posted 12-20-2003 01:48 PM            

Online Voting : Between December 15 and December 31, 2003, visitors to the bushin30seconds.org web site may vote for any and all posted entries by voting on a “5 Stars” (highest rating) to “1 Star” (lowest rating) basis for each of the following four categories:

1) Overall Impact: educational, informational, persuasive (weighted 40%);
2) Originality: concepts/ideas/format (weighted 20%);
3) Memorable Content and Delivery (weighted 20%); and
4) Clear Message (weighted 20%)
One vote per entry per active email address only

You can start rating the ads right now at - register here: http://www.bushin30seconds.org/index.html

"We recommend viewing the ads on a high-speed Internet connection -- it'll take a long time for them to load with dial-up. Also, you'll need Apple's QuickTime software to view the ads."

It's free at: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

It took me about 45 minutes with cable dial up to view my first set of 20 ads! Some were so creative. Here are three I liked so far:
http://www.bushin30seconds.org/vote/view.html?ad=Ny6Xrb5g3OeSYm8IjlYxe3ZpZXctMjczNQ--

http://www.bushin30seconds.org/vote/view.html?ad=HDoEKjIC6kJNfChJugie9nZpZXctMTUwNQ--

posted 01-05-2004 10:36 PM            

Quote from MoveOn: Due to popular demand, we're also adding three new categories for the contest: Funniest Ad, Best Youth Market Ad, and Best Animation. If you register, you'll be able to vote on the finalists in each of these categories starting on Thursday. You can register at:
http://www.bushin30seconds.org/runoff/index.html

Here’s the top 15 (low band and high band available here): http://www.bushin30seconds.org/

Child’s Play http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=01&size=large

In My Country http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=03&size=large

Polygraph http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=04&size=large

Bring 'Em On http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=05&size=large

What Are We Teaching Our Children? http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=06&size=large

Imagine http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=07&size=large

Human Cost of War http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=08&size=large

Wake Up America http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=09&size=large

Desktop http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=10&size=large

Army of One http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=11&size=large

Bankrupt http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=12&size=large

Hood Robbin’ http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=13&size=large

Leave No Billionaire Behind http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=14&size=large

Bush’s Repair Shop http://www.bushin30seconds.org/view.html?id=15&size=large

posted 01-07-2004 12:39 AM            

Dear MoveOn member,

As the New Year begins, we'd rather be talking about positive things, and there are plenty of good things happening. But MoveOn.org has come under attack from the Republican National Committee (RNC), which has launched a campaign of malicious misinformation to divert attention from the creativity and power of the Bush in 30 Seconds contest. We need your help to make sure the media don't fall for it.

RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie launched the attack on "Fox News Sunday," and the RNC followed it with press releases and calls to reporters. The charges centered on two ads posted on the Bush in 30 Seconds website which compared President Bush's tactis with those of Adolf Hitler. Mr. Gillespie repeatedly referred to the ads as 'the MoveOn ad' or 'MoveOn's ad,' implying that we had sponsored or perhaps even commissioned the ad. And he also claimed that we might spend $7 million to run it on TV.

This is a lie. MoveOn.org hasn't sponsored such an ad, and we never would -- we regret the appearance of these ads on the Bush In 30 Seconds site. The two ads in question are from more than a thousand posted by members of the public, and they were voted on by MoveOn members through December 31st. Obviously the few hundred of you who viewed these ads agreed that they were not worthy of further broadcast or recognition, because they got low ratings. Yesterday we announced the 15 finalists -- all good, hard-hitting and fair appraisals of the Bush record, in the judgment of the members and others who rated them. The two offending ads can only be found one place now -- on the RNC website!

When we've explained this to journalists, most have understood that this is a game of gotcha politics, not news. But even our statement for the press below, which goes through the entire process in detail, hasn't stopped the right wing from working this angle as hard as they can.

That's why we're asking you to please watch for stories on this as they appear, and let us know. Call the news outlet yourself and give them hell for falling victim to such political baloney. I've attached our statement, which fully explains the situation, below. Then please let us know so we can contact the outlets directly.

You can help us track inaccurate reporting on this story at: http://moveon.org/smear/?id=2233-3434969-Ng66pIzuoemBe.92bmFduA

Second, we need you to get the press back on the right track. After you've corrected the negative accounts, write an upbeat letter to your local paper about the exciting and positive aspects of the contest and the finalists. These ads reflect the courage, hope, and deep patriotism of our membership. They're creative, passionate, and totally unlike most of the political ads that are out there. And perhaps most importantly, they were picked in a democratic way. Now that's a story.

The finalists are online at: http://www.bushin30seconds.org/

By sharing that URL with your friends, family, and colleagues, you can help to make sure that the RNC isn't successful in stealing our finalists' glory.

Not only is the RNC campaign deceptive, it's also totally disingenuous. Yesterday, the New York Post ran a long opinion column focusing exclusively on how much Presidential Candidate Howard Dean resembles Hitler, even calling him "Herr Howie." Of course, the RNC hasn't issued a condemnation of that. When close RNC ally Grover Norquist repeatedly compared taxing the wealthy with the Holocaust in an interview on NPR, the RNC was muted. And in 2002, the RNC and its allies were silent when supporters of President Bush actually aired TV ads morphing the face of Senator Max Cleland, a triple amputee as a result of wounds sustained in Vietnam, into Osama bin Laden. Given such a transparently partisan track record, the RNC's moral outrage doesn't mean a whole lot.

Obviously, MoveOn.org and its 1.7 million members are now on the right-wing radar. They are going to do everything they can do to silence us, and we simply won't let it happen. Smear tactics and campaigns of misinformation have no place in American democracy.

Sincerely,
--Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn.org Team
January 6th, 2003

P.S. Here's the statement we released to the press yesterday, which explains the whole situation.

ADS ATTACKED BY RNC CHAIRMAN
ARE NOT MOVEON.ORG VOTER FUND ADS
MoveOn.org Voter Fund Regrets
Screening Process Allowed Ads to Slip Through
Statement by Wes Boyd, Founder of MoveOn.org Voter Fund:

The Republican National Committee and its chairman have falsely accused MoveOn.orgof sponsoring ads on its website which compare President Bush to Adolf Hitler. The claim is deliberately and maliciously misleading.

During December the MoveOn.org Voter Fund invited members of the public to submit ads that purported to tell the truth about the President and his policies. More than 1,500 submissions from ordinary Americans came in and were posted on a web site, bushin30seconds.org, for the public to review.

None of these was our ad, nor did their appearance constitute endorsement or sponsorship by MoveOn.org Voter Fund. They will not appear on TV. We do not support the sentiment expressed in the two Hitler submissions. They were voted down by our members and the public, who reviewed the ads and submitted nearly 3 million critiques in the process of choosing the 15 finalist entries.

We agree that the two ads in question were in poor taste and deeply regret that they slipped through our screening process. In the future, if we publish or broadcast raw material, we will create a more effective filtering system.

Contrast this with the behavior of the RNC and its allies when supporters of President Bush used TV ads morphing the face of Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) into that of Osama Bin Laden during the 2002 Senate race.

posted 01-07-2004 12:47 AM            

That Pesky Bush-Hitler Thing
By Marc Ash
Tuesday 06 January 2004

Here we go again. Another bone-head with a Bush-Hitler analogy. How many times have we told folks this? Bush is not Hitler, Bush is not Hitler, Bush is not Hitler. Holy cow, this is getting really frustrating. Why won't this thing die?

Just because his grandfather Prescott Bush financed Hitler's rise to power, do they think that means George W. Bush has Nazi tendencies? That's absurd. Is it fair to say that just because the U.S. government had to step in and shut down Prescott Bush's Union Banking Corporation operations in New York in 1942, under the Trading With the Enemy Act, that this Bush should viewed with caution and skepticism? That's just silly.

And who are these bloody Europeans who keep comparing Bush to Hitler? Take that German Justice Minister, Herta Däubler-Gmelin, who compared Bush's dealings on Iraq to those of Hitler. That really takes the cake, now doesn't it? What do the Germans know of Hitler anyway? Why should they feel empowered to warn the world of such impending dangers? Why couldn't they just shut-up and help us kill the Iraqis?

The worst has to be Newsweek's Poland bureau. The story they published titled "The Bush Family and Nazis" was completely out of left field. Who cares that the story states "The Bush family reaped the benefits of slave labor in the Auschwitz concentration camp"?

The important thing here is that George W. Bush is very patriotic. RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie is right. His boy George is clean, that's right, clean as a whistle. No skulls or bones in his closet for sure.

posted 01-12-2004 12:57 PM            

The winning ads in our Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest will be announced tonight, live from the awards show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The awards show is going to be hosted by Jeanine Garofalo and will feature performances and presentations by Margaret Cho, Chuck D, Al Franken, Moby, Michael Moore, John Sayles, Julia Stiles, and Rufus Wainwright. It should be a really fun night -- music, comedy, and lots of incredible 30-second ads.

If you'd like to tune in, the event will be webcast live, beginning at 8p EST/5p PST. We'll be announcing the winners around 10:45pm EST. To tune in to the webcast and view the winning ads after they're announced, just go to: http://www.bushin30seconds.org/

Already, the Bush in 30 Seconds contest has brought tens of thousands of new people into MoveOn, generated millions of dollars' worth of free publicity, and put us in touch with some tremendously talented people. Please join us for the grand finale tonight on the Bush in 30 Seconds website.

Sincerely,
--Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn.org Team
January 12th, 2003

P.S. In case you'd like to tune in, ABC's Good Morning America will also be doing a live interview with the winner and me, Eli Pariser, tomorrow morning between 7am and 9am.

P.P.S. Here are excerpts from two great articles on the contest -- one from the L.A. Times and one from the Associated Press -- that were published in the last few days:

TV AD CONTEST TARGETS PRESIDENT
By John M. Glionna, Times Staff Writer http://www.moveon.org/r?478

"Fourteen in all, the TV spots aim to depict the anger and frustration many Democrats harbor toward the Bush administration. But they're not the work of any slick political ad firms — they're finalists in a nationwide contest sponsored by MoveOn.org, a popular Internet-based political action group. . .

The MoveOn.org contest spotlights the aggressive and uncharted role special interest groups not linked to either party are expected to play in the 2004 presidential campaign. Some say it also shows how such Internet-based groups could contribute to the spread of unfiltered messages in American politics."

(It's MoveOn.org Voter Fund, not MoveOn.org, by the way, which sponsored the contest -- we've asked the Times for a correction.)

MOVEON.ORG BECOMES ANTI-BUSH ONLINE POWERHOUSE
by Beth Fouhy, Associated Press http://www.moveon.org/r?479

"Chances are, Democratic Party consultants won't take credit for the hardest-hitting anti-Bush ad to air on network TV this month. That honor will likely go MoveOn.org, an online group that has become too potent for establishment politicians to ignore.

Years before Howard Dean's use of the Internet dazzled analysts and propelled him to the front of the 2004 Democratic presidential field, MoveOn paved the way, evolving in six short years from something of a cybergeek forum to arguably the largest and most forceful voice in digital-era politics.

posted 01-13-2004 04:19 PM            

Child's Play

This one is good - just not as radical as some of the others - ha, ha.

posted 01-14-2004 11:24 PM            

It has been revealed that even though MoveOn.Org put in a request to have its new ad aired during the Super Bowl, CBS says it may not run the ad because of standards and practices. The ad, in case you hadn't yet heard of it, shows various scenes of little children doing "difficult service and manufacturing jobs -- washing dishes, hauling trash, repairing tires, cleaning offices, assembly-line processing and grocery checking -- followed by the line: "Guess who's going to pay off President Bush's $1 trillion deficit?"

A spokesman for CBS said the Viacom-owned network has received the request from MoveOn to run the ad in the Super Bowl, but added that the ad has to go through standards and practices before CBS will say if it can run an advocacy ad during the game. The spokesman said he didn't think it was likely that the spot would pass standards and practices.