STEM CELL BATTLES
 URGENT!  Help protect stem cell research by your votes in the November
elections.
#245 Wednesday, November 1, 2006 - CALL HOME-TO MISSOURI-AND SUPPORT "OUR
CLAIRE"
Our friends in Missouri are taking a terrible beating, emotionally.
Remember we have two huge battles in that state: Amendment 2, simply to keep
the research safe, and also the Claire McCaskill/Jim Talent race, in which
McCaskill enthusiastically supports stem cell research, and her opponent,
opposes it.
You would not believe some of the anti-stem cell research ads being run.

One shows an actress clutching her stomach, groaning like the soap opera
hall of fame. Her mascara is running, and she says to the camera:

"I just donated my eggs to stem cell research-- and now I have cancer!"

It sounds stupid, and it is-but if you don't know the truth, might it be
effective???
More trash-talk is heard from anti-research TV star Patricia Heeton of
"Everybody Loves Raymond" and her endless Raley's commercials, and Jim
Caviezel, the actor who played Christ in Mel Gibson's movie. Interestingly,
Caviezel did not speak English in the commercial. I am not sure what this
means. Is he incapable of speaking our native tongue? Or are we supposed to
see Divine Intervention in the anti-cure commercial?

Yet another video shows an unborn infant in the womb, clearly implying that
the research kills babies. Lying does not seem to be a sin to some people.

And of course they have the inspiration of valiant Rush Limbaugh, always
willing to make fun of people with Parkinson's disease. President Bush is
doing an exclusive interview with Mr. Limbaugh today, doubtless in
appreciation for his surrogate's support.

But despite the odds, our friends in Missouri will not give up. Missourian
Jeff McCaffery rides a wheelchair, but he sat three hours-- in the rain--
waiting for a chance to be seen with a big sign in a baseball game, saying
"Support Amendment 2".

Some of these are people we know; others we will never meet. But they are
our friends.
They are fighting for us. We must not let them fight alone. Here are two
ways to help.

First, would you consider calling home-- to Missouri?

HERE IS THE NUMBER TO CALL:  314-918-8683

Say you'd like to donate an hour or two to help with phone banking.

Here is what will happen. A nice person will email you a few phone numbers.
Not many. You print out the list, call them.

The folks you phone will be friendly Missourians, people known to be already
on our side, and we just want to remind them to vote November 7, and ask if
they need a ride.

Here is what I plan to say, when I call to volunteer again later today.

Hi, I am Don Reed, I am sorry to bother you. But I have a paralyzed son,
Roman Reed, and I just wanted to say thank you very much for supporting stem
cell research with Amendment 2. I wonder, do you need a ride to the polls?

If they say yes, scribble RIDE beside their name on the list.

That's it.
Easy.
But what it means, if you (and maybe a couple friends on your list?) are
willing to make those calls, is it frees up Missourians to go out and walk
the streets of their home towns, knocking on their neighbors' doors,
reminding them of this unparalleled opportunity to protect stem cell
research.

Write down that number, please? 314-918-8683 Or print out this column (I am
sure you do anyway, to preserve forever my precious scribbles!)- consider
making that call?

Update on CLAIRE MCCASKILL-ahead by 0.2%-- two-tenths of one
percent--sooooooo close-but her opponent, Bush-League anti-researcher Jim
Talent, just got another two million dollars, raising his cash on hand to
$4.2 million, compared to only $225,000 for the pro-research McCaskill-he
has literally sixteen times as much money to buy ads! Plus, he is getting
still another visit from the Fund-raiser-in-Chief himself.

Does this matter? Remember, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act will be
brought back again after the election. Jim Talent could cast-again-a
deciding vote against it.
I sent another $100 to the McCaskill campaign-I know, last of the big
spenders, huh-but hey, I am just a retired schoolteacher.
I sure wish some rich backer of stem cell research would help out the woman
I think of as "Our Claire" because she fights so hard for stem cell
research. She's basically going into the last week of the fight without
money to respond to the enemy's ads!

If you want to, (hint, hint) go to www.claireonline.com-- and bring your
credit card.

Anywhere in America, wherever stem cell research is fought for, there is our
home.

Stand beside Missouri's stem cell research community, in this her hour of
greatest need.

Don C. Reed, Chair, Californians for Cures, www.stemcellbattles.com.  Email
Don at: [log in to unmask]



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