Rebuilding Through Bombs: Scott Brown's One-Day, One Million Dollar (Plus) Haul
BY Nancy Scola | Tuesday, January 12 2010
The Massachusetts Senate seat up for grabs in next week's suddenly very exciting special election has leading Republicans gearing up their online operations on behalf of Republican candidate Scott Brown, who is challenging Democrat Martha Coakley for the seat left vacant by the death of Ted Kennedy; we've seen Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty hit his email list on behalf of Brown, as has former Bay State governor Mitt Romney.
Leading Republican operatives also seem to be looking to turn the race, which could take away the 60th Senate vote Democrats very much want to protect, into a demonstration of their rising ability to shape major races -- and the Republican Party -- by harnessing online enthusiasm and dollars on behalf of their chosen candidates. "If we can do this now," tweeted techPresident contributor Patrick Ruffini at the tail end of yesterday's Brown money bomb, "imagine what we'll do for Marco."
Marco is, of course, Marco Rubio, the underdog candidate who seems to be mounting a surprisingly strong challenge for Florida's Senate seat against Florida Governor Charlie Christ. Here's some useful background from the New York Times magazine on how Rubio is emerging as something of the embodiment of the tea party movement, or at least a disapproval with what are seen as moderate, capitulating Republicans. The "this" Ruffini refers to doing is the more than $1.3 million that the Brown campaign is saying it raised through an online "money bomb" in one 24 hour period from, reports the Boston Herald, 16,800 people at an average contribution of $78 a pop.
As to the mechanics of pulling off his "money bomb," Brown rolled out a custom version of iContribute, the software developed by Engage, the DC-area firm led by Ruffini and partner Mindy Finn who happen to be the pair behind the Rebuild the Party drive launched in 2008 as a challenge to the Republican party's old guard. One way to "rebuild the party" in your image and likeness: equip your favored candidates with tools that help them amass the resources they need to get into office. The iContribute software is the same contribution tool that now-Virginia Governor-elect Bob McDonnell used in his campaign, but in Brown's case, the backend had an added visual hook. His "Red Invades Blue" campaign boasted a map of the state of Massachusetts, slowly turning red as money was raised yesterday, from western Mass to the coastal east. By the end of the day yesterday, Nantucket was blazing crimson.
CQ Politics is reporting that the DSCC has just made a half million dollar ad buy in Massachusetts on behalf of Coakley.