Bringing Down Bachmann

[babylonsister]

Bringing Down Bachmann

by Benjamin Sarlin

The far right’s star House member just hit the headlines with a rowdy health-care rally on Capitol Hill. Benjamin Sarlin reports on the Democrats lining up in Minnesota to send Michele Bachmann into early retirement.


Michele Bachmann took her paranoid campaign against the White House to new heights on Thursday, leading a mass protest inside the Capitol itself that led to multiple arrests. Antics like these have made her one of the breakout stars of the Republican Party in the Obama era, drawing praise from Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and even George Will. But her stunts have also made what is otherwise a relatively safe Republican seat potentially vulnerable to Democratic takeover.

Her bid for reelection to a third term is still a year away. But two credible challengers have already emerged to vie for the Democratic nomination: physician Maureen Reed and State Senator Tarryl Clark. Both are making Bachmann's extremist rhetoric the centerpieces of their campaigns.

“I think that elected officials have a high responsibility to dial down anger and to dial down fear,” said physician Maureen Reed, one of Bachman’s two Democratic challengers. “People don’t problem-solve very well when they’re really mad and really scared.”

“In the Republican Party, there is a pretty broad area that is mainstream, and then there are the fringes of the party,” Clark told The Daily Beast. “And then there's Michele.”

In a separate interview, Reed repeatedly pledged to “dial down” the rhetoric from Bachmann's amped up levels.

Both candidates have so far proved capable fundraisers, setting up a tough battle for the chance to take on America's most notorious congresswoman. Clark, who announced her candidacy in July, reported raising over $300,000 by the end of September. Reed, who began her campaign earlier, raised $130,000 in the same period and has over $300,000 cash on hand. But the incumbent has far more money amassed, with over $600,000 cash on hand.

Although Minnesota's 6th District is solidly Republican, Bachmann has proved vulnerable in the past. Last year she barely won her second term against Democrat Elwyn Tinklenberg 46 percent to 44 percent—even while voters went for John McCain over President Obama 53 percent to 45 percent. The race took place only days after she delivered a rant on MSNBC against “anti-American” lawmakers, including Obama, whom she said the press should investigate.

According to Steven Schier, a professor of political science at Minnesota's Carleton College, Bachmann's rhetoric is her biggest weakness.

“I think it's hurt her,” Schier said. “It means the district is not reliably safe for her as a result when I think it could be for another Republican who was less flamboyant.”

more...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-06/bringing-down-bachmann/full/

[Ineeda]

1. As Nixonian as it might seem, Dems need a 'hit list' of every

high-profile whack-job Rethug and find plain-speaking, fiery Dems to run against them. It's going to be an epic battle next year, and as tired as we are, we need to start fighting back right now. The noise machine of the Rethug party has proven effective in garnering media attention. We need to make noise of our own. It's worked for Grayson, it will work for others.

[mwb970]

2. Imagine if we could dump the Three Stoogettes: Bachmann, Blackburn, and Foxx!

What a wonderful world this would be.

[livetohike]

3. I'll add Cantor and Boehner to this group

and then it would be the Quirky Quintet (or something like it). Quacky? But I don't want to disparage ducks.

[mwb970]

5. Throw in the Dick and the Lizard and you've got the Seditious Septet.

We could go on like this all day. The list of horribly clueless, staggeringly wrong-headed republicans is amazingly long - like that huge list of republican sex offenders.

What a terrible group of people. I'm so sorry we are stuck with them. They are holding America down while their corporate backers rape the citizens. Will any bystanders come to our aid?

[livetohike]

6. Me too. They make me sick and my husband is questioning

my sanity because of it. I'm hoping the Dem. leadership will stand up and finally call them on this b.s. When? Maybe after the health care reform bill is finished. I hope so.

[Ineeda]

7. the bystanders are the media!!

The crazier the crazies talk, the better it is for us, but the media has to report it as crazy. :crazy:

[recoveringdittohed]

4. Throw in Jean Schmidt as Shemp

The wicked witch of the Eastern Cincinnati suburbs.

[euphoria12leo]

8. What's a hit list

without Joe (you lie) Wilson and (diaper) Vitter.



:bounce:

[Myrina]

10. ... dont forget Crazy Joe "Outburst" Wilson

:shrug:

[Faygo Kid]

9. Donated to El Tinklenberg in 2008. Will donate to Bachmann's opponent again in 2010.

Can't understand her district; we know that 20% of Americans are robots who do as they are told and can't tolerate actual thinking (dittoheads, Tea Partiers, birthers - whatever you want to call them). But, that shouldn't be enough to elect a dangerous dunderhead like Bachmann anywhere in the U.S.

By the way, El has dropped out for 2010. Nice letter from him, though: http://www.tinklenberg2010.com/

[wellstone dem]

11. Tarryl Clark is the candidate who will end this nightmare

http://www.tarrylclark.com/

Please donate.

I wish you each could meet Tarryl. She is an amazing person, an amazing candidate. She is the Assistant Majority Leader of the Minnesota State Senate. She has worked with the Childrens' Defense Fund, and the Minnesota Community Action Programs Association. She is a pro-choice candidate who has won in a "pro-life" district. She will not be afraid to go after Bachmann hard. She is politically savvy and I don't think she would have given up her Minnesota State Senate seat to run unless she had a path to victory.

Please donate.

[sellitman]

12. I loves me some Michelle Bachmann!

I want to see more and more of her.

Bring it on Toots!

[Bitwit1234]

13. Gee I wished I lived in

her part of Minnesota. This woman is an embarrassment to Minnesota and in fact to the whole damn country. I hope there is a landslide against her. So we from Minnesota can show the country we are the state who produced Paul Wellstone.

[Angry Dragon]

14. Do not forget Al Franken.......the new Paul Wellstone??