August 1, 2017

This Is the Kind of Campaign Ad That Keeps Paul Ryan Up at Night

Wow.

Tis’ the season for viral introductory campaign ads. Last month it was Wisconsin ironworker Randy Bryce. Next up: Amy McGrath, a Kentucky Democrat and former F-18 fighter pilot running for Congress against Republican Rep. Andy Barr. You’ve likely never heard of McGrath, but once you watch this spot, you’ll remember it for quite a while:

McGrath, a Naval Academy graduate, is part of a wave of Democratic military veterans vying for Republican-held seats in Congress next year, a trend that recalls the boomlet of Iraq and Afghanistan vets who powered Democratic gains in 2006 and 2008. But notably, she also throws a hard left hook at Barr and his colleagues’ recent efforts to undo Obamacare and leave 250,000 Kentuckians without health insurance. Fourteen months out, the battle lines of the 2018 midterms are quite clear.

Democrats have a glut of candidates in places such as Southern California and Texas suburbs, where Trump turned long-conservative areas blue. But they likely won’t be able to win back the House without also bucking the trend in places that look nothing like Orange County—places like Kentucky.

It’s notable then that McGrath isn’t the only serious Democrat in this race: State Sen. Reggie Thomas launched his bid last month, and a few other names are in the mix. Although Kentucky’s 6th District has been trending Republican over the past decade—Hillary Clinton lost it by 15 points last fall—Democratic candidates for governor and US Senate have both carried the district in recent years. It wasn’t so long ago (okay, 2012) that the area was represented by a Democrat, Rep. Ben Chandler. McGrath is still a long shot, but then again, Donald Trump was just elected president.

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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.

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