WASHINGTON (CNN) - When Rep. Joe Wilson yelled "You lie!" at President Obama, the South Carolina Republican's political team quickly launched an online strategy to capitalize on the incident.
Wilson's heated outburst came on the House floor as Obama addressed a joint session of Congress about health care.
Within 12 hours, Wilson media consultant Brian Donahue had sketched out a plan that included buying ads on Google, cutting videos on YouTube and using Twitter and Facebook to raise money and counter the congressman's critics.
"We knew that influencers and news outlets would want to find out more information about what happened and what Joe Wilson's response was, and they would be looking for this information online," Donahue told CNN. "The events were happening by the minute and by the hour. Online was where we needed to be to respond and provide new information from Congressman Wilson. Traditional print media couldn't keep up with the pace of this issue."
Follow Eric Kuhn on Twitter @KuhnCNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) – South Carolina Republican congressman Joe Wilson has now raised over $2 million in campaign contributions since he shouted "You lie!" at the president earlier this month.
A campaign aide confirmed that Wilson surpassed the $2 million mark on Monday.
Wilson and his 2010 opponent, Democrat Rob Miller, each raised more than $1.5 million in the week after Wilson's outburst, which occurred during President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on September 9.
The House voted to formally reprimand Wilson last week, amidst an aggressive online fundraising effort by the congressman's staff.
Miller is scheduled to visit Washington on Wednesday for a pair of fundraisers on Capitol Hill.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – South Carolina Republican congressman Joe Wilson has now raised over $2 million in campaign contributions since he shouted "You lie!" at the president earlier this month.
A campaign aide confirmed that Wilson surpassed the $2 million mark on Monday.
Wilson and his 2010 opponent, Democrat Rob Miller, each raised more than $1.5 million in the week after Wilson's outburst, which occurred during President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on September 9.
The House voted to formally reprimand Wilson last week, amidst an aggressive online fundraising effort by the congressman's staff.
Miller is scheduled to visit Washington on Wednesday for a pair of fundraisers on Capitol Hill.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Embattled Rep. Joe Wilson said Friday his congressional outburst was his "town hall moment."
"I have to give credit to my son Alan," who is running for South Carolina attorney general. "He said, 'Dad I know you, I know what happened. You were there on the House floor and you had a town hall moment.' And that was it," said the Republican congressman.
Speaking in his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina for the first time since shouting "you lie" at President Obama, Wilson said that moment has made him the prime target of attack.
"It was speaking at the wrong place, wrong time," Wilson said. "And now, I am the number one target of Washington Democrats, the number one target of MoveOn, the number one target of ACORN."
Wilson called himself a "gentleman" for immediately contacting the White House to apologize, and commended the president for disagreeing with the sentiment that his outburst spurred from racism.
"I appreciate very much President Barack Obama has indicated this is not correct," Wilson said of the claims that he is racist. "...A number of people have all indicated that this truly we need to be discussing the issues and not (descend) into the level of name calling," he added.
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(CNN) - South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says he can feel Joe Wilson's pain.
Sanford on Thursday compared the scrutiny of Wilson - the Republican congressman who was formally reprimanded by the House of Representatives for shouting at President Obama - to the ongoing political war he has faced since revealing an extramarital affair in June. Sanford called it "the same dynamic."
"The guy apologized, and then you can have a bunch of other people come back and say, 'We want you to apologize again and again and again,'" Sanford told CN2 News in Rock Hill, South Carolina. "But what do people want out of federal representation? They want somebody representing them up in Congress."
"At some point in all of life, the question is not, 'When is someone going to make a mistake?', but 'When do the rest of us move on?,'" he said. "He apologized to the president. Does he have to issue 25 more apologies before folks will leave him alone?"
"Having seen some of this process a little up close and personal, my thought is it's time to move on," he concluded.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Rep. Joe Wilson's Democratic challenger Rob Miller has collected more than $1 million online since Wilson shouted "You lie!" at President Obama, but next week Miller will be raising money the old-fashioned way.
The South Carolina Democrat, who has yet to make a public appearance since Wilson's outburst, will head to Washington for a pair of fundraisers on Capitol Hill.
A group of ex-staffers for former South Carolina Sen. Fritz Hollings and Rep. Jim Clyburn will host an event for Miller at a Capitol Hill restaurant on Wednesday, with a minimum suggested donation of $250, according to an invitation provided to CNN.
Later in the evening, Miller will head over to a Pennsylvania Avenue bar for a low-dollar meet-and-greet with "young professionals." The entry fee for that gathering is $20.10.
Wilson, meanwhile, continues to soak up online donations - the Republican has raised nearly $1.8 million since last Wednesday, including several thousand dollars since he was formally punished by the House on Tuesday for his outburst.
Follow Peter Hamby on Twitter @hambypCNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Rep. Joe Wilson's Democratic challenger Rob Miller has collected more than $1 million online since Wilson shouted "You lie!" at President Obama, but next week Miller will be raising money the old-fashioned way.
The South Carolina Democrat, who has yet to make a public appearance since Wilson's outburst, will head to Washington for a pair of fundraisers on Capitol Hill.
A group of ex-staffers for former South Carolina Sen. Fritz Hollings and Rep. Jim Clyburn will host an event for Miller at a Capitol Hill restaurant on Wednesday, with a minimum suggested donation of $250, according to an invitation provided to CNN.
Later in the evening, Miller will head over to a Pennsylvania Avenue bar for a low-dollar meet-and-greet with "young professionals." The entry fee for that gathering is $20.10.
Wilson, meanwhile, continues to soak up online donations - the Republican has raised nearly $1.8 million since last Wednesday, including several thousand dollars since he was formally punished by the House on Tuesday for his outburst.
Follow Peter Hamby on Twitter @hambypCNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Wednesday sharply criticized a statement made by prominent Democrats - including Former President Jimmy Carter - that members of his party hold negative views of President Obama solely because he is black.
Steele accused Carter of being "dead wrong" and said he thinks the former Democratic president "was out of line."
"I think that he takes this to a point - to a level that is not reflective of what's been transpiring" in the current health care debate, Steele said. "When you go down this road and you start to just willy-nilly - as I believe President Carter has - throwing race out there, you diminish real instances of racism that needs to be addressed."
Carter on Tuesday said that he believes an inclination toward racism still exists in parts of the country and that it has "bubbled up to surface because of the belief by many white people not just in the south but around the country that African Americans are not qualified to lead this great country."
Carter made similar comments Wednesday night at a Town Hall in Atlanta, where he said that carrying signs equating Obama with Adolf Hitler and or urging that the president be buried with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy “are beyond the bounds” of how presidents have been treated in the past.
“And I think people who are guilty of that kind of personal attack against Obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be African American,” Carter said. “ ... And my hope is, and my expectation is, that in the future both Democratic leaders and Republican leaders will take the initiative in condemning that kind of uprecendented attack on the president of the United States.”
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The House of Representatives on Tuesday formally admonished Republican Rep. Joe Wilson for shouting "you lie" during President Barack Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress last week.
The House passed a resolution of disapproval on a 240-179 vote that was mostly along party lines, reflecting the Democratic majority in the chamber.
Five representatives voted "present."
According to the Office of the House Historian, it was the first time in its 220-year history that the House has disciplined a member for speaking out during a presidential speech in the chamber to a joint session of Congress.
During debate on the resolution, Wilson called the measure a waste of time and failed to offer an apology to the chamber as demanded by House Democrats.
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