June 4, 2012

Poll: Wisconsin Recall a Tossup

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldonliner/5955049256/sizes/z/in/photostream/">OldOnliner</a>/Flickr

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


On Sunday, just two days before Wisconsinites decide whether to recall Gov. Scott Walker, a new poll showed the race between the GOP incumbent and his Democratic challenger Tom Barrett narrowing. North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling surveyed 1,226 likely voters over the weekend and found Walker leading Barrett by just 3 points, 50-47—less than Walker’s previous lead of 50-45 in PPP’s last poll three weeks ago. (The latest poll’s margin of error was ±2.8 percent.)

Former President Bill Clinton was in Wisconsin this weekend to rally the Dem troops, and the state’s labor unions are going all-out to beat Walker. But Dems and labor face a campaign cash disadvantage—Walker has raked in millions from out-of-state dark-money donors—and the final debate of the race saw Barrett and Walker fight to a stalemate. Ultimately, the outcome of this battle will depend on turnout. If labor unions and Dems can get their voters to the polls, they stand a chance. If not, a more motivated conservative electorate will keep Walker in office. By Tuesday night, we’ll know.

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

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate