Bachmann Comments Raise At Least $400k For Opponent [updated]

By Ryan Grim

(The Politico)  It's unlikely that the American media will produce the "penetrating exposé" into whether members of Congress are "pro-America or anti-America" that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) called for Friday, but there has been at least one consequence she may not have expected: Her congressional opponent, Democrat El Tinklenberg, has been showered with cash from all parts of the country — America, that is — as apparently insulted Americans respond to Bachmann's request.

"I can absolutely confirm that we have had in the last 24 hours donations from hundreds and hundreds of people from all over the country," said Tinklenberg campaign manager Anna Richey. "It's coming in so fast I can't get a hold on it and can't give a precise number. It's still coming in." At minimum, she said, $150,000 has so far been donated and she expects the total, which the campaign will release later today, to be far higher.

"It's overwhelming," said Richey. "I've gotten 600 e-mail messages into our info e-mail account in the last 12 hours. People are outraged." She said a number of the e-mails decried Bachmann's call for the investigation as modern-day McCarthyism. "People shared personal stories of how their parents were discriminated against" during that time, said Richey.

The messaes, she said, came from "Republicans, Democrats, people who professed to be out of work and struggling economically but wanted to give what they could."

Bachmann on Friday told MSNBC's Chris Matthews that Barack Obama is not the only anti-American member of Congress. "The news media should do a penetrating exposé 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 exposé like that," she said.

Richey said she's been amazed at the response. "It's really exciting, but unfortunate it had to come under these circumstances. This is what we've been trying to eliminate for months," she said of Bachmann.

Update: $438,346.57. That's how much El Tinklenberg says has flooded in so far. He's aiming for half a million.

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