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.

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?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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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?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

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