BUT REPUBLICANS WOULD NEVER TRY TO USE IMPEACHMENT TALK TO RAISE MONEY!

Excerpts from a National Republican Senatorial Committee fundraising letter sent in May 2006:

It's becoming clear that if the liberal Democrat leadership takes control of Congress, they will embark on a destructive agenda of politically motivated "investigations" of President Bush and his administration....

And it's even likely that Democrats - should they take over the House and Senate - will try to impeach President Bush....

Just a few weeks ago on a national news program, Senator Durbin of Illinois, the second most powerful Democrat leader in the Senate, refused to rule out the eventual impeachment of President Bush.

The likely Democrat Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (where impeachment begins), has already made it clear that he supports such action. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has already sponsored a resolution calling for an investigation with the clear aim of initiating impeachment proceedings against President Bush. Already, 35 Democrats plus Senate candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have signed on as cosponsors....

That letter was sent out by Elizabeth Dole in her capacity as head of the NRSC.

There's more on this from Slate's John Dickerson and Washington Monthly's Zachary Roth.

I don't have much to add except that if you're told there's something unseemly and outrageous about Democrats using impeachment talk to fundraise, just remember that it's been done before.

*****

ALSO, TOO:

Can't lie. I used the impeachment fundraising email tactic in 2006. Raised 2x the best email to date then.

— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) July 31, 2014

Ruffini was the e-campaign director of the Republican National Committee in 2006.