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Oct 17th, 2010


Today marks the second anniversary of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s despicable Oct. 17, 2008 “anti-American” remarks on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews that propelled her into the national spotlight.

As I reported two years ago, Rep. Bachmann “dishonored her office and brought shame to the Sixth District and the State of Minnesota by calling for a media investigation reminiscent of McCarthy-era witch hunts to ‘find out [which members of Congress] are pro-America or anti-America’.”

In response to Bachmann’s shameful commentary, I petitioned the Minnesota Secretary of State on Oct. 18, 2008 to oppose Bachmann as a write-in candidate for U.S. Representative in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District.

Write-inPetition.jpg Write-in Petition picture by Rifleman-Al

Bachmann’s anti-American rant nearly cost her the election in a safe Republican district, not because she lost her base fundamentalist support — her pre/post-Hardball poll numbers remained steady in the mid-40s — but because it drove large numbers of undecided and politically unaffiliated voters to the Democratic Party ticket.

Bachmann’s rant also opened the fundraising floodgates for her Democratic opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, who received roughly $2 million in political contributions after the “Hardball” incident and boosted Tinklenberg’s poll numbers from the mid-30s to the mid-40s, as shown in the table below.

                                                                    Bachmann Tinklenberg Anderson Undecided
Public Opinion Strategies (Oct. 12-13)       44                 33                 8                15
Bachmann on “Hardball” (Oct. 17)           (-0)            (+14)             (-2)           (-13)
SurveyUSA (Oct. 20-21)                                44                 47                  6                2

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Related reports on this site


Rep. Michele Bachmann at the Sartell SummerFest Parade, June 14, 2008. (Photo credit: St. Cloud Times)

Michele Bachmann Up-Close (Sept. 6, 2010)

Bachmann Threatens Witch Hunts (July 24, 2010)

Bachmann’s ‘Anti-American’ Rant (Oct. 18, 2009)

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

Write-In Candidacy Announcement (Oct. 18, 2008)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — October 17, 2009

Iraq, Afghanistan Violence


Residents gather around the site of a bomb attack in Kerbala, 50 miles southwest of Baghdad, October 14, 2009. Three explosions killed at least three people and wounded 20 in the Shi’ite holy city of Kerbala, police and health officials said. (Photo credit: Mushtaq Muhammed / Reuters)

One year ago today, I reported that bomb attacks killed three American troops in Afghanistan, while civilian casualties sparked a protest by a group of angry villagers shouting “Death to America!” and a suicide bomber driving a dynamite-laden truck destroyed a key bridge on a highway in Iraq’s western Anbar province linking Iraq to Syria and Jordan.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — October 17, 2008

After the Primary Election: Day 38

Two years ago today, on the 38th day after losing my 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, in line with my focus on national security, I reported on Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki’s criticism of U.S. commander Gen. Ray Odierno and street protests against the U.S.-Iraq status-of-forces agreement by supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.


Iraqis displaying a poster of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr burn U.S. flags during an anti-U.S. protest in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008. (Photo: Adil Al-Khazali / AP)





2 Responses to “Bachmann Celebrates Witch-Hunt”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Michele Bachmann Up-Close Says:

    […] Bachmann Celebrates Witch-Hunt (Oct. 17, 2010) […]

  2. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » October 17, 2011 Says:

    […] Bachmann Celebrates Witch-Hunt […]

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