Edwards the Broken Record: Corporations, Corporations, Corporations

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john-edwards-campaigning.jpg Edwards has a well-known hatred of corporations and powerful interests because of their corrupting power in Washington.

But that hatred has come dangerously close to becoming an obsession. Don’t believe me? Check the transcript of today’s debate in Iowa (DC’s analysis here). The man can literally speak of nothing else. Here’s the number of times each candidate used the words “corporations,” “corporate,” or “companies”:

John Edwards: 19
Barack Obama: 5
Bill Richardson: 3
Hillary Clinton: 2
Chris Dodd: 1
Joe Biden: 0

I respect Edwards’ willingness to speak truth to power, and it’s admirable that he can stay on message so well. And I think he’s totally correct on this stuff. But there is a very real chance that Edwards is defining himself more and more narrowly in the eyes of Iowa voters as they get ready to caucus. He runs the risk of becoming a one-dimensional candidate who has lacks a well-rounded vision for America.

He can cut his focus on corporation in half and still be the leading candidate on this subject.

Update: More fun debate counting. In the last debate for the Dems, they mentioned Iraq 10 times. In the last debate for the GOP, they mentioned Iraq once.

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Because the in-depth journalism on underreported beats and unique perspectives on the daily news you turn to Mother Jones for is only possible because readers fund us. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism we exist to do. The only investors who wonā€™t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its futureā€”you.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We canā€™t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

Because the in-depth journalism on underreported beats and unique perspectives on the daily news you turn to Mother Jones for is only possible because readers fund us. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism we exist to do. The only investors who wonā€™t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its futureā€”you.

And we need readers to show up for us big timeā€”again.

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