Current Events and the Psychology of Politics
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Summary: In the race for the Republican presidential nomination, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has surged into second place behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, with support from 16 percent of GOP primary voters, according to a new NBC / Wall Street Journal poll. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 21, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that the St. Cloud Times — the largest newspaper in Rep. Michele Bachmann’s congressional district — had a letter to the editor in which the letter writer offered a broad-ranging indictment of Bachmann, in which the congresswoman was characterized as self-centered, unresponsive to the needs of her district, meager in her legislative accomplishments, and shirking the hard work of effective governance. Immelman noted, however, that it was not until the end of the letter that the writer touched on the real problem with Bachmann: her delusion-like paranoia, her shameless conspiracy-peddling, and her incessant fear-mongering.


Jun 26th, 2011

Summary: Rep. Michele Bachmann is statistically tied with Gov. Mitt Romney at the top of the first Iowa poll of the 2012 Republican presidential primary campaign season, conducted by the Des Moines Register. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 26, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that central Minnesota voters had the opportunity to meet gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner’s running mate, lieutenant-governor candidate Jim Mulder at the Granite City Days parade in St. Cloud.


Oct 17th, 2010

Summary: 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 6th Congressional 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’.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on October 17, 2009, Aubrey Immelman 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.


Jul 30th, 2010

Summary: The results of a July 2010 KSTP/SurveyUSA poll show Republican Michele Bachmann with a significant lead of 9 points over Democrat Tarryl Clark, with 8 points combined for Independence Party candidate Bob Anderson and unaffiliated independent Aubrey Immelman, and 5 percent undecided. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 30, 2009 Aubrey Immelman featured a New York Times report that Col. Timothy R. Reese, a senior American military adviser in Baghdad, had concluded in an unusually blunt memo that Iraqi forces suffered from entrenched deficiencies but were able to protect the Iraqi government, and that it was therefore time “for the U.S. to declare victory and go home.” In his report, Col. Reese detailed Iraqi military weaknesses in scathing language, including corruption, poor management, and the inability to resist Shiite political pressure.


Jul 24th, 2010

Summary: Rep. Michele Bachmann says if Republicans win control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm election, “all we should do is issue subpoenas and have one hearing after another” to “expose all the nonsense that is going on.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 24, 2009 Aubrey Immelman reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee had added U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann to its list of most vulnerable incumbents for 2010 in the NRCC’s “Patriot Program,” while the Swing State Project rated Bachmann as being in “real danger” of losing her seat in the next election. He also noted that a survey of 25 nations conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in spring 2009 found that positive public attitudes toward the United States had surged in many parts of the world since President Barack Obama’s election, to levels not seen since before President George W. Bush took office in 2001.


Dec 22nd, 2009

Summary: The 2010 election cycle’s first poll in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District race for U.S. Representative has been released. The survey, conducted December 17-20, 2009, shows 53% of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s constituents approve of the job she is doing. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on December 22, 2008, Aubrey Immelman reported that the brother of Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, claimed al-Zeidi’s apology letter was written against his will after he was tortured in detention. The shoe-throwing incident received worldwide media coverage and al-Zeidi became a potent symbol for opponents of the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq.



Summary: This weekend marks the first anniversary of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s despicable Oct. 17, 2008 “anti-America” remarks on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews that made her a national celebrity. As I reported a year ago today, 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.'” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on the 39th day after losing his 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman reported that Pakistan was scrambling for foreign aid to ward off a possible economic meltdown while trying to contain sharply escalating violence by Islamic fundamentalists. He also highlighted looming economic problems, citing a Washington Post report that the U.S. federal deficit was soaring toward the $1 trillion mark by the end of 2008, “creating the deepest well of red ink since the end of World War II.” In response to Rep. Bachmann’s shameful anti-American commentary on “Hardball” with Chris Matthews, Immelman petitioned the Minnesota Secretary of State to run as a write-in candidate against Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District election for U.S. Representative.


Oct 25th, 2008

Summary: On the seventh day of his write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman reported that a new poll sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio and the University of Minnesota’s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute mirrored the results of a SurveyUSA poll released the previous day by KSTP television: Support for Bachmann was holding steady a week after she became a lightning rod for national criticism and media attention when she told Chris Matthews on MSNBC’s “Hardball” that Barack Obama “may have anti-American views” and the media should investigate which members of Congress “are pro-America or anti-America.”


Oct 24th, 2008

Summary: On the seventh day of his write-in campaign against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, Aubrey Immelman analyzed MN-06 poll data, noting that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s support remained steady in the wake of her controversial McCarthyite statement on MSNBC’s “Hardball” with Chris Matthews that she wants the media to investigate which members of Congress “are pro-America or anti-America.”