Crofton Online: Voters Say 'Enough!'
Maryland First District Voters Present Congressman Gilchrest With Anti-Impeachment Petition
National Organization "Move On" Uses Internet To Collect A Quarter Million Signatures in Two Weeks

Voters from Maryland's first congressional district today [October 29] presented Republican Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest with a petition demanding that Congress drop the impeachment proceeding against President Clinton and "move on" to other urgent business.

The petition drive was part of a national Internet-based lobbying effort known as Move On , which collected 285,000 anti-impeachment signatures in a little over two weeks.



First district Move On press spokesperson Jeanne Webster Abbott reads a statement
to Congressman Gilchrest as other organization representatives look on.
Mr. Gilchrest, who recently voted to continue the impeachment process, received the petition at the same time other citizens across the nation met directly with their own members of Congress on the issue in their local districts. The constituents presented more than a quarter million petition signatures to their representatives. The organization and its volunteers aim to highlight the impeachment issue to Congress and to the public at large before Tuesday's national election.

Using the world wide web and email, Moveon.org has achieved instant local organizing on a massive scale. Volunteers held meetings in more than two hundred congressional districts in 44 states, including 20 districts with closely watched congressional races.

"Many Members of Congress received their constituents graciously, " said Joan Blades, co-founder of MoveOn.org. "They thoughtfully heard our concerns for the nation. We hope these men and women will have the courage to lead our country out of this mess."

Other representatives were not as gracious as Congressman Gilchrest. "Not only wouldn't Representative Matt Salmon meet our delegation of his constituents, he wouldn't assign a staff member to receive the petitions from us." said Lawrence Boyd from Tempe, Arizona. "I was shocked -- we are speaking for 850 citizens in his district. I believe in our system, but there seems to be a real disconnect between our representatives and the people they represent."

MoveOn.org is a nonpartisan campaign supported by Republicans, Democrats and Independents who agree on one thing: "The Congress must immediately censure President Clinton and Move On to pressing issues facing the country." Using e-mail and the Web, MoveOn.org aims to translate a broad and deep consensus among the electorate into an immediate end to impeachment proceedings.

More pictures from Maryland's first district
Reader Karen R. Winston asks "Why are Lewinsky and Jones More Important Than Me?"
Sign the petition
The Gilchrest Dilemma
Related stories and reader reaction to the impeachment effort
Online Coverage of Moveon.org in Salon
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