July/August 2004 Issue

Bush’s Baseball Ambassadors

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DOLING OUT diplomatic posts is a time-honored way for presidents to repay political patrons. But by awarding ambassadorships to 19 Pioneers—supporters who raised at least $100,000 for his 2000 campaign—George W. Bush, a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers, has been in a league of his own. His choices include five big-league execs. Here, the baseball bunch. —Benjamin Leslie

For more on the Bush donor-diplomat team, see Bush’s Foreign Exchange.

Pioneer Posting Service

Personal Donations to GOP in 2000

Baseball Affiliation

Diplomatic Distinctions

George Argyros
Spain. 2001 – present.

$123,000

Former owner of Seattle Mariners.

No Spanish.

Mercer Reynolds III
Switzerland 2001 – 2003. Called back to become Bush 2004 finance chair.

$373,173

Co-owner of Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals.

No German or Italian. Only basic French. A.k.a. “Fundraiser-in-Chief.”

Stephen Brauer
Belgium, 2001 – 2003.

$415,830

Co-owner of St. Louis Cardinals.

No French. No Flemish.

Jeffrey Marcus
Belgium. Four days in 2003.

$275,000

Co-owner of Texas Rangers.

Appointed, but never showed due to divorce proceedings.

Craig Stapleton
Czech Republic. 2001 – 2003. Returned to fundraise for Bush 2004.

$60,500

Former co-owner of Texas Rangers. Married to Bush cousin, Dorothy.

Czech 101. Reportedly walked out and slammed door on Czech prime minister during Iraq war rift.

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.

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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.

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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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