February 9, 2011

Webb Bows Out

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Sen. James Webb (D–Va.) has decided not to run for reelection in 2012. So what does the Democratic grass roots in Virginia think of this? Here’s Virginia email pal #1:

Crap. I know he wasn’t the greatest advocate for progressive causes, but Webb was still a D. Now, he will relinquish his seat to the guy he beat 6 years ago, George Allen. No Democrat can beat Allen in 2012 unless he self-immolates again. I cannot begin to tell you how much of a Republican throwback Allen truly is.

That’s not very encouraging. Maybe Virginia email pal #2 will be a little more optimistic:

This really pisses me off. He could have kicked Allen’s ass. He has let a lot of people down and has probably handed another Senate seat to the Republicans. What a selfish prick.

OK then! Looks like Webb has a wee bit of fence mending to do.

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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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