TrueMajority
FoundedJune 2002 (June 2002)
DissolvedSeptember 2007 (September 2007)
Merged intoUSAction
IdeologyProgressivism
Political positionCenter-left
Website
www.truemajority.org

TrueMajority was a progressive advocacy group in the United States. In September 2007, TrueMajority and its related organization TrueMajorityACTION merged with USAction.[1] By 2008, the combined groups had over 700,000 members,[2] making it, together with MoveOn, one of the two largest liberal advocacy groups in the United States.[3]

TrueMajorityACTION was a separate but closely related organization, which had a different status under U.S. law so that it could campaign for specific parties and politicians.

In 2007, TrueMajority merged with USAction in 2007. In 2012, Ben Cohen founded Stamp Stampede.

History

TrueMajority was founded in June 2002 by Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's.[4][5]

TrueMajority was mentioned on The Colbert Report on March 5, 2007, when Ben and Jerry made a guest appearance. In the episode, they offered free frisbees to Colbert viewers who visited the web site, and then they signed up each viewer who visited as a member of the advocacy group.[6]

TrueMajority's Ten Principles were endorsed by Greenpeace USA, Rock the Vote, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Peace Action, the National Head Start Association, Global Exchange, The Interfaith Alliance, The Nation, Sojourners, Rainforest Action Network, Women's Action for New Directions, Service Employees International Union, and National Council of La Raza.[7]

Stances

TrueMajority organized protests of the 2008 G-20 Summit.[8] It also opposed the 2008 financial bailout of banks, and helped to organize protests of the bailout.[2]

In 2004 TrueMajority ran advertisements calling for a paper trail in electronic voting.[9]

Iraq war opposition

TrueMajority co-sponsored protests and advertisements against the Iraq war in 2003.[10] The organization published anti-war advertisements in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, but its ads were refused by television networks including CNN, Fox, MTV, and Comedy Central.[11][12] TrueMajority also supported Howard Dean in the 2004 Democratic primary, mounting a letter-writing campaign and arguing for his support on the grounds of his opposition to the Iraq War.[13] In 2008 TrueMajority gathered over 20,000 petitions to urge CalPERS to investigate KBR for war profiteering, including in the petitions accusations of rape and murder.[14][15]

References

  1. ↑ USAction: History and Achievements
  2. 1 2 Wallack,Todd; Bender, Bryan (Sep 26, 2008). "Many voice anger over $700b outlay". Boston Globe.
  3. ↑ "What is the Future of Healthcare Reform Following Daschle Withdrawing Health Sec. Nomination?". Democracy Now!. Feb 4, 2009. Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved Feb 19, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Web Politics: "It's Just the Beginning"". BusinessWeek Special Report / Online Extra. March 29, 2004. Archived from the original on April 5, 2004.
  5. ↑ Zetter, Kim (February 16, 2004). "The Computer Ate My Vote". WIRED.
  6. ↑ "Ben and Jerry". The Colbert Report. 2007-03-05.
  7. ↑ "Principles Explained". TrueMajority.
  8. ↑ "Experts To Discuss G-20 Summit, Announce International Day Of Protest". Forbes. Nov 12, 2008.
  9. ↑ Klug, Foster (Mar 19, 2004). "Paper backup for e-voting called for in ads". USA Today.
  10. ↑ "Anti-Iraq Ad Features Leader of Bush's Church". Fox News. January 31, 2003. Retrieved Feb 19, 2009.
  11. ↑ James, Steve; Weinraub, Mark (March 29, 2003). "Hollywood declares, hell no, this time we won't go". Sydney Morning Herald.
  12. ↑ "Anti-war groups allege ad block on airwaves". The Telegraph. Calcutta, India. Mar 29, 2003. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Liberals Keep Close Watch on Dean". Fox News. February 26, 2005. Retrieved Feb 19, 2009.
  14. ↑ Bacher, Dan (Jun 18, 2008). "CalPERS targeted Thursday for supporting KBR, accused of rape and murder in Iraq!". San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center: Central Valley. Retrieved Feb 19, 2009.
  15. ↑ "20,000 petitioners ask CalPERS Thursday to get tough on KBR, now linked to massive fraud, rape, and massacre". YubaNet.com. Jun 19, 2008. Archived from the original on June 26, 2008. Retrieved Feb 19, 2009.
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