Here’s Why the RNC’s Anti-Hillary Clinton Campaign Involves an Orange Squirrel Suit

Never let a good furry costume go to waste.

Patrick Caldwell/Mother Jones

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On Friday, the Republican National Committee unveiled its latest tactic to tear down Hillary Clinton’s would-be presidential campaign: an intern in a giant orange squirrel suit. The concept behind the attack requires some mental gymnastics to grasp. See, Republicans find it crazy that Democrats have latched onto Clinton as their 2016 standard bearer, so the squirrel’s tagline is “Another Clinton in the White House is Nuts.” When the squirrel wandered around outside a Clinton event in DC last Friday, its message wasn’t readily apparent; most Hillary devotees offered it high-fives before they noticed that the furry mascot was a GOP project.

So why a squirrel? Consider it a money-saving move on the GOP’s part. This isn’t the first time the party has used this particular squirrel suit. Back in 2008, the GOP introduced it as part of a campaign against ACORN, the voter registration group that would eventually close after a conservative backlash. The squirrel traveled the country that fall protesting ACORN. The RNC even gave the squirrel its own WordPress blog. “We are a group of concerned squirrels traveling around the country in an effort to highlight Barack Obama’s relationship with ACORN,” the About page said.

RNC Squirrel

The squirrel visiting Times Square in his ACORN incarnation AcornsDontFallFarFromTheTree.wordpress.com/

He became friends with fitness guru Richard Simmons:

Richard Simmons and the RNC Squirrel

Richard Simmons goes nuts for the RNC AcornsDontFallFarFromTheTree.wordpress.com/

The ACORN squirrel speaks:

Ultimately, the squirrel failed at its mission: Obama won the 2008 election despite the ACORN controversy. Since then, the suit has lingered unused at RNC offices. Why revive it this year? Kristen Kukowski, press secretary at the RNC, told Mother Jones over e-mail, “What can I say? We believe in recycling.”

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THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

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