October 16, 2008

Forget Joe. Long Live Josephine the Plumber

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Just in case two MoJo liveblogs left you wanting even more microscopic coverage of Blinky McCain’s excruciating plumber remarks, check out MoJo managing editor Elizabeth Gettelman‘s and my Tweets on tonight’s debate, here and here. It’s as off the cuff and detailed as you can get in 144 characters per Tweet (what can I say, we’re experimenting with Twitter).

Here’s a sample, the rest is on Twitter (first Tweet at the bottom):

LM_MOJO that’s it. forget Rosie the Riveter. it’s Josephine the Plumber time. #current about 3 hours ago from Election 2008

eg_mojo What about Josephine the Plumber, do you speak for her McCain? about 3 hours ago from Election 2008

eg_mojo Joe the Plumber is no Lilly Ledbetter. about 3 hours ago from Election 2008

LM_MOJO on Roe v Wade: Obama brings the Harvard Law down on McCain about 3 hours ago from Election 2008

eg_mojo McCain doesn’t support equal pay for equal work! about 3 hours ago from Election 2008

eg_mojo Abortion a difficult, moral issue. Obama says WOMEN make the decision, not the STATES about 3 hours ago from Election 2008

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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.

payment methods

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