Posted on 01/25/2012 8:28:42 AM PST by SeekAndFind
In the end, Michele Bachmann provided no surprises in her post-presidential bid path:
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday she will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House following her failed presidential bid.
Bachmann declared her plans in an interview with The Associated Press. The Republican congresswoman had been mum on her plans since folding her presidential campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.
“I’m looking forward to coming back and bringing a strong, powerful voice to Washington, D.C.,” Bachmann said.
Bachmann will be a formidable candidate in Minnesota’s 6th District, where other Republican hopefuls had stood aside until she made a decision on running for re-election. She is a potent fundraiser, but faces uncertainty over how her Republican-leaning district will be reshaped by redistricting.
Bachmann won her last re-election bid against well-known Taryl Clark by twelve points, so redistricting is probably not a big concern for Bachmann. Minnesota’s Congressional allocation did not change in the last census, although it only narrowly avoided losing a district. The redistricting plan will likely shift the margins around a little, perhaps moving a few precincts of very liberal MN-05 (Keith Ellison’s district) into MN-06, but it’s doubtful that MN-06 will change dramatically enough to endanger Bachmann in 2012.
Besides, Bachmann raised her stature considerably during the presidential campaign. She now has a broader base for fundraising, which builds on what had already been a strength for her in the past. While her hyperbole on Gardasil hurt her in the campaign (and will almost certainly be revisited by the DFL in the district), her overall performance dispelled the “crazy eyes” image that the media had imposed on her during her rise in the House and with Tea Party grassroots. Bachmann ended up presenting the most effective debate attacks on Rick Perry and then later Newt Gingrich, and was a formidable force in those encounters throughout the race.
Some had speculated that Bachmann would run against Amy Klobuchar for the US Senate. Bachmann wisely understood that her strength in MN-06 does not translate statewide, a lesson that her predecessor Mark Kennedy learned the hard way against Klobuchar in 2006. Bachmann might decided to take on Al Franken in 2014, but for now she has a pretty clear path to return to Congress and continue being a representative for the Tea Party agenda. Expect Democrats to spend a lot of money in MN-06 for this reason, and expect it to be a waste of time, cash, and effort, as it was in 2008 and 2010.
“Bachmann ended up presenting the most effective debate attacks on Rick Perry and then later Newt Gingrich, and was a formidable force in those encounters throughout the race.”
But not Romney and THAT’S going to be her biggest problem.
Now that Ed Rollins is kissing some Gingrich butt I doubt we’ll be seeing the same attacks on Newtie that we saw on Bachmann.
That would take some actual integrity.
She is a fine woman.
“She is a fine woman.”
With a diminished contributor base.
I sense friction between her and Newt supporter, Sarah Palin?
True. Bachmann is 100% lifetime ACU through 2010 and a fine standard-bearer in the House. The way she was treated for espousing conservative principles and fighting Zero on the front lines was embarrassing.
That’s why I believe this race is already lost. Conservatives were so easily manipulated into throwing the true tea partiers overboard and all it took was to tell them that someone else was manipulating them.
Yet somehow Gingrich became the poor oppressed DC outsider. I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me why he didn’t just rocket to the top immediately if he was the tea party candidate.
“Why do I get this feeling Michele Bachmann will endorse Mutt Romney?”
I don’t know. I have a feeling she will not endorse Romney.
“I sense friction between her and Newt supporter, Sarah Palin?”
I sense no friction, but I could have missed something there. Is your “sensing” based on anything?
My take is that Bachmann put herself out there, put forth her ideas, tested her limits, and learned a lot from the experience. She wasn’t my first choice, unwisely let some personal feelings show through when making some overplayed attacks on Perry and Gingrich, perhaps showed not to have the ability to connect with more than her base - but overall was a positive for the conservative movement. I think she has positioned herself perfectly to move up in the House.
While it would be one less seat for the GOP, I hope she has a very hard time getting reelected for the nonsense she pulled in her presidential campaign be it vs. Palin or Perry or Cain or Newt... She is a backstabber.
Good news. She’s an important conservative voice in the House.
She’s very popular in her district. However, if she was the Presidential candidate, she wouldn’t carry Minnesota.
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