Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Michele Bachmann was cruising toward re-election when the Minnesota Republican congresswoman torpedoed her own campaign, and may take other Republicans down with her.
During an Oct. 17 appearance on MSNBC, Bachmann said Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama ``may have anti- American views'' and urged reporters to investigate whether other Democrats may be ``anti-America.''
Since then, Democratic challenger Elwyn Tinklenberg has been flooded with more than $1.3 million of contributions, congressional Democrats promised an additional $1 million worth of advertising, and House Republicans dropped plans for their own ads. A House seat considered safely Republican a week ago is leaning toward the Democrat in a new poll.
``She may have finally cooked herself,'' said Democrat Alan Ciesielczyk, a 62-year-old teacher from Blaine, Minnesota.
While Bachmann, 52, has said she'd like to ``take back'' her comments, aftershocks are shaking up races outside her district, northwest of Minneapolis. Republican nominee John McCain trails Obama in Minnesota polls, and incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman is locked in a tough re-election fight.
Bachmann's ``self-inflicted'' damage may drag down Republicans all over the ballot, University of Minnesota professor Lawrence Jacobs said. ``It will not take much of a dip in turnout to have a cataclysmic effect on the races in Minnesota,'' said Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance.
`New Brand of McCarthyism'
In Washington, former Republican Secretary of State Colin Powell mentioned Bachmann's statement as one reason he decided to endorse Obama. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee mounted a fundraising appeal seeking donations to combat ``this new brand of McCarthyism.'' The committee has already received ``hundreds of thousands of dollars,'' spokeswoman Carrie James said.
The trouble started when Bachmann, on national television, said she was ``very concerned'' that Obama ``may have anti- American views.'' She went on to suggest that ``the American media'' should ``take a great look at the views of people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America?''
Tinklenberg, 58, a former Methodist minister and state transportation commissioner, had about $350,000 in his campaign accounts on Sept. 30, when Bachmann had almost $1.4 million to spend. In the week since Bachmann's MSNBC interview, about 23,000 contributors have sent money to Tinklenberg. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report reclassified the race as a ``toss-up'' from ``likely Republican.''
`Incredible' Momentum
A poll conducted Monday and Tuesday by SurveyUSA showed Tinklenberg leading Bachmann 47 percent to 44 percent, with a plus-or-minus 4 percentage point margin of error.
At a town hall meeting in Blaine on Oct. 21, Tinklenberg said his opponent had sparked an ``incredible sense of momentum'' in his campaign. ``It's changed a lot just in the last -- oh, let's see -- the last three or four days,'' he said.
The following day in Stillwater, Bachmann said her comments about Obama's viewpoints were ``outrageously misinterpreted'' and weren't aimed at the Illinois senator as a person.
``Nowhere in the interview did I question Barack Obama's patriotism, nowhere did I say that Barack Obama is anti- American,'' she said in an interview. ``I don't believe he is.''
Bachmann also said she was challenging the press to better vet lawmakers, not calling for ``Joe McCarthy-like'' investigations of Congress.
Don't Back Down
As Bachmann talked at The Main Café, supporter Andy DuPlessis chimed in: ``Don't ever back down from those guys,'' he said. ``Somebody had to ask those questions.''
``Aren't you marvelous?'' Bachmann replied. ``I'm glad you came in.''
Bachmann's musings about pro- or anti-American Democrats added to increasingly angry rhetoric in the 2008 campaign's closing days. The day before Bachmann's televised comments, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin told North Carolina supporters that she enjoyed being in ``pro-America areas of this great nation.'' Palin apologized, saying she didn't mean that parts of the U.S. are more patriotic than others.
At an Oct. 18 rally in North Carolina, Republican Representative Robin Hayes told a crowd that ``liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God.'' Hayes also apologized, saying his statement ``came out completely the wrong way.''
Internet Video
Videos of Bachmann's remarks have been viewed tens of thousands of times on the Web, reminiscent of reaction to Virginia Republican Senator George Allen's stumble in 2006, when he called a rival campaign worker ``macaca'' -- a word Allen said he made up, but which others described as a racial slur. Allen, who had been described as a possible presidential candidate, lost his Senate seat to Democrat Jim Webb.
Bachmann's comments prompted former Minnesota Republican Governor Arne Carlson to announce yesterday that he is supporting Obama.
Carlson criticized Republicans for a mean-spirited campaign that has ``been going down all these side roads'' and said Obama offers the best hope for dealing with the economic crisis, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.
The flap over Bachmann's remarks lengthens odds that McCain can overtake Obama, and hurts Coleman in a neck-and-neck race. ``Coleman is going to need every living, breathing Republican to turn out and vote, and Michele Bachmann's comment is kind of piling on in a bad year,'' Jacobs said.
Conservative District
Working in Bachmann's favor, her district has supported Republicans. Bachmann beat her Democratic opponent by 8 percentage points in a three-person race two years ago. Republican President George W. Bush carried the district twice while losing the statewide Minnesota vote in 2000 and 2004.
``Certainly, it's a conservative district,'' Tinklenberg said, after the town hall meeting in Blaine.
Democrats say they hope Bachmann is at the end of her political career. ``There are a lot of Republicans who are not going to be voting for her,'' said Jeanne Evenson, a 69-year-old retiree from Blaine.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicholas Johnston in Blaine, Minnesota, at njohnston3*bloomberg.net
-------------------- It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious. Posts: 3311 | From: St. Louis | Registered: Feb 2005
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At an Oct. 18 rally in North Carolina, Republican Representative Robin Hayes told a crowd that ``liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God.'' Hayes also apologized, saying his statement ``came out completely the wrong way.''
Loyalty not only in deed, but in character is demanded of you. Loyalty of character often demands no less heroic virtue than does loyalty in deed. Loyalty in character is unbreakable loyalty, a loyalty that knows no ifs or buts, that knows no weakening, Loyalty in character means absolute obedience that does not question the results of the order nor its reasons, but rather obeys for the sake of obedience itself. Such obedience is an expression of heroic character when following the order leads to personal disadvantage or seems even to contradict one's personal convictions.The power and effectiveness of a good organization is even greater when discipline prevails. The greater its obedience even in small things, the more clearly it marches to the right or the left depending on the command of the leader, the more exactly the command to march in short or long steps is followed, the more surely the Führer can take the steps necessary to realize the National Socialist program.
excerpted from The Oath to Adolf Hitler Speech by Rudolf Hess on 25 February 1934
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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I would love to be able to vote against Bachmann if I could. I would relish it.
She is, by far, the worst of our congressional leaders. (She's the one who made headlines for hiding in the bushes and spying on a gay pride rally a few years ago if you remember.)
Unfortunately her district lies north of me. I will be voting a write in for my congressional district as I have seen nothing in the republican candidate worth voting for but cannot bring myself to vote for Betty after she voted twice for the bailout and did not reply to me when I contacted her about the bailout.
-------------------- No longer eligible for government service due to lack of tax issues. Posts: 5178 | From: Up North | Registered: Dec 2005
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Yesterday, on either CNN or MCNBC, I saw ex Virginia senator George Allen responding to a suggestion that Michele Bachmann's utterance was improper. He declared that it was clearly just a joke and people should "lighten up".
It's that damned Party loyalty that excuses people like that for making such outrageous and insulting statements; then, when the evil of their tongue is pointed out, claim it was all meant in fun and those objecting are at fault for not seeing the fun involved. It's like blaming the victim for being raped, but it's ok to do that, because it's for the Party.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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-------------------- It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so. Posts: 6949 | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote:Originally posted by glassman: too many chicken box dinners?
Nah, he's just looking at his running mate
-------------------- It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious. Posts: 3311 | From: St. Louis | Registered: Feb 2005
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