December 3, 2007

Edwards to Obama: “Our Voices Together Are More Powerful Than Our Voices Alone”

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obama_edwards250x200.jpg I’ve believed for quite some time (much to the amusement of the staff around here) that John Edwards and Barack Obama would make a natural pairing on a presidential ticket because of the similarities in their messages.

The belief is heavily informed by the fact that when I was in Iowa, I saw Edwards frequently praise Obama on the stump, sometimes apropos of nothing at all. The reason I bring this up now is because Edwards did it again at the Iowa Brown and Black Forum over the weekend:

“The cause of ending poverty in America is a cause that’s very central to what I want to do as president, and central to my life. … And there is at least one other candidate on this stage who has also spoken, strongly and eloquently, about doing something about poverty in America, and it’s Senator Obama.”

Candidates are not in the business of lavishing completely unnecessary praise on their opponents, especially not opponents beating them in the polls. It’s doubly weird for Edwards to make this statement because poverty is his signature issue. In saying that Obama has spoken “strongly and eloquently” about it, Edwards dilutes his brand.

And Edwards’ last line just fuels my speculation. Speaking of Obama, he said:

“I think our voices together are more powerful than our voices alone.”

I think I have a legit case. Now if I could only get someone to take me seriously around here…

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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