CALIFORNIA
     Nov. 4, 1980 U.S. Senate
Fundraising letter (4 pages plus insert).                                            Courtesy of UCLA Library Special Collections |
Online Campaign Literature Archive
United States Senator
Alan Cranston

Dear Fellow Californian:

This year I face a difficult and challenging election fight. Extreme right wing groups in and out of Congress have "targeted" me for defeat and have launched a nationwide campaign to raise millions of dollars to be used against me.

A radical group, based in Virginia, called the National Conservative Political Action Committee, as well as Barry Goldwater, Jr. and other ultraconservatives in the Senate and House of Representatives, have placed me high on their "hit list" because of the work I'm doing as U.S. Senator and as United States Senate Democratic Majority Whip.

My Senate record has earned the strong support of womens, consumer and civil rights groups, businessmen and businesswomen, farmers and farm workers, the elderly, environmentalists, working men and working women, educators and people from all walks of life.

But my work in the Senate has antagonized radical right wing groups. Here's why:

I've worked hard for a tough windfall profits tax on the big oil companies.

I've been fiscally responsible and have worked hard for a balanced budget—but I have refused to do so at the expense of needy children, the elderly, the sick or disabled, or at the
 
(over, please)

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price of throwing millions of people out of work.

I've supported a strong national defense and aid to our democratic friends and allies, like Israel; but I've refused to give knee-jerk support to every new weapons system and every budget increase sought by the Pentagon. And I've refused to support indiscriminate U.S. funding of right wing military dictatorships around the world.

I've worked hard for peace, for improved international relations—like U.S. recognition of the People's Republic of China—and for an end to the escalating arms race.

I've worked hard in support of the Equal Rights Amendment and for strong civil and human rights legislation.

I've worked hard to safeguard our environment against pollution and to improve the quality of life, and to protect the consumer against rip-offs and unsafe products.

I've worked hard to defend First Amendment rights, for the freedom and dignity of each individual, the right of privacy, the public's right to a completely free press and the right to speak one's mind.

I've worked hard to try to ease the burdens of inflation that have fallen so hard and so unfairly on low and medium-­income families, on young married couples who have been priced out of the home market by high inflation rates, on people, especially the elderly, who are living on fixed incomes.

I've worked hard for a program to develop alternative energy


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sources—such as solar, geothermal and gasohol—so we can reduce our dangerous dependence on Arab oil and ultimately bring down the high cost of energy, a major cause of our intolerable inflation.

In other words, these right wing groups are out to defeat me because I try to take a reasonable, common sense approach to the major issues of our times and because I adamantly refuse to be pressured into adopting their extreme positions.

Finally, they are seeking my removal because I have helped outstanding Democratic candidates in their campaigns for higher public office.

I must count on help from you to counteract the money that flows freely to politicians with extreme right wing views. For example, one Southern Republican Senator from a relatively small state raised, with the same ultraconservative funding now being amssed against me, more than $7 million for his
campaign—an all-time record for a U.S. Senate race! I have enclosed excerpts from mailers that have been sent all over the country by my opponents in order to raise money to be used against me.

I'm sure you can appreciate the problem I face.

Substantial numbers of citizen contributions are especially needed in a huge state like California where mass media must be extensively used to reach California's more than 10 million registered voters and where television commercials and other campaign materials are (like everything else these days) so expensive.

Please use the enclosed postage-paid  envelope to send

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your contribution to my campaign today. An.y amount will help, but if you can make it $25 or $50 or ... even $100, if you possibly can ... I would deeply appreciate it.

Thank you for your much needed help.

Sincerely,
Alan Cranston
Alan Cranston
United States Senator

P.S. I've told you where I stand on a number of issues. N ow I would be very interested in knowing how you stand. Please complete the enclosed questionnaire and return it to me today in the enclosed postage-paid envelope.

P.P.S. Remember, you have a vital stake in my reelection. My work as U.S. Senate Majority Whip affects you, and my defeat by extreme right wingers would go a long way toward putting them in control of the Senate.