Action Alert: Write a Letter This Week

It was like a starter's pistol went off. Ned Lamont wins and the next day Republicans are politicizing a terror threat with outrageous comments. Dick Cheney even said Connecticut voters were supporting Al Qaeda.¹

They can't get away with that and, with voters angry about Katrina and Iraq, we can expose Republican posturing on security if we hit back hard.

This week newspapers will print letters to the editor about last week's terror threat. If thousands of us write letters we can remind the public that five years after 9/11 the Republicans have made us less safe. Can you take a moment to write a letter to the editor of your local paper? Our tool makes it easy, all you have to do is click below:

http://political.moveon.org/lte?campaign_id=63&id=8447-3396758-hrzQg9gYYr_GXExIl_cu.g&t=2

This moment is critical: public reaction will determine whether the administration can get away with blatantly politicizing terror threats. If we respond hard, their strategy will backfire, and the debate will shift to Iraq and the other ways they've made us less safe.

The opinion pages are the most popular pages in the newspaper, and if they're flooded with our letters, we can help shape public opinion. It only takes a few minutes to write a letter and even if your letter isn't published it encourages the editors to publish letters that tell our story.

And our story is important to tell—both to protect America and our democracy. Here are some key points to discuss in your letter (all of them are listed in the online tool too).

• Five years after 9/11, the Bush administration has failed to keep us safe.
• The war in Iraq has diverted attention from protecting America from terrorism. This past week 9/11 commissioners said Iraq is distracting from security at home.
• The war in Iraq has inflamed the whole Middle East and is helping Al Qaeda attract new recruits. Osama Bin Laden is still on the loose.
• Katrina showed all of us that the Republicans aren't able to protect America at home. The Republican Congress hasn't followed through on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.
• Republican political attacks during last week's terror threat are outrageous.

This is the critical moment when a letter to the editor is important. Hundreds of newspapers around the country are examining what happened last week. Can you write one?

http://political.moveon.org/lte?campaign_id=63&id=8447-3396758-hrzQg9gYYr_GXExIl_cu.g&t=3