FUSsa-talk Mailing List: Fw: Persistence pays off -- today's Globe

[MADELINE SIMON (madeline-mpls]

Got this happy note today from my daughter Andrea.  Below that is a letter 
she sent to Massachusetts NARAL Board members after the (National) NARAL 
Pro-Choice America, a PAC, endorsed Obama. She had to field a lot of angry 
calls for awhile from Massachusetts people and other high up Democrats.  In 
Massachusetts, Hilary had won--you get the picture.  The national PAC 
organization gave no advance warning or plan to help local NARAL affiliates 
about their action.

Peace,
Madeline

Happy Monday to all.  I got to start my week seeing that the Boston
Globe finally published one of my letters (I've submitted 5 over the
last 3 months, so clearly persistence pays off!).  The letter can be
found at:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2008/06/09/we_are_failing_in_role_of_counselor/

It's not the front page, but it's a start!  Thought you'd like to
see....

All the best,
Andrea

Andrea Miller
Executive Director
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts
15 Court Square, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02108
617-556-8800 ext. 12
917-975-9325 cell
andrea [at] prochoicemass.org



-----Original Message-----
From: Andrea Miller
Sent: Wed 5/14/2008 2:16 PM
Subject: National Endorsement in Presidential Race

Dear Board Members,

As you may have seen in the past few minutes, NARAL Pro-Choice America
announced its endorsement of Senator Barack Obama this afternoon.  As I
know you are aware, the national PAC is empowered to make this
endorsement decision on its own. Therefore, we heard about this decision
just this afternoon as well. National has informed us that the decision
was based upon an assessment of viability and the need to be a leading
in the political world and to move the electoral focus ahead to the
general election, where we face an anti-choice opponent in Senator
McCain.

I know that there will be strong opinions on both sides of this
endorsement. Naturally, I am hopeful that our common desire to see a
pro-choice president elected come November will ultimately unify and
engage the pro-choice vote, but I also share concerns that this
endorsement may have negative ramifications for our organization's image
and fundraising among certain constituents. I will strive to mitigate
this effect and welcome your assistance and input on this matter.

The national staff has given us a number for our internal constituencies
to call with any concerns or complaints about this decision. If you want
to register any official comment, please feel free to do so. That number
is 202-530-4179.  We will be back in touch as we get more details.  In
the meantime, I

Thank you,
Andrea

Andrea Miller
Executive Director
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts
15 Court Square, Suite 900
Boston, MA  02108
617-556-8800 x12
andrea [at] prochoicemass.org
www.prochoicemass.org