October 22, 2008

Bachmann Fights Back

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bachmann.jpgWith her career in jeopardy because of her McCarthy-esque comments on Hardball, Rep. Michele Bachman (R-MN) is in full spin mode. She’s telling everyone who will listen, “Chris Matthews laid a trap, and I walked into it.” And she’s trying to raise money off of the episode. Here’s an email she sent to supporters:

Nazi. Psychopath. Deranged. Mentally ill. Disgusting human being. Bitch.

I apologize for the rude language. But, these are just a few of the names that my staff and volunteers have been called over the past 24 hours simply because they work for me.

Ever since my appearance on MSNBC’s Hardball on Friday night, my office has received calls from all across the nation – California, Illinois, Georgia, Texas, Oregon, Vermont, and elsewhere. Some of the calls have been respectfully disagreeing with my statements on the show. Most, unfortunately, are full of hate and anger and language like that above – and worse.

And, they’re putting their money where their mouths are.

My opponent has told the media that the Far Left has donated more than half a million dollars in the 24 hours following the show.

Click here to let them know that we’re not going to stand for their lies.

…Chris Matthews did what Chris Matthews is paid big bucks to do: Twist my words and set them up for full-fledged distortion when his next guest came on. And, when the liberal blogs got hold of little clips of my appearance, the spin machine really kicked into overdrive.

…And, that is what is inspiring hard core leftists from all across the country to send more than half a million dollars to my opponent.

Here, again, is the quote that got Bachmann into the most trouble: “The news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an expose like that.” You know, I’m not sure that needs twisting from Chris Matthews or the liberal blogs (hi!) to make it inflammatory. It’s pretty damn inflammatory on it’s own.

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.

payment methods

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.

payment methods

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