Times like this call for poetry. I’ve got you covered:

Fall’s pall: small blue balls
Pray for winter’s warmth to come
In twenty-twenty

See, it’s a metaphor. Or maybe an allegory. And it’s about stuff that’s dying—which could be either your hope for a better future or maybe just an ingrown toenail. The small blue balls are right there in the picture, and they’re dying because it’s autumn. But there’s a deeper meaning! Blue is the color for Democrats and also the color for sadness. Democrats are feeling small and sad right now. So they’re waiting for winter’s warmth. But winter isn’t warm, is it? That’s where the old haiku juxtaposition switcheroo comes in: sure, winter is cold, but for our allegorically sad Democrats, winter of 2020 could turn out to be very warm indeed.

As for why the Democrats are apparently represented by balls in this imagery, I’ll leave that up to you. I mean, do I have to explain everything? Are you feeling inspired yet?

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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