December 13, 2007

Ryan White’s Mother Still Trying To Meet With Mike Huckabee

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For the second time, Jeanne White-Ginder, represented by the Human Rights Campaign and the AIDS Institute, has sent a letter to presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, asking him to meet with White-Ginder, the mother of Ryan White. White, at age 13, was diagnosed with AIDS and expelled from his school twenty-three years ago, and his case came to national attention. He died in 1990 at the age of 18.

White-Ginder, HRC and the AIDS Institute are interested in talking with Huckabee because of comments he made in 1992, when he said that people with AIDS should be isolated, even though it was an established fact that the syndrome could not be spread through casual contact. Just three days ago, the former Arkansas governor said that he stands by his belief that AIDS patients and individuals carrying HIV should be isolated.

The letter states: “We look forward to discussing our experiences and personal insight with you and your campaign. This was not and is not an issue of ‘political correctness,’ as you have stated previously. Rather, this is an issue of valuing science-based evidence over unfounded fear or prejudice.”

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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.

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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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