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. . . next luminary . . .

Clinton has to show balls. He needs to be magisterial and mysterious like JFK could be. He has to stop jogging in those stupid shorts and playing instruments. Our national father figure needs gravitas, [but] he’s pitched himself as the kid brother. He can’t be showing up in his shorts and be in the seat of Washington and Lincoln.

Clinton could grab a huge constituency toward the center. I voted for him, and I’d listen if he wouldn’t be p.c. Clinton could run against Republicans by standing for the future, presenting a vision of America. He’s used that rhetoric. Great divisions have to be healed. Get away from biased victimization and get the races working together. He has to use the pulpit against the victim culture. He has to seize hold of the office and use guile and images and manipulation, all of which he has done so poorly.

He’s a salesman for himself and can’t separate the desire to please from the desire to get things done and establish a constituency. He’s great on the stump because he gets right away what an audience wants to hear.

But now he’s overexposed. He becomes just a boring guy if he’s on all the talk shows.

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DECEMBER IS MAKE OR BREAK

A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

The December 31 deadline is closing in fast. To reach our $400,000 goal, we need readers who’ve never given before to join the ranks of MoJo donors. And we need our steadfast supporters to give again—any amount today.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

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