February 5, 2010

The Underwear Bomber and Climate Legislation

Photo courtesy of VoteVets.

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VoteVets, a progressive veterans group, on Thursday launched a $2 million television ad campaign linking dependence on fossil fuels to the Christmas Day underwear bomber.

The ads target Democrats and Republicans in seven states, and issue “a reminder that terrorists continue to target America, and that every day we continue our dependence on Middle East Oil, we continue to send money to nations with ties to terror,” said the group.

The ads in Missouri target Republican Rep. Roy Blunt, and feature James Sander, an Iraq War veteran. “When a terrorist tried to attack us on Christmas Day, I was reminded why I’m willing to risk my life for America’s security, and why we need to stop sending billions to countries with ties to terrorism,” says Sanders. The ad accuses Blunt of taking thousands from oil companies that do business in countries with ties to terrorism, listing Yemen, Iran, and Libya, and others.

The ads target a range of legislators. Blunt voted against the House climate bill last June. Mark Kirk was one of the handful of Republicans to vote for it, but has backtracked now that he is running for Senate. John Barrasso (R-Wy.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are all expected to vote against legislation in the Senate, if it ever comes up, and Democrat Evan Bayh (Ind.) also looks like a likely opponent.

Here is the ad targeting Thune in Wyoming:

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So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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