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Dear Friends of People For the American Way,
Together we came so far, and accomplished so much, that the brutal disappointments of Election Day feel all the more crushing. I’m a firm believer that action is an antidote to despair, and I want to let you know how we’re building on the work we’ve done together and preparing for the immense struggles to come.
With your help, People For the American Way Foundation and the rest of the nonpartisan Election Protection coalition pulled off an astonishingly successful voter protection mobilization, the largest in the nation’s history. More than 25,000 volunteers - many of them traveling far from their homes - helped voters overcome obstacles at the polling places, prevented some voter suppression activities by their visible presence, and, importantly, documented the many ways our election system is still failing voters.
Election Protection is continuing to document and investigate reports of voting irregularities and voter suppression efforts. People For the American Way Foundation is supporting the impounding of voting machines or obtaining backup data from them in various counties in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico, and is participating in public hearings and pursuing litigation in several states. In the months ahead we will be working on national and state-by-state plans to build the political will to fix our broken election system and hold public officials accountable.
Another fight is just ahead of us, a fight for the future of our freedom, a fight that will define the kind of country we live in for the next generation or more. This president is likely to have the opportunity to name two, three, or even four new justices. And given the well-publicized health problems of Chief Justice Rehnquist, President Bush may announce a nomination even before he is sworn in for his second term.
If the President nominates someone who shares the extremist judicial philosophy of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas - as he has repeatedly said he would do - he will make a mockery of his professed desire to earn all Americans’ trust and support. And if he is successful in naming far-right justices to the Supreme Court, Americans will pay the price for decades to come. You will soon be hearing more from People For the American Way about our campaign plan to defend the Constitution and the Supreme Court. We will need to mobilize every resource and every willing activist at our disposal. We will need your help - and you’ll be hearing more from us in the coming days.
As you know, we are going to have challenges on many fronts. We are facing in many ways our worst nightmare - an administration emboldened for more intensive assaults on our values and liberties, a Senate and House more firmly in the grip of the far right, a Supreme Court ripe for multiple vacancies and an entire federal judiciary vulnerable to ideological domination by extremists who are eager to redefine the Constitution and reverse decades of social justice progress.
In addition, we must challenge the triumphalist rhetoric of Religious Right leaders. It is true that turnout efforts targeting millions of conservative Christians contributed to the victories of President Bush, hard-right members of Congress, and anti-gay ballot initiatives. But it is wrong to view the election outcome as a sign that a majority of Americans accept the Right’s claims that “values” equates to a right-wing social and economic agenda. Polls show that most Americans do not embrace the Religious Right’s agenda, and that war and terrorism concerns led many voters to support the President even though they disagree with much of his agenda.
In fact, I believe millions of Christians are offended by Jerry Falwell’s assertions that “voting Christian” means supporting right-wing economic policies, anti-gay discrimination, and judges who will reverse decades of social justice progress. And people of all faiths should be offended by the newly aggressive claims of the “Christian nation” crowd.
People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation are especially well qualified to expose the real agenda behind that rhetoric and help mainstream and progressive Americans take back the discourse on values.
Widely shared values will be at stake in a wide range of public policy debates: whether or not judges will provide access to justice for individuals harmed by government or corporate actions; whether our tax policies will make it impossible to meet basic human needs; whether the White House should be able to use excessive secrecy to avoid public accountability for actions that deprive people of basic liberties; whether the coercive power of government will be harnessed to promote particular religious beliefs.
In his victory speech, President Bush said he would “reach out to the whole nation” and earn the trust and support of Americans who didn’t vote for him. It would be welcome if President Bush chose to govern as a president for all the people. But it would be a surprise. It is not how he has governed for the past four years and it is not how he ran for reelection. He has governed as a fierce partisan with no tolerance for dissent and a willingness to abuse his power and undermine the Constitution to get his way. He waged a divisive campaign that relied on pitting the fears of some Americans against the rights of others.
People For the American Way will be more than willing to work with the administration if it seeks the path of genuine bipartisanship and compromise to resolve the many crucial issues facing our nation. But we are prepared for more of the divisive partisanship and brute-force policy making that has been the hallmark of this administration and its political allies.
Together we have urgent responsibilities - both immediate and long term. I know we can count on you in the days and long years ahead. Count on hearing from us soon about how you can stay involved in the struggle for the heart, soul, and future of America.
Sincerely,
Ralph G. Neas
President, People For the American Way | 
