Where The Money Is: Michele Bachmann Tops Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney has one of the best Rolodex’s of rich people in Republican politics. Michele Bachmann says stuff that makes people love her or hate her. In our modern age, which one of the two prospective presidential contenders do you think raised more money in the first quarter of 2011?

Bachmann, of course. She pulled in $2.2 million, if you combine her personal and PAC accounts, while Romney raised $1.9 million.

What’s going on? The answer can be found in the following two articles. The first, which comes out in this week’s issue of TIME, explains why a Bachmann presidential campaign is actually a pretty big deal. The second, which I wrote with Jay Newton-Small in 2009, explains how Bachmann has mastered the art of modern-day fund-raising. As we wrote:

Civility is so 20th century. In today’s Congress, the propriety of a gentleman and $5 will get you lots of committee work and a ham sandwich. Embrace the new media landscape, however, and you can break out in the national media fun house as an Internet and cable-news populist. Fame and campaign cash await.

The Phony War: Obama and Romney Are Debating Character, Not Policy

More than five months from Election Day, the back-and-forth about Mitt Romney’s record at Bain already feels played out. Unfortunately, there’s good reason to expect the campaign continues in this vein indefinitely. Neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney are terribly interested in dwelling on policy platforms. Romney’s plan to slash spending and keep taxes low on the wealthy isn’t especially popular, at least not at any level of detail beyond a blithe promise to shrink the deficit. Meanwhile, Obama’s signature first-term achievements, like health care, the stimulus and Wall Street reform, are all unpopular or tricky to sell. (The Dodd-Frank bill is the most popular of these, but hyping it means offending wealthy donors.) So what we’re getting instead is a superficial duel about character–and, worse, one that’s based on the largely false premise that the better man can better “manage” the economy back to health.

newfreedomblog

“Embrace the new media landscape, however, and you can break out in the national media fun house as an Internet and cable-news populist.”

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Who was the “populist” libtard who broke all campaign contributions in 2008 again?
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“Barack Obama’s fundraising has broken previous records for presidential primary and general campaigns, and has changed expectations for future presidential elections. The campaign avoided using public campaign funds, raising all of its money privately from individual donors. By the general election the campaign committee raised more than $650 million for itself, and coordinated with both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and at least 18 state-level Democratic committees to create a joint-fundraising committee to raise and split tens of millions of dollars more.[39][40][41]
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Post-election fundraising continued for the separate transition administration, called the Obama-Biden Transition Project, and also the separate inaugural ceremonies and celebrations committee.[39]“

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Gee, wonder if the libtards have seen a return on investment yet?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_presidential_campaign,_2008
deconstructiva

Michael, please retitle your post “Where the Money Is: Michele Bachmann is On Top of Mitt Romney.” Go for it, carpe diem. But thanks to you and Katy for the article. Katy pointed out Michele’s public noncommittal stance (for now) in her earlier blog post, but do you see other factors involved in her hesitation? Indeed, for everyone’s hesitation except T-Paw? KT recently did a WaPo live chat and noted all the candidates are holding back and quoted Huckabee + last campaign started too early / fatigue…
http://live.washingtonpost.com/haley-barbour.html
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…however, there’s a minor demerit for not naming the source (or campaign) of the “She will not be the nominee” quote. This ain’t Watergate; you know how the commentariat feels about overusing anonymous quotes here. Did anyone ask Anonymous Quoter the followup, “Why won’t she be the nominee?” The TP base is a huge chunk of the R demographic and whoever wins ‘em over – Bachmann, Palin, Huckabee – has a fair chance at the nomination (not the general). If AQ’s quote is based on rival campaign posturing, that needs to be brought up, esp. depending on who’s the rival. Who is the current Most Bitter Rival™ to Michele? Sarah? T-Paw?
sacredh

I think it’s great. Bachmann pulled in $300k more than Romney. That’s wonderful news. All Mitt has to do is write himself a check and he has the sudden advantage in cash, but Michele is getting the money from the people who vote. She’s getting cash from the people who are going to work during the primary. Michele outraising Mitt is going to be a continuing story. Let them beat each up other during the primary and tell us how the other can’t win. Mitt’s going to have to keep going right and turning off more people for the general election. That is assuming that the less crazy of the GOP candidates makes it to the general election.
sacredh

There’s also the chance that someone like Bachmann could force themselves onto the ticket.
hippooath

Please – run Michele.
sacredh

Nice try. You’re just as terrified as I am that someone of her skill and stature will crush Obama.
53_3

I’m even more terrified than you, sacred.
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See my knees shake?
acameronw

I’m tempted to say that if Ms. Bachmann is elected president I’ll leave the country, but I have no desire to be trampled in a stampede.
53_3

“That is assuming that the less crazy of the GOP candidates makes it to the general election.”
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That is a mighty big assumption, sacred…
53_3

Well, you know?
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I just keep thinking that 100,000,000 years from now, the North American continent will collide with Asia, and South America, tailgating us as always, will rear-end us when it happens.
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in the meantime, I think I’ll just get in a little snooze…
53_3

I think not winding up in another Great Depression has shown me that my investment anyway, has already paid off…
apr2563

The traditional media:
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Look it’s Tea Partiers…
Look it’s Sarah Palin…
Look it’s Governor Christie…
Look it’s Hailey Barbour…
Look it’s Michelle Bachmann…
Look it’s Donald Trump…
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Quick, who is next? We need conflict. Who is the next Wizard of Oz? Don’t pull the curtain.
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Michelle is so popular she drew 10s of dozens to the DC rally. Many of the few attendees were loving on the Donald. They like their Birthers. Or they like a really swell comb over.
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newfreedomblog