Move On -- past the truth

Some time ago, someone subscribed me to the mailing list for MoveOn.org. As a result, I get a certain amount of "counter intelligence", laying out what this particular organization has planned.

In the works right now:

Dear MoveOn member,

With only 33 days to go before the election, we've got to inform the public—and especially the women Sarah Palin panders to—about where she really stands.

And the truth is, on women's health issues, she's way out of the mainstream. When she was mayor of Wasilla, women who were raped literally had to pay up to $1200 out of their own pockets for the exams used to prosecute their attackers.

The folks at Planned Parenthood Action Fund have put together a very strong ad that lays out these facts in a clear, emotional way. The ad's been tested by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, a polling firm. It's very persuasive—one of the most effective ads of 2008.

But Planned Parenthood Action Fund needs help getting it in front of as many folks as possible. Can you help by chipping in $25? You can watch the ad and chip in here:
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The ad doesn't just focus on Palin. It also reminds voters that John McCain's record on women's health issues is troubling, too: He voted AGAINST the Violence Against Women Act.

The polling showed that when people watched it, their opinions of John McCain shifted dramatically. In the test, people were polled before and after they'd been exposed to the ad. After seeing it, they were a whopping 16 percentage points more likely to feel like McCain had poor judgment and 7 percentage points more likely to think he wasn't sensitive to the views of women.

Here's what a few people in the poll said about McCain after seeing the ad:

"He is against helping women with these awful unsolicited traumas and then leaves them with bills..."

"He doesn't share my same values and it is wrong to charge rape victims for exams."

"The fact that he has so little compassion for a woman who has been raped that he would make her pay for her exam and not allow her to have an abortion if needed."

As you can see, this ad really affects people who see it. And it provides critical information about important health issues facing women and their families.

Please chip in to help Planned Parenthood Action Fund get it on the air:
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Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Karin, Marika, Laura and the rest of the team

Of course, those of us who've been following this story know that no one's been able to find even one example of a woman being billed for a rape kit. So what people should be saying in response to this ad is, "What are the names of those women?"

This was a reasonable campaign to mount three weeks ago.

To be putting it together now, after the press coverage debunking it, is to propagate a lie.