September 2, 2011

Is The Bachmann Super PAC Run By Mother Jones Fans?

A still of the anti-Perry TV ad that references a Mother Jones blog post.Screenshot: Asawin Suebsaeng

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Keep Conservatives United, a super PAC supporting GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann’s presidential bid, has produced an anti-Rick Perry attack ad, set to air in South Carolina after the Labor Day weekend. And it uses a Mother Jones article to make its case that Bachmann is the better—and more to the right—candidate.

The ad, which will begin airing September 7 on CNBC, Fox News, and CNN, pillories Perry for pitching himself as a fiscal conservative and friend of the tea party despite going on spending binges during his decade as Texas governor. Considering Perry’s entry into the 2012 race has threatened Bachmann’s share of the tea party vote, the gist and tone of the ad aren’t unexpected. What is a bit surprising is that this latest Bachmann super PAC ad deploys a Mother Jones blog post to sell Bachmann. Watch the TV spot below; the MoJo promo appears at the 30-second mark, as the voice-over proclaims that “there is an honest conservative, and she’s not Rick Perry”:

This isn’t even the first time Bachmann’s super PAC has cited MoJo. But the ad makes it seem as if we were endorsing her as the “honest” one.

Leaving aside the obvious, farcical tangle of questions this presents (like, “Why didn’t they just use a National Review post?”), the ad glosses over all the, well, you know… content.

The referenced blog post was written by our DC reporter Andy Kroll on July 19, and the first paragraph starts with a sarcastic jab at how “All that fact-checking must be paying off for Michele Bachmann”—a reference to her penchant for saying things that are patently not true. (This is clearly visible in the ad.)

No doubt, Keep Conservatives United will keep churning out the pro-Bachmann ads. So here are a few other Bachmann-related MoJo heds that we suggest for the super PAC’s next spot:

“Michele Bachmann Is Not a Doctor“

“Michele Bachmann Said What!?“

“The Teen Suicide Epidemic in Michele Bachmann’s District“

“Michele Bachmann: Crazy Like a Fox“

“Michele Bachmann’s Auschwitz Warning“

And, of course:

“Does Michele Bachmann Think the Apocalypse is Imminent?“

This KCU TV spot might be the first Bachmann ad Mother Jones truly endorses. In today’s economy, we’ll take all the free advertising we can get.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

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So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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