MoveOn moving on?

Yesterday's election results gave MoveOn.org a scare ... and a slight change of heart? Here's an e-mail I received today (yes, I'm on MoveOn's e-mail list):

Dear MoveOn member,

Watching a conservative Republican replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate is simply devastating.

But as bad as the news is this morning, there's actually one reason to be hopeful.

For the last year, most Democrats in Washington have let lobbyists and corporate interests run roughshod over the people's business. Wall Street got bailouts. Bankers got bonuses. Big Insurance rewrote the health care bill. Meanwhile, ordinary Americans continue to struggle to make ends meet.

But now, finally, Democrats know they need to change course to win back voters' confidence. The question is, will they learn exactly the wrong lesson? Will they give up on change altogether? Drop health care reform? Follow the lead of conservatives like Joe Lieberman Evan Bayh and embrace "Republican-lite"?

We need to make sure Democrats don't get it wrong this time. It's time to demand that they start truly fighting for working families. Pass real health care reform. Rein in Wall street. Take on the banks and special interests that stand in the way of change.

Clicking here will add your name to the petition:

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The petition says, "Voters want real change. It's time for the Democratic Party to stop siding with corporate interests and start fighting for working families."

If last night's election result proves anything, it's that voters are angry, and they want politicians who'll stand up for them. So along with this petition, we'll be delivering pitchforks—that time-honored symbol of populist rage—to the White House and every Democratic member of Congress. (Don't worry, they're made of plastic.)

And if Democratic leaders want to show that they're serious about helping regular folks, they can join with the progressives in Congress who are already leading the fight for bold change. But first they're going to have to take on those in their own party who think it's more important to protect corporate profits.

The first step is to ignore the talking heads and pass a strong health care reform bill that would force big insurers to compete with a public health insurance option—even if that means they have to use the special reconciliation process to pass legislation without 60 votes in the Senate.

And then to win in November, Democrats need to show they're serious about restarting the economy by creating millions of new jobs—and crack down on the Wall Street banks that got us into this mess with tough new rules to stop their predatory behavior.

Voters need to see Democrats fighting for them. It won't be easy, and it will mean ignoring the corporate lobbyists who represent banks, insurance companies, and Big Oil. But that's the point.

Clicking here will add your name to the petition:

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Thanks you for all you do.

–Justin, Carrie, Kat, Michael, and the rest of the team

(emphasis added by The Real Polichick)

What's all this talk about Democrats' taking on their own party? When in the past year has MoveOn ever held liberal politicians accountable for anything mentioned in the letter above? Have they really adopted a "policies not parties" mantra? And now they want to mail Democratic leaders pitchforks?

If you ask me, MoveOn's starting to sound a little Tea Partyish. (Except, of course, they just won't give up Obamacare ... yet.)