Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is in a bit of hot water over a copyright infringement. Bachmann's latest attack ad against Tarryl Clark uses the Minnesota State Fair logo without permission.
Bachmann accuses Clark of raising taxes on the corn dogs, deep-fried bacon and beer people consume at the fair via her meat puppet, Wide Stance Jim. They use the logo twice in their ad. First at the 0:11 mark and then for the last 4 seconds of the ad.
Fair spokesperson Brienna Schuette said the Bachmann campaign "did not get our approval" to use the logo in the ad. Fair officials are looking into what steps to take to protect their intellectual property.
(MinnPost)
"It's unfortunate. We don't want the perception out there that we're endorsing her, we don't endorse anyone," [State Fair spokeswoman Brooke] Dillon said. "So of course our logo was misused and we want that taken down as soon as possible."
Dillon said the Fair hasn't decided whether to take legal action. Bachmann's campaign says it's looking into the matter.
(MPR)
I'm Zach Rodvold, Campaign Manager for Tarryl Clark's campaign for Congress against Michele Bachmann in MN-06.
Last week, Michele Bachmann took her name-calling to the airwaves with an ad attacking Tarryl and her record. This week, we're telling Minnesotans what they really need to know about Tarryl in a new TV ad.
The ad, called "Need to Know," begins airing later today thanks to the financial support of over 30,000 supporters, and we wanted you to be among the first to see it. Check it out here:
As opposed to Bachmann's attack ads, ours features real people - Tarryl's family, faith leaders, veterans and business leaders who support her and believe that Minnesotans need to know that Tarryl has been standing with and for our communities her whole life. She's one of us.
Hi, I'm Carrie Lucking, the Communications Director for Tarryl Clark's Campaign for Congress in Minnesota.
Last Tuesday, Michele Bachmann introduced us to "Jim the Election Guy" in the first of what will apparently be a series of attack ads. In it, "Jim" calls Tarryl Clark names - with a smile on his face. Very "Minnesota Nice" isn't it?
No one knows who "Jim the Election Guy" is, but today, we'd like to introduce you to Jim the Actual Voter. Actually, we'd like to introduce you to three of them. All are named Jim, all actually live in the 6th Congressional District, and all are sick and tired of Michele Bachmann's nonsense.See what they have to say about it:
We all knew that this would happen eventually. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) would start running television ads. To nobody's surprise, the ad is negative.
Today, Michele Bachmann is airing her first ad of the campaign season, and it's no surprise she's gone negative - distorting reality and calling names. Bachmann has no record of accomplishment to run on, so she's resorting to more of the same recycled negative attacks - and putting $239,000 behind them this week alone.
If Michele Bachmann spent any time in her district, she would know that these are exactly the type of attacks that voters have had enough of. Instead, she's traveled the country, skipping events in Minnesota to headline a rally in Dallas just this past Saturday.
(Daily Kos)
It's time to start the fight back. Please stop on by Tarryl Clark's donation page and contribute. Every drop in the bucket helps.
I'm Zach Rodvold, Campaign Manager for Tarryl Clark's campaign for Congress.
Today, Michele Bachmann is airing her first ad of the campaign season, and it's no surprise she's gone negative - distorting reality and calling names. Bachmann has no record of accomplishment to run on, so she's resorting to more of the same recycled negative attacks - and putting $239,000 behind them this week alone.
If Michele Bachmann spent any time in her district, she would know that these are exactly the type of attacks that voters have had enough of. Instead, she's traveled the country, skipping events in Minnesota to headline a rally in Dallas just this past Saturday.
While Bachmann travels the country, Tarryl Clark travels the district, attending over 30 community events in the past 30 days alone. Talking directly to people in the district, Tarryl hears time and again that voters are sick of Washington's - and Michele Bachmann's - ways.
Make no mistake, thanks to her special interest supporters and right wing activists across the country, Bachmann has big money. And they're going to spend it running a campaign that's straight out of the Karl Rove playbook.
This week, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of Social Security and the promise that after a lifetime of hard work, Americans and their families will not grow old in poverty.
When Social Security was signed into law during the Great Depression, economic instability was a part of everyday life, especially for seniors. Today, some retirees depend on Social Security as a supplemental source of income that helps them get by. For others, it is their only source of income.
We've been celebrating Social Security's anniversary all week. In St. Cloud on Tuesday, Senator Amy Klobuchar and I met Charolette, who is 87. She told us that Social Security helps her get by, but she's worried about the future. "You wonder about your kids," she said. "Once I get upstairs, I can't help them anymore."
I'm committed to Charolette, and to her children and grandchildren. I will fight to protect Social Security. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, on the other hand, has said we need to be "weaned off" of Social Security. I think we should get what we pay for. We pay into Social Security so we have a stable retirement. We should be able to depend on that.
I'm Joe Cupka, Political Director with the Minnesota DFL in the 6th Congressional District, where Tarryl Clark is running to defeat Michele Bachmann. Here's an on-the-ground update from our district.
Our unprecedented grassroots campaign has always operated with the same goal: be everywhere all of the time.
In order to meet that aggressive goal, we've done over 40 parades in 40 days, knocked on tens of thousands of doors, and attended dozens of community events - and we'll keep turning up the heat during fair season here in Minnesota.
County fairs give communities the chance to come together and celebrate the traditions Minnesotans share - blue ribbon pies, carnival rides, truck and tractor pulls and demolition derbies (just to name a few).
And August fair season is already off to a fast start.
Tonight I will join millions of Americans as we gather this evening for block parties with friends, neighbors, local first responders and community leaders for National Night Out. These celebrations highlight our shared desire to build and sustain safe and healthy communities.
Building stronger communities has always been front and center in my life -- whether it was when I began my career, as a mom, or as State Senator.
In my first job after college, I counseled at-risk teenagers and their families. As part of my work I developed the Young Adult Program which provided shelter for homeless teens, as well as counseling and a safe community for them. As a founder and first staff person of the Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity, I worked with neighbors and churches to promote shared responsibility while building homes with soon to be homeowners. And as a mom, I volunteered in my church and in my kids' classrooms. To me, we make the biggest difference when we work together to strengthen our neighborhoods, schools, and communities.
But building safe and healthy communities won't happen unless we are willing to stop the rhetoric, listen to one another, and work together to get results.
I'm Nathan Clark and my mom, Tarryl, is running for Congress in Minnesota's 6th District.
This weekend, we have two very big reasons to celebrate.
Today is my mom's birthday, and last week, we celebrated one year on the campaign trail. That's why we're celebrating throughout the District this weekend, and nothing says happy birthday - or happy anniversary - like direct voter contact!
A couple of weeks ago, we knocked on nearly 4,000 doors in less than eight hours. This weekend, we're holding 17 doorknocks throughout the district. That's the kind of campaign my mom runs - a campaign that is at your doorstep, in your inbox, online, and on your phone (did I mention that we have an iPhone and Adroid app?)
For my mom, the best birthday present she can get is to have an army of volunteers out meeting people and spreading the word about our campaign to take back the 6th District.
I'm Ryan Furlong. This weekend I got the opportunity to attend my first Netroots Nation in my role as Press Assistant for Tarryl Clark's campaign for Congress. I was impressed - both by the dedication of our Netroots and also by the excitement that people expressed for Tarryl's campaign.
I could not have had a better experience sharing with all of you the strength of this campaign and the importance of your involvement in defeating Congresswoman Michele Bachmann in November.
If you spoke with me at Netroots Nation than you probably heard me say it, but I'll say it again: Michele Bachmann has never faced a campaign like ours.
We have a grassroots ground game that spans every corner of Minnesota's 6th District, reaching voters from Stillwater to St. Cloud, that is outpacing and outperforming anything that has come before it. Our fundraising prowess keeps breaking records and will allow us to compete both on the ground and on the airwaves like never before. And most importantly, as you described her at Netroots Nation, we have the "candidate everybody has been waiting for." We have the "daughter of the district." We have Tarryl Clark.
The number one question asked by all of you at Netroots Nation was how the race is shaping up? It's simple, with less than 100 days to go before Election Day, the polls show we are within striking distance.
But in these last 100 days, we are going to need your help like never before.
Wow! That's the best way to describe my experience at Netroots Nation.
You asked tough questions. You showcased your amazing talents. And you gave me a reception that I will never forget.
I enjoyed seeing people like Martin Weinberg (@progressiveelec), who was one of the first bloggers to start spreading the word about our campaign almost a year ago. I had great conversations with people like Nicole Sandler (@nicolesandler), who came to #nn10 despite a broken foot, and wanted to talk about how we can win this election; or the women who joined me for a roundtable, like Minnesota's @robinmarty, who blogged about it here. I was glad to meet @markos and talk about what makes my campaign different - and how we will finally defeat Michele Bachmann. And my campaign staff will tell you how thrilled I was to meet the quilting bloggers (as an avid quilter myself!) and thank them for their promise to quilt for our campaign, too.
There were thousands more of you who stopped by to say hello or tweeted your support while we were there, like @gottalaff, @larrydhalsted, @joesudbay, @RRPartnersgov, @csamuels, @derekjohnson, @zerlinam, and too many others to list.
And, I was honored to join you in making care packages for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Your focus on giving back to the community is what makes you true leaders.
Thanks to all of you for an inspiring day, and I look forward to welcoming you to my home state of Minnesota for #nn11! With lots of hard work and your support, I hope to be there as the newly elected Congresswoman from Minnesota's 6th District.
I'm Joe Cupka, Political Director with the Minnesota DFL in the 6th Congressional District, where Tarryl Clark is running to defeat Michele Bachmann.
Last weekend the National Tea Party was scheduled to have their convention in Las Vegas but canceled it because it was "too hot."
It's never too hot to organize in Minnesota's 6th District and this weekend our campaign flexed its grassroots strength.
On Saturday, we held Iced Tea Parties throughout the district and knocked on the doors of nearly 4,000 voters in just 24 hours. Over 100 volunteers participated in 15 door-to-door canvasses in Blaine, Andover, Woodbury, Stillwater, Buffalo, Becker, Big Lake and St. Cloud.
The energy surrounding Tarryl and her campaign is unprecedented -- something this district has never seen. People are excited at the thought of restoring real representation to the 6th District. People are excited about Tarryl Clark. A few of the people who showed up were volunteering for a political campaign for the first time in their lives.
Two years ago, in the final days of the 2008 campaign, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann appeared on Hardball, and said the words that propelled her to the national stage:
And you've called her out: when she called on a conservative crowd to "slit our wrists" and "become blood brothers" in the efforts to defeat health care reform. When she called net neutrality an Obama plot to censor the Internet. When she said the American people needed to be "weaned off" Social Security and Medicare.
Her comments aren't just outrageous or headline grabbing - they're part of her agenda for America. They tell whose side she's on, and it's not ours.
And now, as Congresswoman Bachmann has defended BP, your contributions helped us to air the first television ad of the campaign, calling Congresswoman Bachmann out for her defense of BP in the wake of the biggest environmental disaster in our nation's history:
We're holding her accountable. But our work won't be done until we bring an end to Congresswoman Bachmann's agenda by winning this election.
I'm coming to Netroots Nation 2010, and I'm asking you to be a part of my campaign for Congress. Across the country, you rallied to send a message that Bachmann's unique brand of divisive rhetoric would not be tolerated. You raised almost a million dollars in a matter of hours for her opponent. And while the campaign fell just short of defeating her in 2008, you knew what you had to do.
You've kept vigilant watch as Congresswoman Bachmann has gone under the white-hot spotlights of the cable talk show circuit again and again.
I'm Joe Cupka, Political Director with the Minnesota DFL in the 6th Congressional District, where Tarryl Clark is running to defeat Michele Bachmann.
It's official.
After calling and knocking on the doors of over 20,000 voters, attending 30 parades in 30 days which put the campaign in front of tens of thousands more voters, and after building what is already the largest grassroots campaign the 6th District has ever seen -- we are within striking distance.
Meanwhile, this weekend, Michele Bachmann and the Tea Party had to cancel their national convention in Las Vegas because it was "too hot" for tea partiers to organize in July.
Well, it's never too hot for us to organize! The heat may be on, but our tea is chilled - and we're ready to go.
Rep. Michele Bachmann stated that her DFL opponent Tarryl Clark has been lying about her. This is rich considering Bachmann lies so often that this blog and Dump Bachmann can barely keep up. Nonetheless, Bachmann claims that Clark is "brazenly and blatantly" lying.
On Chris Baker's radio program on Thursday, Rep. Michele Bachmann defended herself against ads being run by her DFL opponent Tarryl Clark. Bachmann said that Clark lied about her statements in support of BP and that the campaign colored her teeth to make her look bad.
"I have never once said that BP is not liable or that they shouldn't be 100 percent of what they owe or that the taxpayers should pay a dime," Bachmann told Baker (MP3).
(Minnesota Independent)
Of course, Bachmann is skewing what Clark said. Bachmann's problem is that Clark has just been repeating exactly what Bachmann said.
And of course [Clark] didn't [lie]. What she said was this: "They shouldn't have to be fleeced and made chumps to have to pay for perpetual unemployment and all the rest - they've got to be legitimate claims. 'The other thing we have to remember is that Obama loves to make evil whatever company it is that he wants to get more power from. He makes them evil, and what we've got to ask ourselves is: Do we really want to be paying $9 for a gallon of gas? Because that could be the final result of this.' "
Clark's ad makes extensive - and accurate - use of this quote, but at no point does she claim Bachmann said BP is not liable or shouldn't pay. Instead, she suggests that if Michele Bachmann lets BP off the hook, the taxpayers will have to pick up the slack.
(MinnPost)
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is in a bit of hot water over a copyright infringement. Bachmann's latest attack ad against Tarryl Clark uses the Minnesota State Fair logo without permission.
