“You Lie!” Congressman Raises Millions for His Campaign
Remember Joe Wilson? He is the Congressman who ungraciously called Obama a liar when the President told a non-truth. You may recall how he was pilloried by the media: “Shame! Shame!”
He later said that other Congressmen came up to him and asked what they could yell at the President to raise donations. Maybe they were kidding, but word got out fast.
It was not a shame for his “Re-elect Joe Wilson” fund. He cried all the way to the bank. From all over the nation, Republicans who think Obama is a liar started donating to his campaign.
Ron Paul was the all-time master of getting donations from outside his district. He did this for years. He was unbeatable. The no-name Democrats who ran against him could never match his fund-raising.
For years after the famous $4 million “money bomb” for his 2007 Presidential nomination run, his peers kept coming to him to ask how he did it. He told them they should vote libertarian for 30 years. This was not what they wanted to hear.
Other Congressmen who hold extreme views have the same advantage. Leftist Alan Grayson raises lots of money from outside his district.
People who hold an extreme view find that their incumbent Congressman cannot be beaten. Maybe he is gerrymandered into lifetime employment as a politician. So, what can they do to support their cause? Send money to a Congressman who holds their views. It’s a way of protesting.
Wise ones would donate only to politicians who have a shot at winning the election, but who are in a close race. This is electoral triage. Don’t donate to a sure loser. Don’t donate to a sure winner.
This assumes that you want to donate at all, which is generally a bad idea. Better to spend political money on funding a “vote no” campaign on the next local bond issue. It’s not glamorous, but it could save your county a lot of money. It could stop some boondoggle from getting funded.
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Published on August 20, 2012. The original is here.