Summary: Politico reports that Barack Obama’s aides and advisers are preparing to center the president’s reelection campaign on a ferocious personal assault on Mitt Romney’s character and business background, a strategy grounded in the early-stage expectation that the former Massachusetts governor is the likely GOP nominee. However, the Obama campaign would be sorely misguided if it diverted inordinate resources to fending off Romney as Barack Obama’s likely opponent. Despite being the early front-runner in public opinion polls, Romney is unlikely to be the Republican presidential nominee, with the vastly underestimated Michele Bachmann potentially posing the greater reelection threat to Obama in terms of personal charisma. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on August 9, 2010, Aubrey Immelman appealed to Minnesota voters to support Independent Tom Horner for governor in the August 10, 2010 primary election.

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Summary: In one of the most intriguing subplots of the 2012 GOP nominating contest, Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty have begun trading jabs in Iowa. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 28, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that the federal government delivered a stinging blow against The People, granting an injunction against key provisions of Arizona’s new immigration law, enacted to counter the federal government’s dereliction of duty in securing the border and enforcing the law of the land.

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Summary: Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus Bachmann, plays a central role in her campaign for the Republican nomination. The Bachmanns, who are born-again fundamentalist Christians, share a bond born of deep faith in a particularly conservative form of Lutheranism (WELS), a common abhorrence of homosexuality, and an extreme Christian nationalist political ideology. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on July 7, 2010, Aubrey Immelman featured Part 1 of “The Rise of the New Right: A Hardball Documentary with Chris Matthews,” titled “Don’t Tread on Me.”

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Summary: Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin are fighting a proxy war of words fronted by Bachmann presidential campaign manager Ed Rollins and Palin chief of staff Michael Glassner. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 9, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

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Summary: NBC’s Chuck Todd writes that if the object of 2012 Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney’s May 12 health-care speech was “to put the health issue behind him, then the address was an ‘un-Mitt-igated’ failure.” Research conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics under the direction of Aubrey Immelman, Ph.D., suggests that Massachusetts’ health law, enacted during Romney’s tenure as governor, may be the least of his problems as he vies for the Republican nomination in a crowded GOP field. In short, Romney lacks the personal charisma to sway non-base voters, as measured by the Personal Electability Index for presidential contenders, developed at the Minnesota-based political psychology research unit. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on May 12, 2010, Aubrey Immelman announced that Independence Party-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner scheduled a press conference at Stop Light Bait in St. Cloud, ahead of the weekend’s Minnesota’s fishing opener.

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Summary: Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-Minn.) campaign for a leadership spot in the new Congress as Republican conference chair seems to be floundering as establishment Republicans close ranks around her opponent, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on November 9, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported on the 7th anniversary of the unsolved disappearance of St. John’s University student Joshua Guimond.

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Summary: As terror groups move away from planning complex 9/11-style attacks, involving months of planning and a large group of participants, it’s more difficult to detect and disrupt plots against the United States, according to three of the nation’s top counterterrorism officials. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on September 22, 2009, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan and reported that Al-Qaida marked the 8th anniversary of 9/11 with a new 106-minute video predicting President Barack Obama’s downfall.

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Summary: On Friday, June 4, 2010 the Washington Post published a mildly critical, though occasionally admiring, profile of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann. … Excerpts and annotations. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on June 11, 2009 Aubrey Immelman presented his psychological evaluation of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with personality profile and threat assessment, conducted at the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics.

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Summary: The Associated Press reviewed tea party operations in almost every state, interviewing dozens of local organizers as well as Democratic and Republican strategists to produce a portrait of the movement to date — and its prospects for tilting the November 2010 midterm election. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on April 5, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that North Korea had fired a multistage rocket over Japan, defying Washington, Tokyo, and other world leaders who suspect the purpose of the launch was to test its long-range missile technology.

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Summary: Former U.S.-backed prime minister Ayad Allawi and his secular, anti-Iranian coalition narrowly won Iraq’s parliamentary elections in final returns Friday, edging out the bloc of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and a coalition that includes anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which finished a strong third and could end up playing the role of kingmaker. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on March 26, 2009, Aubrey Immelman reported that the military was scrambling to inspect more than 90,000 U.S.-run facilities across Iraq to reduce a deadly threat troops face far off the battlefield: electrocution or shock while showering or using appliances.

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