Free Bachmann/Palin rally tickets going fast, but you’ll need checkbook for photo opp with former Alaska governor

Free tickets to the April 7 Republican Party rally in Minneapolis featuring Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin are being gobbled up, the Minnesota Republican Party reports.

The first 2,000 tickets were snapped up right away, and state GOP officials expect that number to hit 3,000 later today, according to the party’s deputy chairman, Michael Brodkorb. As a result, organizers are looking at ways to reconfigure the space at the Minneapolis Convention Center to accommodate even more folks, he says.

Tickets to the rally are available on the website or by calling 651-222-0022.

But if you really want to get up close and personal with these conservative icons, it’ll cost a pretty penny.

There’s a $500-a-plate dinner that night to raise money for Bachmann’s re-election campaign. And donors can choose to pay even more to get their photo taken with Sarah Palin. A lot more: $10,000.

The Huffington Post looked at the invitation:

The folks at Minnesota-Bachmann Victory Committee are putting the price tag at a whopping $10,000 per couple, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by the Huffington Post.

According to the invitation, attendees at the April 7 event in Minneapolis are asked to spend $500 per person for attendance at the General Reception and Dinner; $5,000 for a table of ten; and $10,000 per couple for a “Private Reception with Photo Opportunity. (Included in the latter is a table for ten as well).

The money donated will, per campaign finance rules, have to be spread among various committees. The first $2,400 would go to Bachmann’s primary election fund. The next $2,400 would go to her general election refund. And up to $10,000 can go to the Republican Party of Minnesota.

That’s not small change, especially for two pols who say they speak on behalf of real, working class America.

Wrote Jason Hoppin in the Pioneer Press:

[Bachmann’s] campaign manager, Gina Countryman, defended the high-dollar donations.

“Congresswoman Bachmann’s record of fighting for Minnesotans stands for itself. She is standing firmly against a massive government takeover of health care, for smaller, more sensible government, and works every day to ensure the voices of her constituents are heard in Washington,” Countryman said.

But for at least one Democratic rival, Bachmann’s fundraising was an opportunity to raise cash. In a letter sent Tuesday, Tarryl Clark’s campaign manager Zach Rodvold asked supporters for a $10 donation to counter the event.

“The Bachmann campaign hasn’t advertised these sky-high ticket prices yet, and it’s not hard to tell why,” Rodvold wrote. “Michele Bachmann doesn’t want people to know that while families and small businesses are struggling in Minnesota, she’s getting ten grand per snapshot with right-wing celebrity Sarah Palin.”