Corporate lobbyist fundraising e-mail: Support Pat Toomey's fight against the "populist" agenda

By way of an e-mail forwarded to me by a Democratic operative in Washington, DC, here's a glimpse inside Pennsylvania GOP U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey's fundraising machine: an e-mail from one Washington lobbyist to other Washington lobbyists urging them to support Toomey's campaign because he's "pro-business" (read: pro-big business) and fighting against the "populist" agenda of his opponents.

(Note that I've redacted the e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and other personally identifiable information in this screenshot.)

Given that the e-mail reveals Toomey's corporate backers support him because he's "pro-business" and fighting against a "populist" agenda, you can bet that Toomey's campaign wishes it had not been released to the public. I wonder how it's going to play with tea partiers who think they're supporting a populist Senate candidate who stands up to big business as well as big government?

To give you an idea of how much money is at stake: there were 119 recipients of this email. If each recipient made the suggested donation of $2,400, Toomey would raise $285,000 tomorrow -- and that doesn't include the potential of corporate PAC contributions at $5,000 apiece.