For the last 8 days, Catholic Democrats has been running Get Out the Vote ads on Pandora Internet radio featuring the voice of Martin Sheen and the moral messages of Pope Francis. Those ads, which have been running in the most Catholic counties in New Hampshire and Kentucky, can be heard at the Be Connected 2014 Web site.
If Republicans take control of the senate, we will lose most, if not all, leverage in the halls of Congress to move critical policy initiatives forward, including the minimum wage, pay equity, and immigration reform that includes an earned path to citizenship. Congress will be controlled by a party that espouses, in various ways, that if you are poor or struggling, it is your fault; does not believe in the science of climate change; and has snubbed Pope Francis because he repudiated trickle down economics. Our economy – that should serve the needs of all people – will continue to serve the privileged few, as the brunt of poverty and inequality rests on people of color, women, and children.
We are trying to do our part by targeting over 300,000 internet radio ads, with accompanying banner ads, to Democrats in the most Catholic counties in Kentucky and New Hampshire. We believe that the ads are unique and, in many respects, unprecedented. Although non-partisan, they invoke the moral messages of Pope Francis and appeal not only to Catholic Democrats, but also to progressive people of faith (the pope is very popular among Catholics and non-Catholics alike).
We’ve created four Pandora Internet radio ads, two of which feature the voice of Martin Sheen and one of which features a message by James Roosevelt, Jr. discussing the legacy of his grandfather and grandmother (FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt) and how he is inspired by the Catholic Social Justice Tradition. So far we have sent out over 250,000 messages over internet radio and the response has been tremendous. Please listen to these radio ads at the Be Connected Web site and please forward to Catholic friends and family you have in competitive states.
-Pope Francis.
It’s the root of most social and moral problems, from crime to the abortion rate. Tackle income inequality, and we can create an actual pro-family society like the conservative bishops claim they want. And we can do so without taking away rights from women or gays-but by building greater opportunities for the poor to raise their families with dignity.
” Prayer does not change things; prayer changes people, and people change
things.” ANON
Fred Rich LaRiccia