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McCAIN’S ANGLE….I should add, in case it wasn’t clear from my previous posts, that I certainly understand the political calculation behind John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. Their thinking is that she’s a hard-right conservative who appeals to the base (David Brody was just on CNN telling us that Christian conservative leaders were high-fiving each other over the Palin pick), but not a famous hard-right conservative who’s going to scare off independents. Soccer moms will like her. She’s inexperienced, but no one can hold that against her this year — and anyway, her lack of a track record also means she doesn’t bring a lot of baggage to the campaign. She’s got great anti-corruption cred. She’s young and vibrant and has an attractive family. Joe Biden will have a hard time going on the attack against a woman. She’s unknown, but frankly, to most low-information voters (i.e., to most voters), all VP picks are unknown.

So sure, I get it. And who knows? Politically speaking, it could turn out to be an inspired choice. Frankly, I doubt it, and I suspect her weaknesses will become clearer as everyone gets over their initial shock and starts thinking this through a little harder. But you never know.

As for mooseburgers, I’ll bet I’d like ’em too if I ever got a chance to try one. Anyone know where I can score one in Southern California?

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

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