October 21, 2010

Is Toomey Worried?

Former Rep. Pat Toomey | ToomeyforSenate.com

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At least one person is worried about Rep. Joe Sestak’s recent surge in the polls in the Pennsylvania Senate race: his GOP opponent, former congressman (and derivatives trader) Pat Toomey. That’s what Toomey’s telling his most fervent supporters at least. In a message to a conservative email list, the Toomey campaign warns that “The Liberals are Coming!” and says Toomey needs help right away. Here’s an excerpt [emphasis added]:

Dear Reader,

It’s simple.

The agenda that President Obama and Nancy Pelosi have advanced in Washington has moved our country in the wrong direction and it’s prolonged our economic downturn.

Congressman Joe Sestak has supported this agenda, without exception, 100% of the time.

We’re in a very competitive race for the United States Senate here in Pennsylvania — in fact, Fox News just called our race, “neck and neck.” I’d very much appreciate your help as we close in on the campaign’s final days. Please consider making a contribution of $25, $50, $100 – or even $500, $1,000 or $2,400 – right now.

 

The rest of the message is along the same lines, bashing Obama and liberals. The email list this was sent to is more conservative than Pennsylvania, and the text is more right-wing than most of what Toomey, who’s tried to paint himself as a moderate, has been sending this election season. Toomey has to tread carefully though—although Obama’s not nearly as popular as he once was, Pennsylvania is still a state with a strong Democratic majority. He probably needs to win some Democrats (and Democratic-leaning independents) to win. If Sestak can prevent that by demonstrating that Toomey is a radical, he could still pull off the upset. If he can do that after coming from behind in the primary against Specter, he’ll be a two-time comeback kid.

 

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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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