On May 4, 2009, I reported that Minnesota 6th Congressional District Rep. Michele Bachmann responded to the newly established Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) Bachmann Watch site with a fundraising appeal.

In that fundraising letter, dated April 27, 2009, Rep. Bachmann wrote:

Dear Friend:

It’s called www.bachmannwatch.com.

It’s the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) latest attempt to discredit every word out of my mouth and to paint anyone who disagrees with the liberal agenda sweeping through Washington as an extremist.

If you get a chance, check it out. It’s incredible how fast and loose they are willing to play with the truth. We thought we saw the height of their spin machine last October, but, really, it looks like this is just the beginning. […]

Can you help me fight back? […]

Can you make a contribution to help me keep fighting for you?

I WANT TO HELP, MICHELE!

Can you share this email with five of your friends and ask them to help me too?

The Democrats are gunning for me because I refuse to shrink from a fight. With your help, I can keep fighting for your freedom, for your pocketbook, and for all that the Constitution has secured for the American people for generations.

Thank you for your generous support and your prayers.

Sincerely,

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann

(This was not the first time Bachmann had pulled a stunt like this. As I reported on Feb. 26, 2009, Bachmann sent out a mass fundraising email early this year after drawing fire for misleading statements on conservative talk radio regarding ACORN, the stimulus package, and health care.)

Bachmann’s April 27 fundraising letter, excerpted above, is filled with self-serving hypocrisy, invective, and misinformation, but I want to draw constituents’ attention to one claim in particular — Bachmann’s assertion that “We thought we saw the height of their [the DCCC’s] spin machine last October …”

Bachmann, of course, is referring to her infamous October 17, 2008 interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC “Hardball,” in which she said she was “very concerned” that Barack Obama “may have anti-American views” and that “the news media should do a penetrating exposé and … take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out if they’re pro-America or anti-America.”

When Fox News Channel’s Alan Colmes confronted Bachmann a month later, on November 18, 2008, with the transcript of her remarks on “Hardball,” Bachmann responded: “Actually, that’s not what I said at all. … Actually that’s not what I said. It’s an urban legend that was created. That isn’t what I said at all.”

My contemporaneous response to Bachmann’s incendiary remarks can be read here (scroll down to Immelman rebukes Bachmann) — or watch the video:

In response to Bachmann’s April 27 fundraising appeal, I countered with an appeal of my own as Bachmann’s Republican challenger:

Please send a strong message to Rep. Bachmann that enough is enough by contributing where it can make a difference, or volunteer to help at info@immelman.net …

Contribute to Immelman for Congress to help make sure that Bachmann doesn’t even get through the gate on Primary Election Day, Sept. 14, 2010.

Click on the ‘Donate’ button to kick Bachmann off the Nov. 2010 general election ballot.

I did not receive any offers of help, though I did receive a $10 donation, for which I’m grateful, having spent about $10,000 of my own money the past year in an effort to defeat Bachmann (and contributing the maximum amount permitted by law to Bachmann’s 2006 Democratic opponent, Patty Wetterling, in both the primary and general election).

And now, Bachmann is at it again, making false or outrageous claims in the national media and then playing the victim by leveraging her disingenuousness, incendiary rhetoric and political paranoia into campaign cash.

And, once again, I’m countering Bachmann with a fundraising appeal of my own. (By raising even the modest amount of $20, I can double the proceeds of my previous fundraising drive, and every dollar helps in my continuing efforts to take the fight to Rep. Bachmann.)

As reported in the Minnesota Independent on Aug. 13, 2009 the 6th District congresswoman has issued yet another “Bachmann Blast” (PDF) to rally her supporters and ask them to part with their money:

“Don’t let them Palinize me!” cries the subject line of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s email to supporters today. Laying claim to the Sean Hannity-bestowed title of “second most hated Republican woman,” Bachmann makes a pitch for cash: “With Governor Palin taking a well-deserved step out of the spotlight, it appears that I may be absorbing even more of the liberals scorn. And, I’d really appreciate your support so that I can defend myself against their attacks.” The Palin theme seems predicated not only on Hannity’s phrase but also on news yesterday that Bachmann’s son has joined Teach for America, part of the AmeriCorps program that she has publicly berated …

Palinized? Palin-Bachmann photo collage
by The Minnesota Independent

Here’s a screen shot of Bachmann’s latest plea for money by preying on people’s fears and uncertainty, courtesy of the Minnesota Independent:

In her letter, Bachmann invokes “Democrats’ latest scheme to pick the taxpayer’s pocket to pay for a $1.5-billion slush fund for ACORN”; Democrats’ alleged “political patronage to groups like ACORN — doling out billions of your tax dollars and partnering with them to collect your private information for the Census”; and Democrats’ “government-run health care proposal that will put government bureaucrats in between you and your doctor and end up rationing care.”

And, for good measure, Bachmann throws in a little gratuitous fearmongering by claiming she’s “out there every day speaking the truth” about Democrats’ “attempts to guide this nation into socialism.”

It’s time to hold Rep. Bachmann accountable for her inflammatory words and for cynically sowing the seeds of hatred and discontent to divide our nation against itself.

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10/24/10 Update

Bachmann: Clinton Visit Shows She’s a Target

The Associated Press / St. Cloud Times
October 24, 2010

ANDOVER — Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann says visits this weekend from former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama show that she’s a “high-value target” for Democrats.

Bachmann campaigned Sunday at a coffee shop and Dairy Queen restaurant in Andover.

She spoke with The Associated Press hours before Clinton was due at a rally for Democratic challenger Tarryl Clark in Blaine. A day earlier, Obama appeared at a University of Minnesota rally and held a fundraiser with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Minneapolis.

Bachmann says top Democrats see Clark as a “very reliable vote.”

Bachmann, Clark and Independence Party candidate Bob Anderson are vying to represent Minnesota’s conservative 6th District in the St. Cloud area and northern Twin Cities suburbs.

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Commentary

Drama queen Michele Bachmann, the Empress of Exaggeration, loves to play the victim. She always does it, predictably, and as regular as clockwork.

What does Bachmann expect her constituents to do? Feel sorry for her? When you put your name on the ballot, you should expect to be a target. That’s just the way it works in a free country.

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Related posts on this site in order of relevance

Bachmann Fundraising Letter (May 4, 2009)

Bachmann: “DCCC is After Me” (February 26, 2009)

Bachmann Bears False Witness (November 20, 2008)

Bachmann Brainwashing Paranoia (April 8, 2009)

ACORN: Bachmann ‘Pants on Fire’ (July 2, 2009)

Census: Bachmann ‘Pants on Fire’ (July 1, 2009)

Bachmann’s Census Paranoia (June 27, 2009)

Bachmann Seeks to Block ACORN (May 15, 2009)

Bachmann Watch (April 25, 2009)

Bachmann ‘Marie Antoinette-ish’ (February 22, 2009)

MN GOP Ready to Ditch Bachmann? (April 11, 2009)

Bachmann’s March of Folly (July 10, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago Today — August 14, 2008

On the Campaign Trail: Day 31

One year ago today, on the 31st day of my campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District,  I took a one-day break from my Sixth District walking tour to catch up on administrative matters and correspondence while tracking international developments relevant to my campaign focus on national security — specifically, the Russian invasion of Georgia and the emerging threat of female suicide bombers in Iraq.