Katrina vanden Heuvel: Bachmann’s Blues

[marmar]

from The Nation:



Bachmann’s Blues
posted by Katrina vanden Heuvel on 10/27/2008 @ 4:38pm



Ever since Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann's poisonous comments on Hardball ten days ago, it has looked increasingly possible that her deep red district might turn blue next week.

Her Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, a former mayor and state transportation commissioner, has raised more than $1.5 million since Bachmann channeled Joe McCarthy on MSNBC. The Washington Post reported today that Tinklenberg's fundraising "in a single week, is more than what any other Democratic challenger has raised in a fundraising quarter in the entire two-year election cycle."

Bachmann's constituents seem to be rejecting her politics of division, distraction and demonization as well. According to a new Minnesota Public Radio/University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute poll, Tinklenberg – previously considered a long-shot – now leads Bachmann 45 to 43 percent. Approximately 40 percent of the district's voters say that they have "re-evaluated and are less likely to support her," and two-thirds disagree with her comments.

The more Bachmann talks, the deeper she seems to dig the proverbial hole. One day after she claimed that she hadn't questioned Barack Obama's patriotism, Bachmann said on the Mike Gallagher radio show, "What are Barack Obama's policies? Are they for America or will they be against traditional American ideals and values?.... The United States may be literally changed forever if Barack Obama becomes the next president."

In a new ad Bachmann attempts a pseudo mea culpa, "I may not always get my words right, but I know that my heart is right. Because my heart is for you, for your children and for the blessings of liberty to remain for our great country." ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/376773

[dhpgetsit]

1. Barf

nuff said

[RainDog]

2. ...