September 2, 2011

Is The Bachmann Super PAC Run By Mother Jones Fans?

A still of the anti-Perry TV ad that references a Mother Jones blog post.Screenshot: Asawin Suebsaeng

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Keep Conservatives United, a super PAC supporting GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann’s presidential bid, has produced an anti-Rick Perry attack ad, set to air in South Carolina after the Labor Day weekend. And it uses a Mother Jones article to make its case that Bachmann is the better—and more to the right—candidate.

The ad, which will begin airing September 7 on CNBC, Fox News, and CNN, pillories Perry for pitching himself as a fiscal conservative and friend of the tea party despite going on spending binges during his decade as Texas governor. Considering Perry’s entry into the 2012 race has threatened Bachmann’s share of the tea party vote, the gist and tone of the ad aren’t unexpected. What is a bit surprising is that this latest Bachmann super PAC ad deploys a Mother Jones blog post to sell Bachmann. Watch the TV spot below; the MoJo promo appears at the 30-second mark, as the voice-over proclaims that “there is an honest conservative, and she’s not Rick Perry”:

This isn’t even the first time Bachmann’s super PAC has cited MoJo. But the ad makes it seem as if we were endorsing her as the “honest” one.

Leaving aside the obvious, farcical tangle of questions this presents (like, “Why didn’t they just use a National Review post?”), the ad glosses over all the, well, you know… content.

The referenced blog post was written by our DC reporter Andy Kroll on July 19, and the first paragraph starts with a sarcastic jab at how “All that fact-checking must be paying off for Michele Bachmann”—a reference to her penchant for saying things that are patently not true. (This is clearly visible in the ad.)

No doubt, Keep Conservatives United will keep churning out the pro-Bachmann ads. So here are a few other Bachmann-related MoJo heds that we suggest for the super PAC’s next spot:

“Michele Bachmann Is Not a Doctor“

“Michele Bachmann Said What!?“

“The Teen Suicide Epidemic in Michele Bachmann’s District“

“Michele Bachmann: Crazy Like a Fox“

“Michele Bachmann’s Auschwitz Warning“

And, of course:

“Does Michele Bachmann Think the Apocalypse is Imminent?“

This KCU TV spot might be the first Bachmann ad Mother Jones truly endorses. In today’s economy, we’ll take all the free advertising we can get.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON MOTHER JONES' FINANCES

We need to start being more upfront about how hard it is keeping a newsroom like Mother Jones afloat these days.

Because it is, and because we're fresh off finishing a fiscal year, on June 30, that came up a bit short of where we needed to be. And this next one simply has to be a year of growth—particularly for donations from online readers to help counter the brutal economics of journalism right now.

Straight up: We need this pitch, what you're reading right now, to start earning significantly more donations than normal. We need people who care enough about Mother Jones’ journalism to be reading a blurb like this to decide to pitch in and support it if you can right now.

Urgent, for sure. But it's not all doom and gloom!

Because over the challenging last year, and thanks to feedback from readers, we've started to see a better way to go about asking you to support our work: Level-headedly communicating the urgency of hitting our fundraising goals, being transparent about our finances, challenges, and opportunities, and explaining how being funded primarily by donations big and small, from ordinary (and extraordinary!) people like you, is the thing that lets us do the type of journalism you look to Mother Jones for—that is so very much needed right now.

And it's really been resonating with folks! Thankfully. Because corporations, powerful people with deep pockets, and market forces will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. Only people like you will.

There's more about our finances in "News Never Pays," or "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," and we'll have details about the year ahead for you soon. But we already know this: The fundraising for our next deadline, $350,000 by the time September 30 rolls around, has to start now, and it has to be stronger than normal so that we don't fall behind and risk coming up short again.

Please 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.

—Monika Bauerlein, CEO, and Brian Hiatt, Online Membership Director

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON MOTHER JONES' FINANCES

We need to start being more upfront about how hard it is keeping a newsroom like Mother Jones afloat these days.

Because it is, and because we're fresh off finishing a fiscal year, on June 30, that came up a bit short of where we needed to be. And this next one simply has to be a year of growth—particularly for donations from online readers to help counter the brutal economics of journalism right now.

Straight up: We need this pitch, what you're reading right now, to start earning significantly more donations than normal. We need people who care enough about Mother Jones’ journalism to be reading a blurb like this to decide to pitch in and support it if you can right now.

Urgent, for sure. But it's not all doom and gloom!

Because over the challenging last year, and thanks to feedback from readers, we've started to see a better way to go about asking you to support our work: Level-headedly communicating the urgency of hitting our fundraising goals, being transparent about our finances, challenges, and opportunities, and explaining how being funded primarily by donations big and small, from ordinary (and extraordinary!) people like you, is the thing that lets us do the type of journalism you look to Mother Jones for—that is so very much needed right now.

And it's really been resonating with folks! Thankfully. Because corporations, powerful people with deep pockets, and market forces will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. Only people like you will.

There's more about our finances in "News Never Pays," or "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," and we'll have details about the year ahead for you soon. But we already know this: The fundraising for our next deadline, $350,000 by the time September 30 rolls around, has to start now, and it has to be stronger than normal so that we don't fall behind and risk coming up short again.

Please 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.

—Monika Bauerlein, CEO, and Brian Hiatt, Online Membership Director

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate