Few individuals better personify what's wrong with today's Republican Party than Michele Bachmann, an ignorance and bigotry embracing demagogue who in normal circles might be considered a candidate for a mental institution. It goes without saying that this level of insanity makes her a heroine to the spittle flecked members of the Tea Party and, of course, the Christofascists. Thankfully, her congressional district may be waking up to the reality that Bachmann is bad news and 2014 may be the year when she is sent packing. A piece in Politico looks at growing speculation that Bachmann could be defeated in 2014. Here are excerpts:
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann may be the congresswoman with nine lives. But 2014 could be the gravest threat to her political career yet.
The bomb-throwing conservative and onetime Republican presidential candidate is girding for what promises to be a ferocious reelection contest. Awaiting Bachmann is a serious Democratic opponent who has the full backing of his national party and a suburban Twin Cities electorate that six months ago nearly tossed her out of office.
The most glaring problem for Bachmann, though, may be a swirl of investigations into her campaign finances. The Federal Election Commission and the Office of Congressional Ethics are investigating whether her campaign concealed payments to an Iowa state senator who did work for her 2012 presidential bid. (A state ethics law bars senators from doing paid campaign work.)
And late last week, Minnpost.com reported that the FBI would be joining the investigation and interviewing a former Bachmann chief of staff.
Aiming to capitalize on the controversy, Democrat Jim Graves has launched a rematch against Bachmann after coming within 5,000 votes — 1.2 percentage points — – of unseating her in 2012. Graves, a wealthy hotel company executive, raised more than $100,000 during the first week of his candidacy — a mind-boggling figure for a House candidate. On Monday, he released a poll showing him heading into Round 2 with a narrow lead over the four-term congresswoman.
“Michele Bachmann is not only the face of what is wrong with this dysfunctional Congress, she is one of the major forces behind its obstruction and chaos,” DCCC Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) wrote in an email. “Her out-of-touch policies underscore the need to replace Congresswoman Bachmann with an independent businessperson who knows how to create jobs and move the country forward, and we’re committed to keeping this race in play.”
In a district where the national Democratic Party remains unpopular and Mitt Romney received 56 percent of the vote, Bachmann has begun running a Web video that intersperses images of Graves with those of Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. It’s an approach similar to the one now-GOP Rep. Mark Sanford employed with success in the recent special election for a conservative South Carolina congressional seat.
Graves has pushed back, calling himself a moderate and pointing out that he has, at times, criticized Obama. The Democrat has recently questioned the White House’s handling of the IRS, Benghazi and Associated Press phone records scandals.
“They’re going to try to say that Jim Graves is a stand-in for the status quo,” he said. “But it’s not going to resonate."
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