Michael Moore to Congress: Vote for Bush’s war in Iraq, lose our votes forever

2002 October 10 - I added my name and address (Benjamin Melançon, 33 Fisher Street, Natick, Massachusetts) to this simple petition through Michael Moore's site (michaelmoore.com):

YOU ARE EITHER WITH US OR YOU ARE FIRED!

"I pledge to never vote again for any Democratic candidate for public office who has voted in favor of George Bush's war in Iraq."

As a note also sent through the site to (I hope) my senators and representative I wrote:

Any pre-emptive strike against whichever country Mr. Bush claims may threaten U.S. safety is morally wrong, practically dangerous because it takes away any incentive to a country for not using weapons of mass destruction first if the U.S. will attack either way, and politically stupid for the Democrats because you can't run against a party with the same platform as that party, and people will not support such a blatantly imperial war except for that first month, which is why the Republicans want this war now, so that in that window when the war has actually begun and 'patriotic' fervor is aroused and the awful reality has not yet sunk in, in that window the Republicans will be helped by the fact that they are the party 'stronger on war.'  But no candidate has ever run on promising to bring the country to war for the simple reason that they would lose (Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon-- all ran promising to keep us out of or bring us out of war.  Which will be hard for Bush and the Republicans to do in 2004.  So whatever you do, do not give them this war at the one time it can help them.  Filibuster it in the Senate.  In this case, the election will have to be partly a referendum on war for certain candidates, although the actual filibuster could be done by those not up for re-election, but I repeat that people will not vote for a war that isn't currently going on, and they will not vote for a war that is not justifiable and cleanly successful.  That's why this timing is so important for the Republicans and that is why you can't, simply can not give it to them exactly when they want it.

Say the war on Iraq vote must wait until after the election.  Take it out of play.  Say you need more information, point out that the U.N. is able to make an agreement with Iraq and that Bush can always ask for war again if Saddam Hussein breaks this agreement.  Take out of the campaign which way you are going to vote on this war, which in no way can be claimed to be more urgent in the time period from now until November fifth than it was two years ago, and run this election and the election in two years on the economy, which is what more people care about.