Image: iStockphoto

Image: iStockphoto

Third-quarter campaign finance reports seem to show a trend: The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Rep. Michele Bachmann, whose cable-TV and townhall tour has had her rattling off now-infamous claims about “anti-American views” and wrist-slitting to oppose health care reform, is raking in the dough today, thanks to a new fundraising appeal that calls supporters “patriots,” opponents money-grubbers, and the Obama administration “Gangster Government.” Her third-quarter take of $345,000 doesn’t include the $121,000 raised since Wednesday.

But Bachmann’s not the only case. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who screamed “You lie!” at the president during a joint session of Congress, raised $2.7 million in the third quarter — a million more than his opponent, Iraq war veteran Rob Miller, raised.

On the other side of the aisle, Florida’s Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson has seen a fundraising surge after his bold statements in favor of health care reform, although, as Mediaite puts it, his words were “a far cry” from Wilson’s decorum-busting outburst. The day after presenting his summary of the GOP plan for health care reform — Don’t get sick! And if you do get sick, die quickly! — he received $114,000 in donations, including $1,000 apiece from the campaigns of Minnesota Democratic Reps. Collin Peterson and Jim Oberstar.