Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the national Tea Party star and potential presidential candidate who has mastered the art of rhetorical bomb-throwing, still hasn’t quite gotten the art of the money-bomb quite right.
On Wednesday, Bachmann launched a money-bomb fundraising event entitled, “Make Barack Obama a One-Term President,” tying the event to her own potential candidacy and the hopes of her supporters that she might get in the race.
“I need your help right now to show Barack Obama that he is no match for our conservative base,” Bachmann wrote in an e-mail to her supporter list Wednesday. “We’ve set a goal to raise $240,000 in 24 hours, but we can only do this if you act now.”
At time of writing Thursday morning, the counter on Bachmann’s campaign site indicates that she has raised…$165,151, far short of the $240,000 goal.
Compare that to Mitt Romney, who recently staged a one-day fundraising bonanza, utilizing a nationwide phone bank, which took in a whopping $10.25 million.
As TPM has previously noted, the problem with Bachmann’s money-bombs has been a matter of execution. Bachmann is in fact a very strong fundraiser, especially when one considers that she is only a third-term House member, bringing in small and large sums from all over the country in the course of any given quarter.
However, her money-bombs when they occur seem to be spur-of-the-moment events, without any long build-up or priming people to get ready to donate on one day, as other politicians usually do.
