May 19, 2009

Newt Saddles Up with Cantor

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I recently pegged Newt Gingrich as the lead ideas-man in the GOP. And on Tuesday, House minority whip leader Eric Cantor announced that Gingrich was joining his National Council for a New America. Cantor set up the NCNA so congressional Republicans can “listen” to the American people, cook up fresh notions for the GOP, and repair the image of the Republican Party. As Cantor put it, “The NCNA will be a dynamic, forward-looking organization that will amplify the common-sense and wisdom of our fellow citizens through a grassroots dialogue with Republican leaders.”

But on the same day as Gingrich saddled up with Cantor, Michael Steele, the GOP chairman, said it was time for the GOP to turn the page and look ahead. But isn’t Gingrich another one of those GOPers of the past? The former House speaker does spew a lot of ideas. As his onetime aide Rich Galen told me, Gingrich can come up with 15 ideas a day, realizing that only one is any good and that “over the course of a month, maybe one of them is actionable and you can build a project on it. The biggest sin in Newt-world is the sin of inaction.”

So perhaps Gingrich can indeed assist Cantor with his “listening” project. But he sure doesn’t help Cantor when it comes to putting a fresh face on an old and discredited party.

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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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