November 21, 2017

This New Ad Running in Alabama Hits Roy Moore Where it Hurts Most

Doug Jones turns to Ivanka for help.

Doug Jones hasn’t had any problems raising money—the Alabama Democrat, who is vying to replace interim Sen. Luther Strange in next month’s special election, has outspent Republican Roy Moore 11-to-1 on the airwaves in the campaign’s home-stretch.

But Jones does have a problem with Alabama. Although Moore has been accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl in the 1970—after meeting her and her mother outside of a custody hearing, when Moore was a deputy district attorney—and although residents of his hometown have outlined a pattern of predatory behavior so pervasive that it resulted in Moore being persona non grata at his local mall, and although a string of Republicans have lined up to denounce Moore, Moore is still a Republican in an incredibly Republican state, and for that reason he still has a very good shot at winning

So what’s a squeaky-clean civil-rights prosecutor to do? On Tuesday, Jones released his first ad in response to the Moore scandal, and it features some familiar names, but not ones typically found in Democratic campaign ads—Ivanka Trump, Jeff Sessions, and Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby:

The ad comes at a critical moment in the race. Moore, who has trailed in most post-scandal polls, has been desperate for Trump to get off the sidelines and give the campaign a boost. And in the last few days, the White House has taken baby steps toward involving itself in the race. “We want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through,” White House advisor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News on Monday, while rattling off a string of pejoratives about Jones. But Ivanka Trump and Jeff Sessions really did say those things, and Jones seems determined to drive a wedge through the state’s Republican-heavy electorate.

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.

payment methods

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.

payment methods

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