Bachmann Had Cause, But Not Money, to Carry On

Michele Bachmann  suspended her campaign for president in West Des Moines, Iowa, Wednesday January 4, 2012. (Photo credit: Glen Stubbe / Star Tribune)

By Kevin Diaz

January 8, 2012

Excerpts

Michele Bachmann could have soldiered on.

She may not have had the money or the organization, but she had a plausible case for staying in the race, at least until the Jan. 21 South Carolina primary.

That was the view of some of her advisers Tuesday night, when they knew she had only 5 percent of the Iowa caucus vote. …

After Bachmann’s disappointment in Iowa — she won 6,073 votes of 122,000 cast — she spent the night thinking and praying, holding out hope for a rebirth in the Palmetto State, where, like Iowa, religious conservatives and Tea Partiers are a significant presence.

It would give her another shot on favorable turf. She might not have the money for ads there, but she had built up a credible ground operation.

There also was Tuesday’s primary in New Hampshire. True, she was only polling at 2 percent in the Granite State, but the competition would provide two weekend debates affording a free national platform for her small-government, “repeal Obamacare” message.

After all, wasn’t that why she got in the race to begin with?

For Bachmann, winning the straw poll in Ames was gravy — far exceeding any reasonable expectation she had when she first hinted at a White House bid a year ago. But most of her forward progress ended last summer. The 4,823 votes she garnered then were only 1,250 fewer than she got Tuesday night. …

In the end, she knew she did not have the resources to keep up with the leaders. And the possibility of another drubbing would do little for the national Bachmann brand.

So her campaign ended where it began, in Iowa.

Amid misty eyes and tears, she called it quits Wednesday morning, calling together her family, the press, supporters and volunteers. It was a courtesy that had not been extended by former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Similarly dejected after a fourth-place finish in the straw poll, he took his leave in the relative safety of a television studio.

Bachmann’s exit was more honest and raw. She faced the cameras and thanked her supporters, in person, in a public space. Then she walked the gantlet of microphones and questions about her future. …

Full story

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New Bachmann Video Rampages Through GOP Field

“With Michele Bachmann, there are no policy flip-flops. There’s no need to compromise on one of the issues that matters to you. She means what she says, and she says what she means.” (Uploaded to YouTube by teambachmann on Nov. 12, 2011)

By Kevin Diaz
Hot Dish blog

November 15, 2011

Michele Bachmann took her campaign motto, “Don’t settle,” to new levels Tuesday in a video highlighting her GOP rivals’ departures from conservative orthodoxy.

How many political ads manage to attack five different politicians in less than a minute?

There’s a younger Mitt Romney saying abortion should be “safe and legal,” segueing to Herman Cain calling it a “choice that a mother has to make.” Then there’s Ron Paul asking “what’s so terribly bad” about a nuclear-armed Iran, and Rick Perry vouching for the importance of educating the children of illegal aliens. There’s also Newt Gingrich appearing with Nancy Pelosi on a global warming ad campaign, and later agreeing that, yes, he was for the individual mandate in health care before he was against it.

Finally, the video returns to Perry’s famous “oops” moment in the Michigan debate, the first time any of the GOP contenders has so explicitly made hay of his mortification. …

Full story

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Chronicle of Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign on this site

Michele Bachmann Endorses Mitt Romney for President (May 4, 2012)

Rick Perry Hurts Michele Bachmann in GOP Primary (Aug. 24, 2011)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.)

Michele Bachmann Hot on Obama’s Heels (Aug. 23, 2011)

Bachmann, Pawlenty ‘Slugfest’ At Iowa GOP Debate (Aug. 11, 2011)

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Rep. Michele Bachmann, and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty during the Iowa GOP/Fox News Debate on August 11, 2011 in Ames, Iowa. (Photo credit: Pool / Getty Images)

Newsweek Cover Photo: Michele Bachmann Looking Good (Aug. 10, 2011)

Cover of Newsweek featuring Michele Bachmann, August 15, 2011.
(Photo credit: Newsweek via The Washington Post)

Predicting the Winner of the 2012 Presidential Election (Aug. 2, 2011)

Huntsman	Romney	Cain	Perry	Bachmann

Bachmann, Pawlenty Pour It On in War of Words (July 28, 2011)

Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann (Photo credit: Star Tribune)

Bachmann Migraine Hit Piece (July 23, 2011)

Republican presidential  candidate U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann speaks during the 2011 Republican Leadership Conference on June 17, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo credit: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Michele Bachmann Surges in Presidential Polling (July 21, 2011)

Michele Bachmann Leaves ‘Antichrist’ Church (July 16, 2011)

Getty Images via CNN

Bachmann ‘Pray Away the Gay’ (July 12, 2011)

Bill O’Reilly Opines on Clinton, Bachmann, and Palin (July 10, 2011)

Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann (Photo credit: Robyn Beck / AFP — Getty Images)

Husband Marcus Bachmann Emerges from the Shadows (July 7, 2011)

Michele and Marcus Bachmann wave as they march in a 2011 Fourth of July parade in Clear Lake, Iowa. (Photo credit: Steve Pope / Getty Images Washington Post photo gallery)

Michele Bachmann Flying High in Iowa (June 26, 2011)

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is statistically tied with Mitt Romney at the top of the first Iowa poll of the 2012 Republican presidential primary campaign season. (Photo credit: Sean Gardner / Reuters)

Michele Bachmann Set to Make Presidential Run Official (June 21, 2011)

Michele Bachmann (Photo credit: The Associated Press via Huffington Post)

Michele Bachmann ‘In’ for President, ‘Out’ for Congress (June 13, 2011)

Take Michele Bachmann Seriously (June 11, 2011)

Dueling Divas: Michele Bachmann vs. Sarah Palin (June 9, 2011)

Bachmann-Pawlenty ‘Minnesota Twins’ Grudge Match (June 7, 2011)

Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty claim there’s room for two Minnesota Republicans. (Photo composite: AP via Politico)

Michele Bachmann Says She’ll ‘Stand Up to Obamacare’ (June 1, 2011)

Rep. Michele Bachmann speaks at the Tea Party Patriots “Continuing Revolution” rally on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 31, 2011.
(Photo credit: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters)

Iowans Are ‘Chomping At the Bit’ for Bachmann (May 28, 2011)

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., greets Irene Blom (right) before speaking at a Presidential Lecture Series sponsored by The Family Leader, Monday, April 11, 2011, in Pella, Iowa. (Photo credit: Charlie Neibergall / The Associated Press)

Michele Bachmann Raises the Roof in Ohio (May 23, 2011)

Rep. Michele Bachmann speaks at a Republican fundraiser in Archbold, Ohio, May 20, 2011. (Photo credit: JD Pooley / AP via USA Today)

Michele Bachmann: Eyes on the Prez (May 16, 2011)

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., speaks during the Conservative Principles Conference, in Des Moines, Iowa on March 26, 2011. (Photo credit: Charlie Neibergall / AP)

Time Magazine Rates Bachmann ‘Influential’ (April 23, 2011)

Forbes magazine has named Michele Bachmann the 22nd most powerful woman in the world on its list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women,” ahead of Sarah Palin, who ranked 34th.

Native Bachmann Running Hard in Iowa (April 12, 2011)

Michele Bachmann dances on stage with her husband, Marcus, after speaking at a Tea Party Rally on July 2, 2011 outside the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. (Photo credit: Justin Hayworth / AP via Washington Post photo gallery)

Michele Bachmann Running for President (March 24, 2011)

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is likely to form an exploratory committee to run for president in 2012. (Photo credit: Melina Mara / Washington Post)

Michele Bachmann Makes News in New Hampshire (March 13, 2011)

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., arrives with husband, Marcus, at a state GOP fundraiser in Nashua, N.H., Saturday, March 12, 2011 (Photo credit: The Associated Press)

Michele Bachmann Eyes ‘Madam President’ (Sept. 9, 2009)

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Related compilations on this site

Michele Bachmann’s Political Résumé

Michele Bachmann’s March of Folly (2009-2010)

Michele Bachmann Up-Close (2010-2011)

Rep. Michele Bachmann’s Campaign for President (2011)

Rep. Michele Bachmann’s Reelection Campaign for Congress (2012)

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Related compilation

Yep, that happened: A tribute to the 2012 Republican primary

By Michael O’Brien

April 6, 2012

April 27, 2011 – Obama releases long-form birth certificate

May 15, 2011 – Gingrich calls Ryan plan ‘right-wing social engineering’

May 31, 2011 – Palin and Trump grab a slice

June 9, 2011 – Gingrich suffers mass resignations

June 13, 2011 – Pawlenty passes on ‘Obamneycare’

Aug. 11, 2011 – Romney: ‘Corporations are people, my friend’

Aug. 15, 2011 – Perry says printing more money is ‘almost treasonous’

August 2011 – ‘9-9-9’

Sept. 7, 2011 – Audience cheers Texas executions

Sept. 13, 2011 – Bachmann says HPV vaccine causes ‘retardation’

Sept. 23, 2011 – Debate audience boos gay soldier

Oct. 8, 2011 – ‘Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan’

Oct. 18, 2011 – ‘I’m running for office, for Pete’s sake!’

Nov. 7, 2011 – Sharon Bialek accuses Herman Cain of harassment

Nov. 9, 2011 – Rick Perry’s ‘Oops’ moment

Nov. 9, 2011 – Gingrich says he served Freddie Mac as a ‘historian’

Nov. 14, 2011 – Cain: ‘I got all this stuff twirling around in my head’

Dec. 10, 2011 – Mitt Romney’s $10,000 bet

Jan. 19, 2012 – Gingrich angrily rebuffs ‘open marriage’ question

Jan. 25, 2012 – Gingrich pledges lunar colony by 2020

Feb. 1, 2012 – Romney: ‘I’m not concerned about the very poor’

Feb. 24, 2012 – Romney’s Ford Field speech

Feb. 26, 2012 – Santorum says JFK speech made him sick

March 21, 2012 – Etch-A-Sketch

March 25, 2012 – Santorum calls reporter’s question ‘bulls***’

Details and video

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Anti-Bachmann for President blog

Michele Bachmann for President … of Crazy
(Bachmann Stupid Overdrive)

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Up Next . . .

Michele Bachmann’s Reelection Campaign for Congress (March 24, 2012)

Rep. Michele Bachmann speaks in Sartell, Minn., May 31, 2010.

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5/22/2013 Update

Fiction Nearly Stranger Than Fact

Badlands Unlimited is pleased to announce the publication of Fires of Siberia by Tréy Sager. Inspired by the life of Tea Party leader and Republican Congress-woman Michele Bachmann, Fires of Siberia is an old-fashioned bodice ripper romance that brings the heat for the 2013 summer beach reading season. Presidential candidate Danielle Powers, full of firebrand pluck and red state sex appeal, has the country in a tizzy. But on an international tour to beef up her foreign policy experience, disaster ensues — her plane explodes over Siberia. Miraculously, Danielle survives, along with one other passenger — a mysterious stranger named Steadman Bass. Trapped in a wilderness of snow and ice, the two begin a journey that pushes Danielle to the brink. There she must confront her deepest self and choose between civilization and a wild, primitive ecstasy. All the while, Steadman harbors a terrible secret that threatens to destroy them both.

Fires of Siberia

by Tréy Sager

Published by Badlands Unlimited

E-book on Apple iBookstore + Amazon Kindle

219 pages, 2013

Excerpt

They shook hands, and Danielle felt the hot vitality of his blood. His hand was surging with warmth. His fingers were weathered like a workman’s, but his touch betrayed a grace and kindness his face otherwise kept guarded. She wanted to stay fastened to him, so essential was the heat.

“What do you get if you combine Michele Bachmann and Fifty Shades of Grey”?
— Huffington Post Live

Michele Bachmann Romance Novel Author Talks to HuffPost Live
Huffington Post, May 22, 2013

Here’s That Hot Michele Bachmann Fantasy Sex Book You Didn’t Ask For
Jezebel, May 22, 2013

Michele Bachmann Has Inspired a Sexy Romance Novel
The Atlantic Wire, May 21, 2013

The Bachmann Inspired Romance Novel
Salon, May 21, 2013

Exciting New Book Allows You to Imagine Sexing Michele Bachmann While Freezing to Death
Wonkette, May 21, 2013

Michele Bachmann-inspired Romance Novel Has the Greatest Cover Art Ever
Death and Taxes magazine, May 21, 2013

Michele Bachmann Was the Basis for an Up and Coming ‘Mommy Porn’
Mommyish magazine, May 21, 2013

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8/28/2013 Update

8 Juicy Allegations from the New Bachmann “Tell-All” Book

By Alex Seitz-Wald and Alex Halperin
Salon
August 27, 2013

A new book co-written by a former senior staffer on Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign alleges that the conservative congresswoman is a fake Christian diva who fires pregnant staffers on Christmas Eve and takes advantage of her devoted supporters, when not being taken advantage of by the political consultants she hired.

Published on Amazon for Kindle late last night, “Bachmannnistan: Behind the Lines, a Report from the Inside” bills itself as “the explosive first tell all book about the secretive world of Michele Bachmann … immoral, illegal and unethical.”

It paints Peter Waldron, who was Bachmann’s field coordinator and evangelical outreach lead (and who also happens to have co-written the book), as the nearly lone island of virtue in a sea of money-grubbing advisers and sinister politicians willing to break the law to get what they want. At the center is Bachmann, whom Bachmannistan portrays as alternatively clueless or cruel, but above all: “Hard as nails, vicious, self-centered, phony, in it for herself.” …

We read the whole book today so you don’t have to, and here are some of the juiciest allegations:

• “She fired a staffer with seven children, the eighth on the way, on Christmas Eve.”
• During Bachmann’s 2006 campaign, Andy Parrish, her former chief of staff who is now testifying against her (the guy he replaced learned he was fired via Politico), allegedly grew concerned with “her reliance on World Net Daily, which he thought just a little too tin foil hat, even for him.”
• “There was an intercessory prayer group formed during the presidential campaign for the sole purpose of praying for Michele Bachmann and, at times, her partial, specific intentions.” The wife of Bachmann’s pastor was in charge and it included a number of “well-known and powerful pastors,” including the daughter of televangelist Kenneth Copeland.
• Tension between Bachmann’s secular and evangelical worlds led many to question Bachamnn’s faith and prompted a “faith intervention.”
• Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, devised a test to determine whether she should run for president …

Read the full story at Salon