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Joe Wilson Out-Raises Rob Miller By $1 Million
SC-02 Candidate Rob Miller (D) and Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)
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And the winner of the money race in the wake of Rep. Joe Wilson's (R-SC) infamous "You lie!" outburst during President Obama's speech to Congress is...Joe Wilson.
Wilson raised $2.7 million in the third quarter, while his Democratic opponent Rob Miller -- who had initially enjoyed a big fundraising surge in the immediate aftermath of "You lie!" -- got $1.7 million. While Miller's total is certainly very impressive by all normal standards of House races, and especially for a race that had not been on anybody's radar before this controversy, Wilson's supporters clearly out-hustled the Dems on this one.
Miller, an Iraq war veteran, previously ran against Wilson in 2008. Wilson won that race by 54%-46%, after having previously won overwhelming landslide victories in his previous campaigns. Heading into 2010, voters will probably be seeing and hearing a lot from these two.
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CityGuy
October 16, 2009 10:07 AM
Okay then, let's see who wins the money race in Alan Grayson's campaign! (Besides, last I checked the calendar, there is still plenty of time before the Fall of '10 Congressional elections.)
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fsudirectory
October 16, 2009 11:29 AM in reply to CityGuy
re: Grayson
Kid in my frat is an advisor to one of the people trying to run for the GOP seat against Grayson. He's running some 28 year old spanish kid, I dont see much happening there as they already delayed his kickoff event (to get the word out more, or raise more funds first, or some other lame excuse).
GOP is trying to target Grayson from so many angles but all the cards fall before they even put in their blinds
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shortstop
October 16, 2009 11:47 AM in reply to fsudirectory
Really? The kid is from Spain?
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fsudirectory
October 16, 2009 1:27 PM in reply to shortstop
If you care to look that deep into hi. Background go for it. Im in Miami and unless you ask, figuring out the appropriate country of reference is impossible. If he happened to be from Spain, then Hispanic wouldn't work either. Can't win either way
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jsdc007
October 16, 2009 10:08 AM
When given a choice between a douche and a partial douche, South Carolina will always choose the douchiest of the two. After all, how else can one keep the spirit of Strom Thurmond alive?
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spankusmaximus
October 16, 2009 10:13 AM
I didn't realize that Josh had decided to run against screamin' Joe.
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fsudirectory
October 16, 2009 10:31 AM
The difference between the two of them is that Rob Miller didnt put out 5 YouTube videos, crisscrossing TV talk shows, and have 24/7 FOX News coverage telling people to donate.
Instead he stayed relatively quiet and stacked up $1.7 Million, probably more than he has ever collected a year in advance of an election, and probably enough to beat out Wilson once the election gets closer and he starts to go on a fund raising campaign using all of Wilsons words to hang him....
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CityGuy
October 16, 2009 10:38 AM in reply to fsudirectory
Correct!
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ohyeathatsright
October 16, 2009 1:38 PM in reply to fsudirectory
Yes, this is spot on imo. Just look at the comparative trends:
http://www.google.com/trends?q=rob+miller%2C+joe+wilson
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afisher
October 16, 2009 10:49 AM
It is hard to evaluate these dollars. Was he given money by the RNC or GOP Leadership PAC's to inflate his totals? Until we see who was donating, this may be a "smoke / mirror" ploy to make the constituents of the state think he is popular based on funds raised.
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kevbo
October 16, 2009 12:23 PM in reply to afisher
Nah, not big doners. Wilson went on all the pundit shows and whined about how evil libruls were filling Miller's coffers, and please donate to me, the fine republican, to save the country for the crackers.
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Seeryer
October 16, 2009 12:25 PM
I guess the question is how much was raised by each before the outburst and how much was raised after? Meaning, Wilson may have had an even bigger fundraising advantage prior to his outburst. Maybe the outburst closed the gap. Anyone?
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tosh
October 16, 2009 1:47 PM
This is actually good for Miller. It's good seed money to get his organization going and show he's viable, especially given the decent showing last time. He can pop back on the radar a number of times between now and then and shake the tree. SC isn't the most expensive market to run in.
John
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TM
October 16, 2009 2:16 PM in reply to tosh
I have doubts these guys can even spend all that money in their campaigns.
I wish the various dem groups would make SC their pet project. We have the second highest unemployment in the nation and the most worthless scumbags running things down here. Many of the state reps and local officials are only in office because they run unopposed or candidates who do run are totally broke and pathetic.
People hate the GOP down here too. I'm not saying we aren't really a red state just that we don't have to be or at least dull that red tint.
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runfastandwin
October 16, 2009 1:52 PM
He's gonna need a lot more than that. The dirty secret about the teabaggers is, few of them actually vote.
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Ethan
October 16, 2009 7:02 PM in reply to runfastandwin
Really? I hope so!
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Overreach THIS!
October 17, 2009 11:14 AM in reply to runfastandwin
I think one can begin by assuming virtually none of them are registered.
Say you get some of them registered. They're so angry that they're not going to find the polling station if they even remember what week election day is.
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Scarce
October 16, 2009 4:29 PM
Clear win for Miller though. Last go round he ran of fumes and had to win a primary to take on Wilson. Miller also had to use $235k of his own money, raising only $350k in contributions fro others.
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