Campaigners took the Militant subscription total over the top in the two days before this issue went to press. They took advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the United States to get the Militant and its monthly sister publication in Spanish Perspectiva Mundial into the hands of working people and youth at shopping malls, workers’ districts, on the job, and elsewhere.

The subscription drive, which began August 28, was kicked off by sales of the socialist press to thousands of people who came to New York to join protests leading up to and during the Republican national convention. During those initial 14 days of campaigning, the Socialist Workers 2004 ticket was introduced to thousands of people, and 210 individuals subscribed to the Militant and PM.

The subscription effort complemented campaigning for Socialist Workers candidates in the elections around the United States. Partisans of the Militant in Australia, Iceland, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom all exceeded most of their goals.

Alongside the sub drive, a Pathfinder Supersaver sale that featured two dozen steeply discounted books and pamphlets on revolutionary working-class politics gave a boost to the outreach efforts of socialist campaigners.

One of the highlights of the effort was the increase in readership among coal miners. Socialist miners across the United States sold 41 subscriptions to co-workers and fellow unionists in the mines where they work and at union gatherings or picket lines. Many more miners signed up during special sales teams to the coalfields in Colorado, Kentucky, New Mexico, and West Virginia.

In the final weeks, several areas came from behind to make their goals.

“We got teams out every single day except for Thanksgiving to make our goal,” reported Maggie Trowe from Boston. Trowe said that socialists there sold five subscriptions to Perspectiva Mundial and one to the Militant on the job in the final days of the drive. “We met one co-worker at a table yesterday and sold a sub to the PM,” Trowe reported. “We also sold a subscription at a meeting where a Colombian trade unionist spoke about the government repression and murder of unionists there, a topic that has been covered in the Militant.”

“Most of those who subscribed during the 13 weeks the campaign lasted are first-time readers,” said Militant business manager Mike Italie. “This means we can expect to launch a subscription renewal effort sometime in January as those subscriptions expire, to increase our long-term readership.” At the start of the effort, Italie said, the Militant’s subscription base was at 1,470. It has now reached 2,545.

“Congratulations to all the partisans of the Militant on a job well done,” said Malapanis.

Fall Militant/Perspectiva Mundial Fall Subscription Drive chart (final week)