February 6, 2008

Clinton, McCain Take California

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CNN has called California for John McCain, with 44% of the vote, and Hillary Clinton, with 56%, though the polls are still open in my home county, and only 15% of precincts have reported. For what it’s worth, the Times isn’t calling this one yet. Regardless, the delegate race, which is what matters, is tight tight because the Democrats award delegates based on the proportion of the vote, not the winner-take-all Republican method.

McCain is now the official Republican overdog, winning all 173 delegates in California, without airing a single TV ad. Just a random side note. Ron Paul’s got 5 delegates (he took 25% of the Republican vote in Montana). Spendy ones, given the $20 million his campaign spent. For you math types that’s $4 million per delegate.

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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.

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