on CNN, would predict that the Democrats would show an increase and the Republicans a loss.

Oops.

It was clear to me over the past weeks that we were going to send a message to Washington. I have received so many thousands of letters, I have to dump my e-mail every hour because my box is full. I have no idea how many other thousands of letters never got through. I am being conservative when I tell you that more than a million people were reading and passing around these rants. The response was phenominal. One guy wrote me today to say that he had received the last rant from over two dozen people who had forwarded it to him. Numerous others, all day long, wrote to say how they had sent it to a hundred or more people. One individual told me he sent it to "over 800 people."

The best letters came from the non-voters, people who had decided to vote for the first time in years. I truly believe they, and the overwhelming numbers of African Americans who voted, made the difference in this election.

Tonight's turnout was the largest in any off-year election since 1970! The people had finally had it.

Even the Drudge Report tonight is reporting "Top GOP Official Says: Impeachment Dead."

It's all over folks and YOU made it happen.

D'Amato--gone! Faircloth--gone! Dornan--gone for good!

If we had been able to run candidates against the nearly 100 incumbents who ran UNOPPOSED, we would have even more victories tonight.

In the state of Washington, voters, by a 2 to 1 margin, increased the minimun wage. Right wing ballot initiatives, from abortion to taxes were defeated across the country.

For the past two weeks I've been traveling to a number of states, speaking at rallies, going door-to-door, and endorsing Democrats like sliced bread. I am especially happy to see the results in North Carolina where we had initiated an Internet truth campaign on the right wing Senator Faircloth. And last week, while in Lawrence, Kansas, campaigning for Dennis Moore, I had the pleasure to meet the rag tag bunch who were working round the clock to throw the incumbent right-winger, Congressman Snowbarger, out of office. No one had given Dennis a chance in this Republican state. I sat there and worked the phone banks, calling voters at home and encouraging them to vote for Dennis Moore. Everyone I spoke to said they would be there at the polls to vote straight Democrat. More than a few told me that they were sick and tired of these people trying to railroad the President.

Tonight, Dennis Moore is the new Democratic Congressman from Kansas.

And how about Jesse "The Body" Ventura as the new governor of Minnesota? Whoa! A third party victory! Yes! And a professional wrestler to boot! Here's hoping Jesse gives ol' Tommy Thompson and John Engler a body slam and a full nelson at the next Governors' Conference!

Ventura's victory, regardless of what you think of the Reform Party, is a watershed moment. It proves that if the people are given a true alternative and a chance to stick it to the whole lousy system of professional politicians, they will do so gladly. Of course, the media has to not create a blackout around that candidate, and it appears the press in Minnesota gave Ventura decent coverage. We must take heart in the possibilities here, and in the next few days, I will write to you and discuss my ideas for what we can do NOW to avoid the same sorry Evil of Two Lessers election in 2000.

So, chalk one up for our side. There will not be another 8 months of stained dresses and dancing cigars. These politicians will be forced to deal with the issues important to most of us. And they better get on with it, 'cause we proved tonight that the power is truly in our hands if we choose to exercise it.

Congratulations to everyone, give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back, and thank God for whoever invented the Internet! This is one dangerous democratic device!

Talk to you soon.

Michael Moore
Director, "Roger & Me", "TV Nation"
mmflint@aol.com

P.S. TO BILL CLINTON: Ok, buddy, you owe me -- and everyone who's reading this letter -- one. Start treating your wife with some respect and love. Stop trying to start wars to distract us. Your free trade ideas have ruined many families and you are responsible for their suffering. Quit gloating about the economy -- it is a house of cards, built on the personal debt and bankruptcies of millions of Americans, and it is teetering on the brink of collapse. Before the '96 election, you said you would "fix" the mean-spirited welfare bill if you got re-elected? Well? Was this a lie, too? How about eliminating some of that CORPORATE welfare you've been dishing out to the attendees of your little coffee klatches? Get with it. You come from the working class. Act like one of us -- and let people remember the final two years of your Presidency as the ones where you found redemption. Remember the message you sent to me across the room in the union hall when you first ran? You wanted to shake my hand for the cameras in Flint, Michigan, and I wouldn't do it. You told me "Roger & Me" had a profound impact on you. Prove it. Save my hometown where 67 percent of the school children live in poverty. Save Flint, save yourself. Redemption, Bill.

Meanwhile, we'll be busy making sure the right candidates are running in the next election.

(Please forward this letter to all the good people you have forwarded the other letters to!)

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