October 10, 2012

This Week in the 47 Percent: Romney Fundraiser Bans Recording and a Rap Ringtone

President Obama chose not to mention Mitt Romney’s 47 percent remarks in the presidential debate last week, but the leaked video appears to be picking up steam regardless. Not only are outside democratic groups reviving the narrative in radio ads, but the Obama campaign is launching another TV ad campaign based on the fundraiser footage in crucial swing states. Here’s our full roundup of this week’s 47 percent news:

MItt romney fundraisers, post-47 percent

Lynn SweetLynn SweetLynn Sweet of The Chicago Sun-Times published this gem of a photo showing that a Sunday Romney fundraiser near Chicago banned audio and video recordings. Wonder why?

New Obama 47 Percent Ad

The Obama campaign released this advertisement, titled “Earned,” on Tuesday and plans to air in Florida, Ohio, and Virginia. It features Romney’s remarks with a reminder to voters that he could take away benefits like Medicare. As you may recall, this isn’t the first time the Obama campaign has used the 47 percent message in a campaign ad.

democracy corps breaks it down

Democracy CorpsDemocracy CorpsDemocracy Corps, an independent nonprofit, has joined with the Women Vote Action Fund to crunch numbers on the effect the 47 percent video has had on single women, people of color, and young people: a demographic they call the “Rising American Electorate.” According to their research:

Voters were asked which of a series of attacks raised the most doubts in their mind about Mitt Romney. The strongest—Mitt Romney’s 47 percent quote—raised serious doubts for four in ten voters and the fact that many of the so-called ‘47 percent’ are veterans, seniors, and the children of the working poor raised serious doubts for a third.

Big lou really breaks it down

We don’t know exactly where this 47 percent remix came from (it has different lyrics than the original “We are Fighters” song with Big Lou and Bruno Mars), but it appears to have been posted on YouTube by the real Big Lou. In any case, it’s cool and you can make it your ring tone, so shhh don’t ask questions.

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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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