September 15, 2008

The Republican Brand

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THE REPUBLICAN BRAND….Barack Obama is spending an awful lot of time these days trying to associate John McCain with George Bush. And why not? McCain has pretty thoroughly embraced Bush’s ideas and Bush’s approval ratings are in the tank, so why shouldn’t he?

But here’s a thought. Why is it that Obama’s ads don’t try to play off the brand of the Republican Party instead? Claiming that McCain is just a shadow of Bush, whether it’s true or not, is a tough sell. (All those years as a maverick, you know.) But claiming that McCain is a Republican is an easy sell. And the Republican brand is in the tank right now every bit as badly as George Bush’s.

And yet, unless I’m mistaken, Obama’s ads never mention “failed Republican policies” or suchlike. Why is that? Is there some legal hangup? Is it because he’s trying to be post-partisan? Is he doing it and I just haven’t noticed (always a possibility)? Or what?

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

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.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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