The Redhunter

One of the most famous of the new groups is MoveOn.org. Founded in 1998 by the husband-and-wife team Wes Boyd and Joan Blades, York relates how they got the idea for their organization while at dinner one night at a Chinese restaurant in their hometown, which is just north of Berkeley California. They started discussing the imminent impeachment of President Clinton, apparently loudly, for before long everyone in the restaurant was agreeing with them. They saw this as the genesis of a mass movement and decided to found MoveOn PAC, which eventually became MoveOn.org

The organization floundered until Sept 11, when the terrorist attack gave it an issue. The way they responded is illuminating, to say the least.

Joan Blades wrote a petition called "Justice, not Terror" (interestingly, it has been removed from their website) York, however, saw or has the petition, and quoted it in an article posted on NRO. It read, in full

"Our leaders are under tremendous pressure to act in the aftermath of the terrible events of Sept. 11th. We the undersigned support justice, not escalating violence, which would only play into the terrorists' hands."

In other words, they did not want us even to go into Afghanistan. MoveOn.org has tried to deny this, but York has the goods on them.

In addition to organizations such as MoveOn.org, York profiles several individuals, such as Michael Moore and George Soros.

Moore has been around for some time, but it has been his Fahrenheit 9/11 that launched him into national politics.

Moore and others on the left were convinced that this movie would convince millions of "fence sitters" that George W Bush was a liar and would convince them to vote Democratic in 2004. Apparently many big-name Democrats thought so too. At the film's Washington Premier on June 24 of 2004, York lists many that were in attendance: Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, Iowa Senator Max Tom Harkin, Montana Senator Max Baucus, South Carolina Senator Ernest Hollings, Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, Florida Senator Bill Nelson, New York Congressman Charles Rangel, Washington State Congressman Jim McDermott, DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe, Paul Begala, People for the American Way chief Ralph Neas, and others.

The national media played along, giving the film much attention. However, York takes a look at the actual numbers and concludes that it's impact was far less than it's sponsors supposed. For example, in terms of opening receipts, movies that beat Fahrenheit 9/11 include Barbershop 2, Mean Girls, Scooby-Doo 2, Alien vs. Predator, and Starsky and Hutch . The movie was simply preaching to the choir. It converted few people, and appealed only to the extreme left, who hated President Bush anyway.

George Soros is also the attention of a chapter, and deservedly so, since he is a major funder of left-wing causes. He is also a decidely weird figure. York relates a speech by Soros he attended in June 2004 at a Take Back American conference. Soros could barely complete a coherent sentence. He stammered, rambled, and often and paused for uncomfortably long periods, one time going as long as 20 seconds without saying a thing. When he did finally get going, "his point was difficult to decipher", other than that he hated George W Bush. The audience replied with tepid applause, but tolerated this weirdness because they knew he would fund their causes.

York concludes that these new left groups and individuals failed in their task because for all their effort, all they ended up doing is preach to those who were already on their side. They believed their own propaganda about how much influence they were having on the national scene. York points out that a website, for example, can generate a huge number of hits, yet still not be viewed by any but a relatively small number of people.

Further, they were vastly overconfident. Many of them were not only convinced that they would win in November, but that it would be a landslide. They refused to believe polls that showed that the election would be close. To a degree this is understandable, York says. When one experiences exponential growth in a new medium, or organization, it is easy to believe that you are reaching a vast audience. But in a nation of 280 million, even speaking to 20 or 30 million means little, especially since they are likely to be those who are already believers in your cause.

This said, York posts several warnings for conservatives. That they failed last time, he says, is no reason to believe that they will do so again. These are some very smart people, after all, who are quite capable of learning from their mistakes. They have much money at their disposal, and their organizations are already in place. In addition, they will still run against George W Bush, despite that he will not be on the ticket in 2008.

Conservatives should read this book, and take heed.