Billionaire Boondoggle: George Soros and MoveOn.org
Exclusive commentary by CK Rairden
From The Washington Dispatch
Nov 12, 2003
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Billionaire George Soros says he wakes up at 3:00am with “his thoughts shaking him like an alarm clock” thinking about President George W. Bush and his policies. He has determined a new central focus in his life --defeat President Bush in 2004. No the foreign born Soros can’t pull a H. Ross Perot; he’s going to do one better. He’s willing to throw his cash at American far left activists, and hope they are up to the task.
Apparently modern day political history is not Mr. Soros’ strong point. The far left is getting destroyed at the polls. Far left wing organizations aren’t lacking in money, they are lacking a coherent message that mainstream America can latch on to.
It’s not the money--it’s the message.
A quick look at an article in the Washington Post shows why Soros has thrown the cash towards the left fringe. Soros ideology is just as far off the charts. The Post article quoted Soros as saying- “America, under Bush, is a danger to the world, and I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is.” He says that Bush’s statement of “your either with us or against us” (a misquote) conjures up memories of Nazi slogans he read in Hungary as a child. The paranoid leftist then proclaims to the Post that his battle against Bush will be known as “the Soros [Doctrine].”
According to The Washington Post, the billionaire has already donated over $10 million to a left wing activist group called America Coming Together. Their website leads with this tired mission statement; Tax cuts to benefit the wealthy … More arsenic and mercury in the water; fewer parks, wildernesses and forests for our future … Turning back the clock on civil rights, on women’s rights, on workers’ rights. It’s time to fight back against the extremist Bush agenda. It’s time for America Coming Together (ACT). America Coming Together (ACT) will conduct a massive voter contact program, mobilizing voters to defeat George W. Bush and elect progressive candidates all across America.
It’s difficult to form a complete opinion on America Coming Together yet as it appears they are just making their foray into the world of political activism. But if their mission statement is any indication on the originality they are going to bring to the table, they are setting themselves up for failure. These tired statements are proven losers, and while they will affirm the far left and even energize some on the fringe, they will also marginalize them.
In fact, the farther left the Democrats go, the better the chance of a 2004 GOP landslide.
Up next on Mr. Soros donation list was Move On.Org. That’s the web driven left wing organization where activism goes to die.
According to the article Soros pledged another $5 million to that group on Monday. Move On has been less than stellar at their far left wing activist agenda. The front page of the MoveOn web site on Tuesday was still asking for help to keep “The Reagans” on CBS.
Also lingering on the front page is this statement:
“Now the President is asking Congress for a staggering $87 billion [for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and to fund the rebuilding of Iraq] blank check to fund more of the same. Until he takes strong steps to correct this failure, Congress shouldn't give him a cent. President Bush needs to fire the team responsible -- starting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld -- and transfer authority to the United Nations.”
Both issues are already settled, with MoveOn.org on the losing side of each. The Reagan hit piece is off CBS and the $87 billion was approved. And the last statement shows why the far left continues to lose. Surrendering authority to the United Nations is not exactly mainstream thought.
For those unaware, MoveOn is a radical organization formed to stop the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Their original mission then was to stop the continuing obsession with the Clinton scandals.
They have now come full circle and as the left is now out of power they are (gasp) the ones obsessing about the President. They are now nothing more than an anti-war, anti-Bush web site. And thanks to Mr. Soros, they are an anti-Bush web site with a huge new influx of cash.
But pouring money down this liberal black hole seems like folly at best. In fact it would be more accurately described as…a boondoggle. But Mr. Soros has the money and has found a way to circumvent the new campaign finance restrictions and his charitable contributions must be a welcome addition for these two fringe groups.
Expect Bush hit piece ads to hit the airwaves soon.
But Soros is proving to be as ignorant in assessing American politics, as he is arrogant. Unloading this much cash into an organization with a lousy track record and another with no proven track record will accomplish at least two things, neither good for the Soros cause.
--Energize the economy to the tune of $15 million.
--Push the Democrat Party even farther to the left and alienating even more voters.
Both of these will help the President and neither will prove to be good for the cause that Soros, MoveOn or America Coming Together is pursuing.
And that may leave our paranoid philanthropist billionaire with a little less money and even more sleepless nights.
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