October 16th, 2009
03:55 PM ET
13 years ago

Wilson spent heavily to capitalize on 'You Lie!'

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/10/08/joe.wilson/art.joe.wilson.gi.jpg caption="Rep. Joe Wilson has raised $2.7 million so far this year, much of it as a result of his outburst."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - Rep. Joe Wilson's congressional campaign spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars on an aggressive marketing and fundraising operation in the days after the South Carolina Republican shouted "You Lie!" at President Obama in early September, financial disclosure reports reveal.

So far this year, Wilson has collected about $2.7 million in contributions, most of which came in after the infamous outburst on Sept. 9 turned the little-known congressman into a household name. After the shout, his 2010 campaign organization set out to capitalize on the outpouring of support he received from conservatives around the country.

On Sept. 14, Wilson's campaign doled out $52,250 to the Virginia-based digital communications firm Active Engagement for web design and online advertising. On Sept. 16, the campaign paid $42,400 to retain the David All Group - a Washington-based Republican new media firm - to help boost Wilson's profile on Twitter and other social networking sites.

Piryx, a firm that processes online donations, received $72,007 from the campaign in September. Wilson's team also spent nearly $30,000 to rent a mailing list from the Richard Norman Company, a conservative fundraising organization in northern Virginia.

All told, the Wilson campaign spent roughly $235,000 on services related to fundraising and communications strategy.

FULL POST


Filed under: Joe Wilson • Rob Miller • South Carolina
October 16th, 2009
08:39 AM ET
11 years ago

'You lie' equals $4.4 million cash haul

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/14/art.youlie.gi.jpg caption="Wilson's infamous comment has resulted in $4.4 million of campaign cash."](CNN) - How much are the words "You Lie" worth when directed at President Barack Obama on national television?

Well over $4 million collectively, newly filed campaign finance reports show.

According to the new Federal Elections Commission disclosure forms, South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson raised $2.7 through September 30 of this year, nearly all of it coming after the infamous outburst during Obama's September 9 prime-time address to Congress, Wilson's campaign told CNN.

Rob Miller, Wilson's likely Democratic opponent in next year's congressional election, has collected close to $1.7 million through September 30, 95 percent of which came after the "You Lie" incident, according to Miller's campaign. Wilson beat Miller by eight points in last year's election.

The combined $4.4 million cash haul has transformed what was once a low profile congressional race into what appears will be the most expensive campaign for a House seat in South Carolina history.

- CNN's Peter Hamby, Robert Yoon, and Alexander Mooney contributed to this report


Filed under: Joe Wilson • Rob Miller
September 22nd, 2009
08:12 AM ET
14 years ago

Joe Wilson passes $2 million mark

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/14/art.youlie.gi.jpg caption="South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson has raked in more than $2 million since he shouted at President Obama."]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.


Filed under: Joe Wilson • Rob Miller • South Carolina
September 21st, 2009
06:10 PM ET
14 years ago

Joe Wilson passes $2 million mark

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/14/art.youlie.gi.jpg caption="South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson has raked in more than $2 million since he shouted at President Obama."]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.


Filed under: Extra • Joe Wilson • Rob Miller • South Carolina
September 18th, 2009
07:21 AM ET
14 years ago

First on the Ticker: Wilson challenger to raise cash in D.C.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/17/art.robmiller.com.jpg caption="Rob Miller first challenged Republican congressman Joe Wilson in 2008."]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


Filed under: Joe Wilson • Rob Miller • South Carolina
September 17th, 2009
07:25 PM ET
14 years ago

First on the Ticker: Wilson challenger to raise cash in D.C.

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/17/art.robmiller.com.jpg caption="Rob Miller first challenged Republican congressman Joe Wilson in 2008."]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


Filed under: Extra • Joe Wilson • Rob Miller • South Carolina
September 15th, 2009
05:30 AM ET
14 years ago

Wilson supporters to House Democrats: Bring it on

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/11/art.wilsonvid.cnn.jpg caption="Wilson used a Web video last week to raise money after being criticized by Democrats."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) - As House Democrats march forward with plans to formally reprimand Republican Joe Wilson for calling President Obama a liar during last week's joint address to Congress, Wilson's supporters back home in South Carolina have a straightforward response: Bring it on.

"I hope they do it," said Rich Bolen, who chairs the Republican Party in Lexington County, where Wilson lives. "The longer this story stays alive, the better it is for the conservative point of view. It means the Democrats aren't talking about health care and moving the ball forward. They're giving Wilson a ton of traction."

After Wilson rejected calls from Democrats to apologize on the floor of the House for his outburst, House leadership moved ahead with plans to vote Tuesday on a "resolution of disapproval" against the congressman.

But Wilson's supporters in South Carolina are hardly running from the resolution - they're embracing it.

GOP campaign operatives in the state argue that the vote will give Wilson yet another chance to raise money and rally party activists ahead of next year's election in the conservative-leaning 2nd Congressional District, which hasn't voted for a Democrat in 46 years.

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Filed under: Joe Wilson • Rob Miller • South Carolina
September 12th, 2009
04:56 PM ET
14 years ago

Source: Joe Wilson racking up the dollars after 'you lie' comment

[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/09/11/art.wilsonvid.cnn.jpg caption="Wilson directly asked in a Web video for campaign cash to fend off attacks from political opponents and said he's standing by his opposition to Democratic efforts at health care reform."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson - the South Carolina Republican who heckled President Obama during his speech to a joint session of Congress - has raised more than $1 million, a campaign aide confirmed to CNN Saturday.

News of that cash haul comes after Wilson directly asked in a Web video for campaign cash to fend off attacks from political opponents and said he's standing by his opposition to Democratic efforts at health care reform.

Wilson has come under fire for shouting "you lie" to Obama during the Wednesday night address to Congress on health care reform. The lawmaker soon apologized for his behavior, viewed by Republicans and Democrats as an ill-mannered breach of political decorum.

The remark energized Wilson's opponents and supporters, who have been opening their wallets and sending donations to Wilson and Rob Miller, his Democratic opponent in next year's congressional race.

Miller - who has reported raking in more than $1 million as a result of the outburst - ran against Wilson last year, losing by 8 percentage points. It was Wilson's smallest margin of victory in his five elections to Congress.

FULL POST


Filed under: Joe Wilson • Rob Miller
September 11th, 2009
04:20 PM ET
14 years ago

ActBlue raises over $750,000 for Joe Wilson's opponent

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Online fundraising site ActBlue announced Friday that since Republican congressman Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's address, his Democratic opponent Rob Miller has raised over $787,951 (and rising) on the site.  The first donation came in at 9:15 p.m. ET on September 9.

ActBlue Deputy Communications Director Adrian Arroyo told CNN that the donations have come in from over 21,622 people since Wednesday night's speech, a major jump from the 5,000 who had contributed as of yesterday.  Arroyo admits that since the fundraising push is viral, "there is no one place to locate what is going on.  You have DailyKos, Twitter and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee circling these issues. There is no one prime mover."  The mean contribution size is $36.

Two links leading back to ActBlue's donation pages have been clicked on over 9,500 times, said the group. Two days after the speech, Joe Wilson is still the top trending topic on Twitter - and ActBlue has benefited greatly, with more than 1,000 tweets about their fundraising efforts for the congressman's opponent.


Filed under: Joe Wilson • Rob Miller • Social Networking • Twitter
September 10th, 2009
11:25 AM ET
14 years ago

ActBlue: Over 3,000 clicks for Rob Miller = $100,000 in donations

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Two links (Miller's ActBlue listing and fundraising page) allowing people to donate to Rep. Congressman Joe Wilson's opponent Rob Miller went viral last night on e-mail, Twitter and Facebook, raising approximately $100,000, according to the liberal group pushing for the contributions.

The links came from online fundraising site ActBlue, and the first donation via the links came in at 9:30 p.m. ET last night. ActBlue's two links were clicked on over 3,000 times. The overwhelming majority of those clicks came in from people e-mailing the links, followed by a people sharing the link on Twitter. A smaller number of donors put the link on Facebook.

ActBlue Deputy Communications Director Adrian Arroyo told CNN that the donations have come in from over 5,000 individuals.


Filed under: Facebook • Health care • Joe Wilson • Rob Miller • Social Media • Social Networking • Twitter • Uncategorized
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