January 25, 2013

Quote of the Day: Being Outvoted is Unfair and Demoralizing

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From Virginia state senator Bill Carrico, explaining why rural voters are unhappy with Virginia’s current method of simply counting up the votes statewide in presidential elections:

The last election, constituents were concerned that it didn’t matter what they did, that more densely populated areas were going to outvote them.

Ah, yes. All of Virginia’s “more densely populated areas” are outvoting them. I wonder who they could possibly be talking about? That’s a real chin scratcher.

And while we’re on the subject, here’s a bonus quote from Michigan representative Pete Lund, explaining why his Electoral College vote-rigging scheme is gaining support this year but didn’t in 2012:

It got no traction last year. There were people convinced Romney was going to win and this might take (electoral) votes from him.

Points for honesty, I guess, but not for IQ. Didn’t anyone tell Lund that you’re supposed to pretend there’s nothing partisan about all these bills, just an honest attempt to represent the will of the people more fairly?

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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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