Civil War on the Left, Part 22

MoveOn.org is not ready to . . . move on from Sen. Charles Schumer’s announcement that he will vote against the Iran nuclear agreement. MoveOn has called for a “donor strike.” Here’s what they claim to have accomplished:

After potential future Senate Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced that he would side with congressional Republicans and oppose President Obama’s negotiated deal with Iran late last week, threatening to put the United States on a path to war, 23,602 MoveOn members have responded by joining a donor strike.

Thus far, those more than 23,000 MoveOn members have collectively pledged to withhold $11,015,497 in campaign contributions from Democratic candidates who succeed in sabotaging diplomacy, as well as from any party committee, such as the DSCC, that supports such candidates.

Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action, issued the following statement responding to the fact that so many MoveOn members have joined the donor strike — part of the organization’s broader campaign to head off an unnecessary war with Iran:

“Diplomacy has yielded an agreement between the world’s major powers and Iran that will prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The only other means of limiting Iran’s nuclear program is war.

“While Sen. Schumer’s decision is not unexpected, it is outrageous and unacceptable that any Democrat — especially one who wants to lead his caucus — would side with Republican partisans, war hawks and neoconservative ideologues who are trying to scrap this agreement and put us on the path to war.

“MoveOn members know that risking American lives in wars of choice isn’t leadership.  And what they are indicating with this donor strike is that they are ready to punish any Democratic politician who puts America on the path to a war of choice with Iran.

“Plain and simple, the vast majority of Democratic voters — the people who elected President Obama in part because of our shared belief that war must always be a last resort — are demanding better. Our nation’s leaders must support diplomacy and prevent wars of choice.”

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