How we'll beat John McCain

[Guest Howard Dean]

Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are done. John McCain will be the Republican nominee -- he's the only one with a reasonable path to the nomination.

 

So how do we beat him? We stand up -- right now -- start fighting, and show the American people that he's not who they think he is.

 

We can't wait for Hillary or Barack to win the nomination. Now that the Republicans have a candidate, the dollars are starting to pour in from special interests who will do anything to beat the Democratic nominee. They're just waiting for us to decide so they can start smearing.

 

Here's what U.S. News and World Report recently reported about how the RNC is getting ready...

 

[RNC Chairman Mike] Duncan and his aides want to be ready to go on the offensive against the Democratic nominee presumptive in an effort to define the opposition candidate on GOP terms. Opposition research is already well along, and the plan is for surrogates to talk to the media around the country while a TV ad campaign in key states and media markets as soon as the Democratic nominee is determined.

We must be ready to fight back, and fight back hard, today.

 

Now that we know our opponent, it's time to build a national effort on the programs you and I have worked so hard to create over the last four years - from our cutting-edge technology to our voter protection programs, it's time to shift gears.

 

I need you to contribute $25, $50, or $100 to help us fight John McCain right now:

 

http://www.democrats.org/FightMcCain

 

John McCain is a media darling, but don't trust his carefully-crafted image - he's worked for years to brand himself. From Iraq to health care, Social Security to special interest tax cuts to ethics, he's promising nothing more than a third Bush term.

 

After championing campaign finance reform and ethics legislation to score political points, he now has a staggering amount of lobbyists involved in every aspect of his campaign. In fact, two of the top three sources for John McCain's campaign cash are D.C. lobbying firms, and he looked the other way as Jack Abramoff bought and paid for the Republican Party and the Culture of Corruption.

 

On immigration reform, he's run as far to the right as he can, aligning himself with the most extreme elements of the Republican Party.

 

On the war, McCain scoffed at Bush's call to leave troops in Iraq for 50 years, saying "Make it a hundred!"

 

On a woman's right to choose, McCain has vowed to appoint judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

 

On the economy, one of the issues that the American people care most about, McCain has said: "I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated."

 

We can't afford four more years with a President who drives the economy into the ground. We can't afford four more years with a President who fights an endless war in Iraq. We can't afford four more years with a President who gives tax cuts to companies who ship jobs overseas; with a President who can't get every American the health care they deserve; with a President we just can't trust.

 

I don't just want to beat John McCain - I want it to be a landslide. If you're as committed as I am, I need you to make a contribution today:

 

http://www.democrats.org/FightMcCain

 

Only the Democratic Party is legally allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money to back our nominee and tell the real story about John McCain. We proved that our strategy worked in 2006, and it will work again this fall.

 

Help us today:

 

http://www.democrats.org/FightMcCain

 

Let's get going,

 

Howard Dean

[Guest NCEC]

The wealth of presidential primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday and beyond have failed to produce a clear front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination but have shown a population increasingly tuned in to and motivated by the Democratic contest. Turnout on the Democratic side on Super Tuesday was historic, far eclipsing Republican turnout, as conservatives continue to be uninspired by their choices.This gap has also been seen in future battleground states, which bodes well for Democrats in both the presidential race and down-ticket races, including Senate and House races, in the general election.

[Guest Joe Sandler]

I'm Joe Sandler, General Counsel for the DNC. Yesterday we filed a complaint with the FEC after John McCain decided to break the law by ignoring the rules laid out as part of the federal matching funds program.

 

I don't know if you saw the news, but the press covered the complaint all day. John McCain himself directly responded to Governor Dean at a press conference, saying "We're doing exactly what Howard Dean did in a previous election and what the FEC ruled in the case of Congressman Gephardt."

 

But that's a lie -- John McCain isn't doing what Governor Dean and Congressman Gephardt did at all.

 

Governor Dean and Congressman Gephardt followed the law and were granted written permission by the FEC to withdraw from the federal matching funds program.

 

To prove it, we have a copy of the letter Governor Dean received from the FEC in 2003 granting him permission to drop out. If McCain is doing "exactly what Howard Dean did," he'll have no trouble producing a letter of his own.

 

But you and I know McCain's lying -- he doesn't have a letter like that from the FEC. Not only has he refused to get permission, he's been warned by FEC Chairman David Mason that he can't unilaterally drop out of the program. That's why we filed the complaint in the first place, and it's why tens of thousands of Americans like you signed your support.

 

Read Governor Dean's letter from the FEC, and sign your support for our complaint right here:

 

http://www.democrats.org/McCainBusted

 

John McCain abused the system to keep his campaign afloat until he could raise more money from special interests and lobbyists. Taxpayers don't want their money to be used by Washington politicians to help raise more money from lobbyists -- is this McCain's idea of ethics and reform?

 

Thanks to you, this "maverick reformer" is feeling the pressure of his own hypocrisy. From staffing his campaign with a team of lobbyists to breaking campaign finance laws, his total lack of integrity has never been more clear.

 

Keep it up,

 

Joe Sandler

General Counsel

Democratic National Committee