Blue America Will Match Your Giving Tuesday Money To Stand With Planned Parenthood

As we've been writing all weekend, the Republican candidates-- on all levels, presidential, congressional-- are running their campaigns by inciting their supporters, some of whom are, by definition, not very stable, to violence. As Eric Kingson, the Blue America-endorsed candidate running for the House in a Syracuse, NY-based district points out, "the harsh rhetoric of Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz who called Planned Parenthood 'an ongoing criminal enterprise' and Mike Huckabee who called for the U.S. Department of Justice to 'criminally prosecute Planned Parenthood' invites intolerance. It also offers aid and comfort to those willing to act outside the law of the land and the norms of human decency. The inflamatory rhetoric of Cruz, Huckabee and other anti-choice activists diminishes the dignity of all and assaults the right of every woman to make intensely personal decisions free from coercion about whether to bring a pregnancy to term. And sometimes worse..."

Lou Vince, our candidate in CA-25, running against a complete NRA shill who uses the same kind of inflammatory language about women's health clinics, Tea Party psycho Steve Knight. made a similar point:

The horrendous act of terrorism committed in Colorado against the Planned Parenthood clinic illustrates why this election is so critical. We must stand up for a woman's right to choose and her right to control her own body, a right that Republicans like Steve Knight want to take away. Secondly, we must stand up to the NRA and stop putting up with their woefully misguided lobbying efforts that ultimately contribute to so much violence. As a cop, I know a thing or two about guns and enough is enough, we need sensible gun control reforms. Unfortunately, these things will never happen with Steve Knight in Congress. It's time for him to go.

PG Sittenfeld, who is running for the Ohio U.S. Senate seat against two of the worst NRA-backers in the country, conservaDem Ted Strickland and right-wing Republican Rob Portman, has been campaigning on curbing the NRA corrosive-- and murderous-- political power. After the shooting he told us that "The devoted people who work for and support Planned Parenthood, and who are unwavering in their support for a woman's right to choose, will not be scared or intimidated by the threats of bullies and the violence a psychotics. In the U.S. Senate, I will continue to stand up for women's health as well as boldly advocate for common sense gun safety reforms to set our country on a different path."

We decided to spend out Giving Tuesday asking for contributions from our members for our pro-choice/pro-gun safety candidates and to match all contributions up to $1,000 with a check from the Blue America PAC to Planned Parenthood. If you're not a Blue America member you probably didn't see the letter Digby wrote yesterday. In reading it, keep in mind what Maryland Delegate an congressional candidate Joseline Peña-Melnyk said after the right-wing terrorist was apprehended. I think she spoke for all Americans when she said "It saddens me to see more innocent Americans dead because our nation refuses to address the flood of guns that are easily available to unstable people. Those who oppose all reasonable gun controls should be ashamed. They have trapped us in this cycle of repetitive violence."

Digby:

With Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday having become something of an orgy of over-indulgence, somebody somewhere came up with the idea that the Tuesday after Thanksgiving should usher in the benevolent side of the holiday with a call to give back. They are calling it Giving Tuesday and it seems as though it might be refreshing reset from the endless eating and shopping of the long holiday week-end.

Unfortunately, this past Thanksgiving holiday was not just marked by the usual Walmart brawls and long lines waiting for Best Buy to open. This year we had to endure an act of terrorism perpetrated on our own soil: a man gunned down 12 people, killing three, in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. Afterwards, he was said to have declared "no more baby parts." Those two words-- "baby parts"-- are used by Republican demagogues to describe the practice of life-saving scientific research which uses fetal tissue. It refers to some hoax videos circulated by anti-choice zealots in furtherance of their cause.

It is inflammatory incitement and it did its job this last week-end.

The GOP presidential candidates were all very slow to condemn this murderous attack. And when they did, it was in the most grudging terms possible. Carly Fiorina, the candidate who blatantly lied before 25 million people in the GOP presidential debate, describing something that never happened in lurid, graphic detail even went so far as to cast blame on the left for even bringing up the possibility that rhetoric such as theirs may have contributed to this atrocity.

All Blue America candidates are crystal clear on where they stand, both in support for Planned Parenthood and against the NRA which makes it possible for zealots to easily acquire the firearms they use to carry out their deadly missions. This statement from state Senator Jamie Raskin, candidate for Maryland's 8th Congressional District speaks for all of us:

"The nightmare in Colorado Springs brought together two lethal threats to the American people: the epidemic of gun violence made possible by lax gun laws and the NRA, and the relentless attacks by right-wing fanatics on Planned Parenthood and the right of American women to access basic reproductive health services. Let this outbreak of homegrown terror in Colorado give us the resolve we need to impose civilized gun safety laws in our country and to stop all of the appalling efforts to defund and destroy Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of reproductive health services in the U.S."

In the spirit of Giving Tuesday, Blue America has decided to match the first $1,000 we collect for any candidates on this page and donate it to Planned Parenthood. We want to help the organization in every way we can and that means giving directly but it also means electing leaders to congress who will stand up and fight for women's rights. It is imperative that we do both.

We are at a critical time in American politics. Please consider spending some of your "Giving Tuesday" dollars by donating to the Blue America candidates of your choice and we will double the effort by matching it with a donation to Planned Parenthood.