How Sarah Palin donated $1 million to Planned Parenthood without even knowing it

October 7, 11:13 AMSocial Media ExaminerTracy Viselli

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Because it's election time, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the best viral political campaigns out there.  Yesterday, I heard from sources at the Planned Parenthood Action Center that, thanks to a viral email that urged women to protest the anti-choice views of Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin by making a donation to Planned Parenthood in her name, Sarah Palin has "donated" over $1 million to Planned Parenthood's Action Fund. 

The email campaign was a true grass roots effort.  No one knows who started, but it circulated through the in boxes of thousands of women and almost 32, 000 of those women donated to the cause.  A press release published by the Planned Parenthood Action fund last week notes that donations in Palin's name had reached over $800,000, but obviously, women across the country aren't finished sending the pro-life movement a message.  Below is a portion of the anonymous email that suggested the "fiendishly brilliant" scheme that I personally received two weeks ago:

Make a donation to Planned Parenthood. In Sarah Palin's name. And here's the good part: When you make a donation to Planned Parenthood in her name, they'll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor.

Cut and paste to the Planned Parenthood website: www.plannedparenthood.org. You'll need to fill in the address to let Planned Parenthood know where to send the 'in Sarah Palin's honor' card. I suggest you use the address for the McCain campaign headquarters, which is:
    McCain for President
    1235 S. Clark Street
    1st Floor
    Arlington, VA 22202

Feel free to send this along to all your friends and urge them to do the same.

The Planned Parenthood press release states that the viral e-mail did not originate with them, and that the origins of the email remain unknown.  Almost 32,000 individual donors from all 50 states made donations as directed by the viral email and Sarah Palin will indeed receive an individual postcard for each donation.

Song writer Gretchen Peters is the latest woman to add her voice to the grass roots protest.  Peters announced that she will be donating all of the royalties from her song “Independence Day” to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin’s name. The song is about domestic violence and Peters was moved to do this after the song was used to introduce Palin at the vice presidential debate. Peters is encouraging her fans to follow her lead and donate to Planned Parenthood in Palin’s name.