Devoted supporters help Bachmann raise small fortune

A new Associated Press-GfK poll showed positive views of Bachmann climbing among Republicans. In May, 41 percent of Republicans held a favorable view of the Minnesota congresswoman. That percentage rose to 54 percent in the new survey. Among supporters of the Tea Party movement, her favorability climbed from 48 percent to 57 percent.

Bachmann isn’t the only candidate for president to generate enthusiasm — and money. President Obama set records four years after President George W. Bush set records, and some predict the Democratic incumbent will be the first presidential candidate to raise $1 billion.

But Bush and Obama depended more on thunderstorms of money, bundles of checks collected by big-money donors, each written for the maximum amount allowed by law. Bachmann’s accounts are instead filled with small contributions sent by devoted supporters. Many small donors meet her through television or Internet clips, and she stays connected with them through a well-honed system of phone calls, e-mails, and letters.

Each gets a personalized “Team Bachmann’’ membership card. The most recent bears her picture and a motto: “Fighting for common sense and fiscal sanity in Washington.’’

Of the nearly $12.9 million Bachmann raised from individuals in the last election, more than half came from people giving less than $200. While Obama was cheered for the legion of small donors who contributed to his campaign, only about a fourth of Obama’s $750 million take in 2008 came from such donors, according to a Campaign Finance Institute analysis.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, seen as the early leader on the GOP side, gathered about 80 percent of his campaign cash during his 2008 presidential bid from donors who gave $1,000 or more. (Romney has yet to file a campaign report for his 2012 bid, the first of which is due July 15.)