August 4, 2008

Obama Learns: What’s Bad for the Brand Is Good for the Pocketbook

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One of 2008’s political axioms has been proven yet again.

Over and over in the Democratic primary, candidates would have their best fundraising periods right after a crucial primary loss (or, in one notable case, right after the candidate was forced to make a sizable loan to the campaign), leading me and others to observe that in presidential fundraising nowadays, nothing succeeds like failure.

Late last Friday, Marc Ambinder observed it in effect yet again. Apparently, all the McCain ads that have been beating Obama up are driving more donors, new and old, to give to Obama.

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

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ONE MORE QUICK THING:

Our fall fundraising drive is off to a rough start, and we very much need to raise $250,000 in the next couple of weeks. If you value the journalism you get from Mother Jones, please help us do it with a donation today.

As we wrote over the summer, traffic has been down at Mother Jones and a lot of sites with many people thinking news is less important now that Donald Trump is no longer president. But if you're reading this, you're not one of those people, and we're hoping we can rally support from folks like you who really get why our reporting matters right now. And that's how it's always worked: For 45 years now, a relatively small group of readers (compared to everyone we reach) who pitch in from time to time has allowed Mother Jones to do the type of journalism the moment demands and keep it free for everyone else.

Please pitch in with a donation during our fall fundraising drive if you can. We can't afford to come up short, and there's still a long way to go by November 5.

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