October 31, 2012

Video of Small, Crying Child Truly Epitomizes the Mood of the 2012 Election

This little girl speaks for a weary nation:

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

Abigael Evans (daughter): [uncontrollable sobbing] “Just because…I’m tired…I’m tired of Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney.”

Elizabeth Evans (mother): “That’s why you’re crying?

AE: [sad nods of acknowledgement]

EE: “Ohhhh, it’ll be over soon, Abby, okay? The election will be over soon, okay?”

AE: [a sad nod of acknowledgement] “K!”

EE: “Ohhh.”

(No word yet on where she stands on Gary Johnson or Virgil Goode.)

Abigael, 4, resides in Fort Collins, the most populous city in Larimer County, Colorado. Larimer has been blanketed with campaign ads, and is one of the six counties in the swing state of Colorado that could actually decide the election. No wonder she’s overwhelmed.

The fact that Abigael’s weeping is nonpartisan is in itself a surprise, given that until now Mitt Romney has held the monopoly on making tiny children cry during the 2012 election:

Via theVia Evan Vucci at the Associated PressVersus this from June 2011:

Up until today, the president has held a statistically significant 6-point advantage in the polls among children who can’t vote, including those living in swing states like Colorado, Ohio, Florida, and Nevada. But perhaps Abigael Evans’ condemnation of both campaigns will tighten the contest. We’ll be keeping a close watch on how how this plays out between now and Election Day.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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