Tinklenberg donations edge closer to $1 million after Bachmann remarks

New contributions to congressional candidate Elwyn Tinklenberg’s campaign were at $810,000 by late Monday afternoon, three days after conservative Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann speculated about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s “anti-American views” on national television.

“They’re still coming in, which is interesting,” Tinklenberg spokesman John Wodele said Monday morning. “I thought maybe last night (the contributions) would start to slow down a little bit, but (they're) still coming in at a pretty steady flow.”

Earlier Monday, Wodele said the total stood at $740,000, all of which was pledged to DFLer Tinklenberg in the wake of Bachmann’s Friday appearance on MSNBC’s “Hardball.” The money came mostly in small contributions averaging between $40 and $50 from "well over 13,000" donors, Wodele said.

During the interview with "Hardball" host Chris Matthews, Bachmann, a first-term congresswoman from Minnesota's 6th District, criticized congressional liberals and repeatedly pointed out Obama's previous association with Weather Underground founder Bill Ayers. Matthews asked her to clarify: "If you have liberal views, does that mean you're anti-American?" he asked.

"Anti-American is the point," Bachmann replied. "(These liberals) are over-the-top anti-American."

Matthews then asked Bachmann whether she thinks Obama has "anti-American views."

“Absolutely,” replied Bachmann, who has made dozens of national TV appearances but seemed nervous in the face of Matthews’ questioning, repeatedly widening her eyes and grimacing. “I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views.”

She also suggested to Matthews that the national media should investigate whether all members of Congress hold “anti-American views.”

Bachmann’s remarks had more far-reaching consequences than spurring donations to her opponent’s campaign: Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state during President Bush’s first term in office, publicly threw his support behind Obama, spurning Republican presidential hopeful and friend John McCain and castigating Bachmann during his announcement.

Bachmann, whose political pedal has been stuck in the “back” position since Friday, continued to insist Monday that her remarks were “completely misconstrued.”

“I did not suggest the word 'anti-American,’” she told KMSP-TV Monday. "I said the media should look into [Obama's] views.”

Minnesota’s DFL party could hardly restrain its glee over Bachmann’s injudicious comments, issuing a press release at midday Monday that included a statement from the six DFL members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation (Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Reps. Jim Oberstar, Collin Peterson, Betty McCollum, Keith Ellison and Tim Walz):

“For Michele Bachmann to go on national television and say that members of Congress should be investigated for ‘anti-American views’ calls into question her judgment and her ability to work in a bipartisan way to put the interests of our country first in this time of crisis,” the statement said. “Like Colin Powell, who called Bachmann’s comments ‘nonsense,’ we are embarrassed by her comments.

“All members of Congress – Democrats and Republicans – swear an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, and for Michele Bachmann to question their loyalty is outrageous.

“We pride ourselves in Minnesota on our clean and civil elections, but Michele Bachmann’s comments run entirely counter to that tradition. All Americans, regardless of their political beliefs, should reject these kinds of divisive, inappropriate and unacceptable comments.”

In the wake of the Bachmann dustup, the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns, on Monday changed its grade on the 6th District race from "likely Republican" to "tossup."

Wodele, who has been working on directing where some of the Tinklenberg campaign’s newfound funds will be spent ($188,000 for network and cable TV time, $52,000 on Twin Cities radio and $20,000 on St. Cloud radio through Election Day), remained cautious about predicting whether Bachmann’s remarks would tip the election either way, though he speculated that the contest might end up as a “1-, 2- or 3-point race.”

“She has made a mistake; there’s no question about that,” he said. “She said something that has reflected badly on her as a person and as a candidate, and she’s paying the price for it.

“However, it’s still going to be a close race. … It was always going to be a tough race, and I’m not sure that it still won’t be. There’s no question that this gives us a better chance to win than we had two days ago, but we need to maintain this momentum right to the end.”