Ripped from the 2004 playbook
This story regarding John Edwards’ fundraising has been making its way over the wires for the past few days:
RALEIGH - Democratic presidential contender John Edwards hopes to make some quick campaign cash off a conservative columnist's slur."I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word `faggot,' so I -- so kind of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards," Ann Coulter told GOP activists attending the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday in Washington.
(snip)
Edwards' campaign sent an e-mail to supporters calling the comment a "shameless display of bigotry."
It asked supporters to help raise $100,000 in "Coulter Cash" so that the former N.C. senator could show "every would-be Republican mouthpiece that their bigoted attacks will not intimidate" him.
Using a highly publicized attack on one’s candidate to raise money from grass roots supporters is an idea straight out the Howard Dean 2004 presidential campaigns playbook, which makes sense given who his senior internet strategist is.
I’ll be interested to see if other candidates use this kind of fundraising judo, which is custom made to raise a little money from a broad base of donors. Given some of Barack Obama’s recent run-ins with unfavorable coverage, I would think his campaign would seize on the strategy as well.
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