September 22, 2008

Obama Bails on North Dakota

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Another state drifts out of reach and Obama pulls the plug. This time it’s North Dakota; over 50 Obama staffers stationed there are heading to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Reportedly, the Obama campaign opened 11 offices in North Dakota while McCain opened zero. Yet, Obama finds himself down by double digits. Time to call it quits.

Look, I know Obama is playing effective and aggressive offense in traditionally red states like Colorado, Virginia, Nevada, and Montana. But Georgia, North Dakota, and Alaska were basically money pits that ate up campaign resources that could have been used in states where Obama is down by low single digits. I’m sure that David Plouffe wishes from time to time that he or his candidate had been a little less heady and ambitious when outlining the Obama campaign’s fifty-state strategy.

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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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