Joe Wilson's 'You Lie' Moment Triggers Outpouring of Cash for His Opponent

There's a gold rush on for Rob Miller, the Democrat running in South Carolina against Rep. Joe "You Lie" Wilson. He's taken in more than $100,000 through the ActBlue.com Web site since Wilson broke protocol in the House chamber Wednesday night with his shocking shout at President Obama. And the total is rising by the minute. (Noon update: Miller is now well above $200,000).

About half the money is coming from readers of the liberal Daily Kos blog through a group called "Defeating the man who yelled 'liar' at Obama." Other groups also apparently formed in the passion of the moment have names like "No More Name Calling" and "Joe's Gotta Go (People against inappropriate outbursts)."

The 2010 Miller-Wilson race will be a rematch. Here's the National Journal assessment of the first round: "In 2008, [Wilson] faced his first serious challenge for re-election against Rob Miller, a retired Marine and an Iraq veteran. Without any help from national Democrats, Miller spent $624,365, half of what Wilson spent, and ran as a social conservative and critic of the Bush administration. He prevailed in Richland and four of the rural counties, but Wilson got 65% of the vote in Lexington to win overall, 54%-46%."

Wilson quickly apologized to Obama in a statement and to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. But the ship had already sailed. Regardless of its impact on the health care debate, Wilson's outburst has turned his House race into a marquee contest and Miller's candidacy into a cause celebre.

Update: Arriving in my inbox at 12:05 p.m., a fundraising appeal from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Headline: "Heckling the President is Unacceptable." Key sentence: "Calling the President of the United States a liar in front of the nation is a new low even for House Republicans and it deserves the strongest response we can give." Goal: $100,000 in the next 48 hours.

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