The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is using Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and her presidential campaign to fundraise, rally activists and mobilize supporters online.
Roll Call has learned the DSCC bought sponsored Google ads that appear when viewers conduct various searches that include Bachmann’s name. Clicking on the ad sends viewers to a petition page on the DSCC website that reads, “It’s simple — Michele Bachmann is too extreme for America.
“Sign below and stand with the DSCC against eliminating Medicare, abolishing the EPA, Michele Bachmann and the rest of the Tea Party,” the petition reads. “Our Democratic Senate majority is the last firewall against their radical agenda — and we need your support.”
Once a supporter has signed the petition, they are asked to donate money.
Search terms that will trigger the ads include Bachmann’s name, variations of her name — including misspellings — search terms to coincide with her presidential announcement this week and anything about her platform and key issues such as abortion. Other terms included are “John Wayne” and “lies.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is also raising money off of the three-term Congresswoman-turned-national-candidate. In the final days before the quarter ends, the DCCC has sent emails to supporters with the subject line “President Bachmann?”
Democrats have said their fundraising is boosted when they used politicians who are reviled on the left, with Karl Rove and Sarah Palin at the top of that list and often appearing in solicitations.
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
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