Johnson campaign endorses hatchet job against Steve Kirby? No, Now they’re doing it themselves.
What, did that even take 24 hours before the campaign said screw it, and decided to start slogging in the mud themselves?:
Johnson campaign attacks Steve Kirby
Email comes one day after Web site launchedOne day after national Democrats attacked Steve Kirby, Johnson’s own campaign attacked the Sioux Falls businessman, saying in an email this afternoon that he cares little about the nation’s problems.
In the email from Johnson’s campaign manager, Steve Jarding, supporters were told to donate money in order to fight off “multi-millionaire” Kirby, who is considering a run against Johnson, D-S.D.
Read it all here at the Argus Leader.
Between this, and all the e-mails being sent through IP anonymizer services that I’m getting comments through on my Kirby/Johnson posts (unless SD politics are big in Hong Kong and the Netherlands today), the Dems are revving up the engines to spin this as hard as they can.
No. They’re not worried about their chances at all. Nope, not at all. Or at least if they keep saying it enough, people might believe it.
Eventually.
Update – here’s the e-mail itself….
From: Steve Jarding, Tim Johnson for South Dakota
Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 1:11 PM
To:
Subject: Fight Kirby’s MillionsDear _____,
Send multi-millionare Steve Kirby a message: Thousands of Tim Johnson’s grassroots supporters will match you, dollar for dollar.
For the last few months, Republican leaders in Washington have been trying to recruit a wealthy candidate in South Dakota to challenge Senator Tim Johnson.
It is a tactic born of desperation. The Republicans are out of ideas and on the run. They believe a multi-million dollar campaign to throw mud on Tim is their only chance of winning South Dakota’s Senate seat. If recent news reports are right, they may have found a millionaire willing to foot the bill.
Steve Kirby, a Sioux Falls multi-millionaire and former Lieutenant Governor, is said to be weighing a run against Tim. If he runs, he will have unlimited funds at his disposal for attack ads to distort Tim’s record and smear Tim’s good name. I am asking for your help to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Donate to Tim’s campaign, and give us the resources we will need to fight back against Kirby’s millions. Let Republicans know that it will take more than a huge bank account to win this Senate seat.
We’re running our campaign the right way. We depend on people like you for our resources — your dollars pay our campaign staff, keep our offices open, and will pay for TV and radio ads to talk about issues that South Dakotans care about. That means this isn’t just Tim’s campaign for Senate — it’s yours, too.
It takes more than a fat wallet to be a good senator. It takes grit, determination and a vision that South Dakota and our country can be better places than they are today. Tim Johnson has spent his career fighting for people who can’t fight for themselves — and with your help, he will keep doing it.
Donate to Tim Johnson today, and give him the resources he will need to wage the tough campaign ahead. He’s no millionaire — but with your help, we can stand up against Kirby’s multi -millions.
If every one of you gives what you can today, no matter how small, then we will take a giant step toward victory next November. You will send a message to Steve Kirby that if he wants to take on Tim Johnson and take on you, he’d better be prepared to drain that bank account of his dry, because we will match him dollar for dollar.
This is a critical time for our country. Steve Kirby cares little that home foreclosures are growing, while incomes are not; that health care costs are skyrocketing while 47 million Americans lack health insurance; that jobs are being outsourced even though American workers are more productive than ever; that we are mired in a war without end that is mortgaging our children’s future. Tim Johnson does care. But, he cannot keep fighting for us unless we give him the resources to win this race.
Please, support Tim Johnson today. Donate to his campaign, and give us the resources we will need to win in November.
Sincerely,
Steve Jarding
Campaign Manager
Tim Johnson for South DakotaPaid for by Tim Johnson for South Dakota
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Comments
those hits from Hong Kong and the Netherlands are probably just some of Steve’s employees checking up after him.
They want to trick Kirby into going negative. A definite turn off to the voting public. After all, that’s how we got the “Accidental Governor.”
You’d think the students at the War College would be a little more sophisticated than anon 8:19.
This is called a fundraising appeal, which are not exactly known to be the most reliable sources of information about political reality. The idea is to get your supporters to feel a sense of urgency and create the impression that you’re in the race for your life. You’ll note they don’t mention that they’re beating Kirby by 50 points in this one. They make it sound like it’s neck-and-neck, and they need that “emergency” check from you right away.
I remember someone forwarded me one of Stephanie Herseth’s fundraising appeals in 2006 and she made Bruce Whalen out to be the hand-picked candidate of Karl Rove who had the backing of party leaders and who was going to run a sophisticated campaign, blah, blah, blah… but with your $50 donation, and a little luck, she just might be able to hold him off.
The reality, of course, was a bit different.
As fundraising letters go, this one’s pretty good. I’m sure there are Democratic donors around the state and country who got their checkbooks out as soon as they heard about the how tough of a candidate Kirby would be. And they probably dashed this off as soon as they found out the DSCC was going to release poll numbers showing them winning in a landslide, trying to get those donations in before the poll made the papers…
His financial disclosure give you an idea of his net worth. It ain’t all that much…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/congress/fin_dis/2006/j000177.pdf
Just for PP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG4VO_cV-7M
ROTFLMAO.