24 hours, $450,000

[gerisullivan]

I wonder if Elwyn Tinklenberg will send a thank you note or flowers to the Congresswoman he's trying to unseat in Minnesota's 6th District.

Within 24 hours of Michelle Bachmann showing the world what she's made of on Hardball, over 9,000 people had donated $450,000 to Tinklenberg's campaign.

Behold the power and speed of the internet. Wave after wave of support from a couple of Daily Kos diary posts like this one and this one.

I first learned about the fundraising campaign late Friday night after daystreet asked Do You Like Watching Numbers Go Up? I watched the numbers on the Act Blue site go from $75,000 to $90,000 before turning in. Saturday afternoon, the Act Blue numbers exceeded $200K. Other contributions are being made directly to his campaign website.

daystreet reports the combined total had topped $488,000 shortly before midnight, with $240,745 coming from the ActBlue site. The ActBlue number is now over $246,000

I'll be curious to see the final "Hardball-effect" tally from Tinklenberg's campaign. Right now, they've just had one amazing day.

Then again, I'm also interested in learning what effect her Hardball appearance has on Bachmann's campaign. Beyond turning her into Tinklenberg's biggest fundraiser, that is.

Comments

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

I hope that his campaign will send any unnecessary money (and I would think that this exceeds his budget way past his wildest dreams) to the DCCC or the Obama campaign.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

On a related note, just saw this story - someone should post it to Daily Kos to help raise money for Democrat Kay Hagan in North Carolina! Libby Dole, her opponent, is circulating a YouTube video that assails Hagan for attending a Boston fundraiser co-hosted by Woody Kaplan who sits on the advisory board of the Godless Americans PAC. Hagan's campaign confirmed that the Democratic Senate candidate attended a Sept. 15 fundraiser at Kaplan's Boston home. Hagan's spokeswoman noted, however, that Kaplan was one of 40 co-hosts. "Elizabeth Dole knows that Kay Hagan is an elder at the First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro," said Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"Then again, I'm also interested in learning what effect her Hardball appearance has on Bachmann's campaign. Beyond turning her into Tinklenberg's biggest fundraiser, that is."

I don't think most of her mild supporters -- the ones who could be turned -- know about it. It's only her opponents who passed it around.

But maybe I'm wrong.

B

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

If it gets those who oppose her out to vote against her in her district then it will be huge.

Certainly in the past this sort of thing has worked to drag out people who are lazy about voting.

We should talk to Andy, he's the only person I know who lives up there.

"unnecessary money"

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

This race is in MN-6. The RNC has abandoned their candidate in MN-3 in order to support Michele Bachmann in the Sixth. So, no, it isn't enough. Tinklenberg may have just pulled even or a bit ahead, but she has deep pockets and strong Republican support at the national level.

I personally made hundreds of phone calls in support of the Democrat Ashwin Media in MN-3, so the fact that the Republicans have pulled funding for their candidate is something I take as a small personal triumph. Even if that funding is now channeled to Bachmann.

K.

[daedala.livejournal.com]

It's a DCCC campaign, actually.

Re: "unnecessary money"

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

My thanks and congratulations to minnehaha K. for her work in support of Ashwin Media in MN-3.

As she wrote, it doesn't look like there's likely to be any unnecessary money here. One of the reports I read yesterday said that Bachmann had about $1 million remaining in her campaign chest while Tinklenberg -- who had already been doing an excellent job of fundraising -- had about $300,000 before this amazing weekend.

Big bucks, you betcha.

Re: "unnecessary money"

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the additional information, and congratulations and admiration on your work for Media.

Re: "unnecessary money"

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

This race is getting bonkier by the minute. Apparently, Bachmann's R opponent in the primaries, Aubrey Immelman, has just re-entered the race asking for write-in votes: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/19/bachmanns-call-for-witch_n_135973.html

And Bachmann is trying to claim that she never said that Obama was anti-American -- this video shows her attempted retraction paired with her original statements: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAUw5tWh098

[lesliet-ma.livejournal.com]

I saw Bachman live on Hardball and then the Daily Kos note about contributing to Tinklenberg, so I was one of the early participants, before it was clear that it was going to be a movement. Bachman was really scary.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Neat. Thank you for being an early a/d/o/p/t/e/r/ supporter!

I was deeply relieved to see that Bachmann's last name is spelled with two n's rather than one. There's no reason for you to have noticed, and the ActBlue site has it wrong, but Bachman's was my favorite Twin Cities garden center until I discovered the neat boutique garden shops in the area during the last few years I lived there and I still look for excuses to order their "Watch 'em grow" spring bulb baskets.

Bachmann

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

It's gotten even weirder.

B