October 21, 2008

Bachmann (R-Crazy) May Lose Seat Due to Self-Inflicted Wound

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The nation was introduced to Michele Bachmann’s special kind of crazy last week, a fact that (surprise!) is bad for Bachmann’s electoral prospects. According to CQ Politics, her McCarthy-esque appearance on Hardball (video below) has put her in jeopardy of losing her seat, a previously unthinkable outcome in her deep red district. It helps that, because of Bachmann’s screed, her opponent El Tinklenberg has nearly doubled his fundraising for the entire race. Here’s CQ:

Tinklenberg, a former state Transportation secretary, had collected more than $810,000 between Friday night and Monday afternoon, after raising $1 million for the entire election cycle through the end of September.

“It’s hard to give a completely accurate number because the money keeps rolling in,” said Tinklenberg spokeswoman Kate Monson.

“We’re in the middle of a political earthquake here,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said on Hardball Monday evening.

CQ Politics is moving its rating of the contest from Republican Favored to Leans Republican, a more competitive category.

The DCCC plans on going on the air in the district this week, with the goal of spending $1 million in TV advertising that it hopes will unseat Bachmann. “She effectively put the race into play by herself,” says one Republican consultant. Video of her appearance is below.

MATTHEWS: So you believe that Barack Obama may have anti- American views.

BACHMANN: Absolutely. I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views. That’s what the American people are concerned about. That’s why they want to know what his answers are.

[…]

MATTHEWS: Well, he’s a United States senator from Illinois. He’s one of the people you suspect as being anti-American. How many people in the Congress of the United States do you think are anti- American? You’ve already suspected Barack Obama. Is he alone, or are there others? How many do you suspect of your colleagues as being anti-American?

BACHMANN: What I would say — what I would say is that 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.

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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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