The women’s peace group CODEPINK has received a huge response to its online campaign to create an anti-war voting bloc. Almost 20,000 have signed the group’s pledge to vote only for candidates “who publicly call for a speedy withdrawal from Iraq and will keep us from engaging in future unjustified wars.”
Among the signatories are Ms. cofounder Gloria Steinem, writers Alice Walker and Maxine Hong Kingston, “peace mom” Cindy Sheehan, and a slew of other celebrities, including Cornell West, Yoko Ono, Cher, Kate Hudson, Susan Sarandon, Willie Nelson, Marisa Tomei, Vanessa Williams, and Samuel L. Jackson.
The goal of the campaign is to bring Congress in line with the public’s views on the Iraq war, according to CODEPINK. The group contrasts Congress’s consistent pro-war voting record with September 2006 CNN polls showing that 58 percent of Americans oppose the war.
Both incumbent and non-incumbent candidates are changing their stance on the war in response to voter dissent, says CODEPINK. The group points to Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), a former supporter of the war in Iraq who has recently begun calling for a definite timeline of withdrawal. Pressure on candidates may increase as November approaches: A USA Today poll this week found that 86 percent of voters consider Iraq an “extremely” or “very” important issue in the upcoming elections, rivaled only by “corruption in government.”
LEARN MORE about the “Give Peace a Vote” campaign.
