February 15, 2013

I Think Voldemort Has Put a Curse on SOTU Responses

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Last week I wrote that everyone fails when it comes to delivering a reply to the State of the Union address. “I would run, not walk, if party leaders asked me to give the SOTU response,” I said. “My kid has a piano recital that night. It’s my anniversary. Anything. I think you’d have to be nuts to agree to do this.”

Nonetheless, it never occurred to me that Marco Rubio would take a big swig of water right in the middle of his response. That’s a failure mode that I never anticipated. Still, the rule remains unbroken: don’t give a SOTU response. Period. It’s only slightly less dangerous than agreeing to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.

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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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