WASHINGTON - September 28 - Organizers of Run Against Bush, a movement to raise money and awareness to defeat George W. Bush, proclaimed National Run Against Bush Day on September 18 "a rousing success" and announced Saturday, October 23 as the date for "National Run Against Bush Day II: Run Against Bush Strikes Back!" "The sequel will be twice as big as the original," said Rich Khoe, a co-founder of the group.

The group has raised over $400,000 and has more than 11,000 members nationwide. On Sept. 18, the political action committee donated a total of $100,000 to the Democratic National Committee and Victory 2004 Coordinated Campaigns in ten swing states.

Thousands of joggers, walkers, and bikers assembled in 111 cities across the country and in international locations such as Dakar, Paris, Tokyo, and Darfur. Here in the United States, National Run Against Bush Day events were held in cities such as Missoula, Ames, Tampa, Phoenix, South Bend, Boise, Minneapolis, Buffalo, Seattle, Houston, Chicago, Knoxville, Milwaukee and Washington, DC, where more than 300 runners and walkers gathered on The Ellipse in front of the White House.

"We've raised over $400,000 in hard dollars in just eight months," said Marc Laitin, Director of Run Against Bush. "Our average donation is $33, a far cry from the big-dollar donations pushed by corporate and special interest PACs, and most of our members are new to politics."

Run Against Bush, a federal Political Action Committee, was formed last year when eight DC teachers and civil servants, with little or no political experience, launched the first run in the Nation's capitol. The group now conducts regular jogs against Bush (or "JABs") and group walks in 60 cities. Members have run in roughly 200 races across the country while wearing a Run Against Bush T-shirt.

On the 18th the Political Action Committee wrote checks totaling $100,000 to the Victory 2004 Coordinated Campaign. These funds will support John Kerry's victory in key battleground states. Donations ranging from $2,500 to the $10,000 (the maximum allowable to states) were made in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, Wisconsin and the Democratic National Committee. Members personally delivered checks to DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe and state party officials in Minnesota, Nevada Washington and Wisconsin.

Visit the website at http://www.runagainstbush.org

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