Tag: Michelle Bachmann

Could 2010 be the year we finally Dump Bachmann?

Political Muse of Liberal in the Land of Conservative is reporting (and I have been able to independently confirm) that 2006 Independence Party Lt. Governor Nominee Dr. Maureen Reed spoke to a meeting of the 6th District DFL last night and announced that she will be running against Rep. Michelle Bachmann as a DFL candidate in 2010.

This is a very interesting development. Reed would be a very strong candidate. First. Who is she?

Dr. Maureen Reed currently serves as a diplomate in internal medicine with the American Board of Internal Medicine and a fellow of the American College of Physicians. She formerly served as medical director for HealthParners and as a member and chair of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents. In 2006 she ran for Lt. Governor on the Independence Party ticket with Peter Hutchinson. If she does indeed run she would be the first candidate to announce a run against Bachmann so far this cycle. 2006 and 2008 DFL candidate El Tinklenberg is also rumored to be mulling a run.

However I don’t believe a Democrat is likely to beat Bachmann unless one of three things happens: Minnesota passes fusion voting in time for the 2010 election, Minnesota passes Instant Runoff Voting in time for the 2010 election or only two major parties run candidates on the ballot in 2010.  

First of all. Why does one of those things need to happen for a Democrat to have a strong chance of winning? In Minnesota three political parties have qualified for major party status. The Republican Party (which will nominate Michelle Bachmann should she run for re-election), the DFL Party and the Independence Party.

In 2006 El Tinklenberg was endorsed by both the DFL Party and the Independence Party. However Minnesota law does not allow candidates to appear on the ballot for multiple parties so Tinklenberg filed to appear on the ballot as a DFLer. You might expect no one to file for the Independence Party seeing as they’d already endorsed Tinklenberg, however someone named Bob Anderson plunked down the 300 bucks to file thus ensuring his appearance on the general election ballot as the Independence Party candidate.

In November Bachmann got only 46.4 percent of the vote. However she still won the election beacuse Anderson pulled 10 percent of the vote which split the anti-Bachmann vote and let her sneak into office again with a plurality. If this happens again and the Independence, DFL and Republican Parties all run candidates I do not think that Democrats have a good chance of winning the seat. However if a former Independence Party member like Reed runs and one of these three things happens I believe we can Dump Bachmann.

1. Pass into law and and implement Instant Runoff Voting before for 2010 elections

This is my preferred solution and probably the least likely to happen. It would allow both the DFL and IP to run candidates and allow voters to choose whoever they thought was the best candidate. As long as a majority picked the DFLer or IP candidate before Bachmann she would be defeated. However it seems very unlikely that this could happen before 2010 as Tim Pawlenty would surely veto it if it came to his desk.



2. Pass into law and implement fusion voting before the 2010 elections.

Fusion voting allows a candidate to be endorsed by multiple parties. It is currently in use in New York. Reed could then run for both the DFL and Independence Party endorsements and appear on the ballot and the candidate for both parties. Had this been the law in 2008 Tinklenberg would have appeared on the ballot for the DFL and IP and I believe he’d be the congressman currently.  

Unlike Instant Runoff Voting fusion would not require replacing the current machines and so it might have a better chance of passing but I still doubt it will be made a priority and get Pawlenty’s signature before 2010.



3.  Have only two major party candidates on teh ballot in 2010

Of the three I believe this one is the most achievable beacuse it does not require a change in law that could be blocked by Pawlenty.

First Reed or another candidate would need to secure the backing of both the DFL and Independence Party as Tinklenberg did. They would then need to make sure that unlike in 2008 no other Independence Party candidate filed and thus put three major party candidates on the ballot.

It may not be necessary to do anything to make sure that happens. Anderson was the only person to file as a Independence Party candidate after Tinklenberg had won the official IP endorsement and perhaps no one would do the same this time making sure the IP had no candidate on the ballot. However it’s always possible that someone WOULD file thus potentially making a split outcome that sends Michelle Bachmann back to Congress.

So how to prevent that possibility? I see only one legal way. Run a front candidate. Now I know that doesn’t sound very nice but if Reed or another candidate wins both the DFL and IP endorsements and wants to win in November I think it needs to happen. Essentially assuming that does happen someone needs to file for the IP primary on a platform of dropping out to make sure the officially endorsed IP candidate doesn’t lose in the general. If it turns out no one else files they can end their campaign up to two days after the filing deadline, if someone else does file they have to win the primary and then they can drop out leaving the November ballot with just two major party candidates and giving the DFL and Independence Parties and chance to unseat the worst member of Minnesota’s delegation to Washington.

Personally I think the final option is the most realistic. If we want to Dump Bachmann Democrats, IP members, independents and sane Republicans are going to need to join together. Dr. Reed is well positioned to do just that. It will be interesting to see how her campaign plays out.

Originally posted at MN Progressive Project

• IL-10: Roll Call takes a look at the potential GOP and Dem fields to replace Rep. Mark Kirk should he decide to run for Senate. A spokesperson for ’06/’08 nominee Dan Seals says that he’s in for a third crack at the seat if Kirk vacates the scene, but state Sens. Michael Bond and Susan Garrett are also possible recruits. For the GOP, potential contenders include state Reps. Beth Coulson, JoAnn Osmond, and Ed Sullivan Jr — as well as state Sens. Dan Duffy and Matt Murphy. Coulson, perhaps the most moderate choice the GOP has to offer, might run into some problems in a GOP primary against a more conservative choice like Murphy. (J)

• PA-Sen: The Republican caucus in the Pennsylvania state Senate seems reluctant to comply with Arlen Specter’s desire to allow independents to vote in closed-party primary elections. If the state ultimately leaves the primary rules as they are, Specter will face the daunting task of convincing independents and Democrats to change their party registrations over to the GOP column in order for him to gain leverage against Pat Toomey. (J)

On a very related note, Specter just announced this afternoon that he will be opposing EFCA (an about-face from his previous support for it in previous sessions). Apparently he now thinks the GOP primary is his biggest worry, not maintaining union support for the general.

• MN-06: We’ll never get tired of loving Michele Bachmann. Her latest:

I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us ‘having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,’ and the people – we the people – are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.

• CO-04: Speculation is growing about who the GOP will find to take on freshman Rep. Betsy Markey in this one-time GOP stronghold turned swing district. State rep. Cory Gardner seems to generate the most buzz, who has already met with the NRCC. Other possibilities include former UC regent Tom Lucero and Ft. Collins city councilor Diggs Brown.

• MI-12: Sander Levin must have had a lot of advance notice of the just-announced primary challenge from state senator Mickey Switalski, because he’s already produced an internal poll from the Mellman Group showing him demolishing Switalski. Levin beats Switalski 62-14 in a head-to-head, and maintains a 74-15 favorable rating. (Switalski’s favorables are 23-8, leaving 69% unsure.)

• NH-02: Another GOPer has lined up for the open House seat left behind by Paul Hodes: Len Mannino, former Milford selectman and current school board member, is publicly expressing his interest. He’ll face an uphill fight against talk radio host Jennifer Horn, who seems to be aiming for a rematch.

• CT-Sen: In 1970, Connecticut’s senior senator, beset by ethical issues (including a Senate censure) and health troubles, failed to re-claim the Democratic Party’s nomation and came in third as an independent that November. That man was Thomas Dodd, Chris Dodd’s father. Click the link for some fascinating details about his saga. And let’s hope that history doesn’t repeat – or even rhyme. (D)

• TX-Gov: Todd Hill of the Burnt Orange Report sat down for an extended interview with Democratic candidate Tom Schieffer. (D)

Minnesota Public Radio (10/21-23, likely voters):

Elwyn Tinklenberg (DFL): 45

Michele Bachmann (R-inc): 43

Bob Anderson (IP): 5

(MoE: ±4.7%)

Last night SurveyUSA showed Elwyn Tinklenberg zooming out of obscurity and past Michele Bachmann in the wake of her mac-carth-a moment on Hardball. Today gives us another poll (from Minnesota Public Radio) giving Tinklenberg a small edge.

This poll is also interesting because it delved into the specifics of whether or not Bachmann’s comments are driving voter decisions. Turns out, yes, they are:

Nearly four out of 10 voters in the 6th District said they were less likely to support the Congresswoman because of her comments compared to 8 percent who said they are now more supportive.

Bachmann is, in fact, suddenly less popular than even Norm Coleman, who posts a 14-point edge over Al Franken in this R+5 district.

UPDATE: According to Politico, Bachmann has now taped an apology ad that will air in the closing week of the campaign. Sounds good; just ask Tom Feeney how that worked out for him!

Americans appear ready to sweep a lot of Democrats into office on November 4. Not only does Barack Obama maintain a solid lead in the popular vote and electoral vote estimates, several Senate races that appeared safe Republican holds a few months ago are now considered tossups.

Polling is harder to come by in House races, but here too there is scattered evidence of a coming Democratic tsunami. Having already lost three special Congressional elections in red districts this year, House Republicans are now scrambling to defend many entrenched incumbents.

In this diary, I hope to convince you of three things:

1. Some Republicans who never saw it coming are going to be out of a job in two weeks.

On a related note,

2. Even the smartest experts cannot always predict which seats offer the best pickup opportunities.

For that reason,

3. Activists should put resources behind many under-funded challengers now, instead of going all in for a handful of Democratic candidates.

Allow me to elaborate.

1. A lot of seemingly safe incumbents have lost in wave elections, even in districts tilted toward their own party.

The Republican landslide of 1994 claimed my own Congressman Neal Smith, a 36-year incumbent who had a senior position on the House Appropriations Committee. Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley spent “what aides say may total $1.5 million to $2 million, a staggering amount for a House race” in 1994, but he still lost to George Nethercutt in Washington’s fifth district.

Many of you probably remember long-serving House and Senate Democrats in your own states who were swept away in the Reagan landslide of 1980.

By the same token, a lot of entrenched Republicans lost their seats during the 1974 post-Watergate wave. That was the year Iowans elected Tom Harkin and Berkley Bedell in the fifth and sixth Congressional districts, where both candidates had lost elections in 1972.

2. Even the political pros and the best analysts cannot always handicap Congressional races accurately, especially House races where public polls are scarce.

In 2006, could anyone have predicted that Lois Murphy (who almost beat Republican Congressman Jim Gerlach two years earlier) would fall short again in PA-06, while the massively under-funded Carol Shea-Porter would defeat Jeb Bradley in NH-01?

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poured millions into IL-06 in 2006, only to see Tammy Duckworth lose to Peter Roskam. Meanwhile, Larry Kissell didn’t get the time of day from the DCCC and came just a few hundred votes short of beating Republican incumbent Robin Hayes in NC-08.

My point is that we can’t always know where our best chances lie. Sometimes a stealth candidate can catch an incumbent napping in a race that hasn’t been targeted by either party.

Look at the seats Republicans are now worried about, according to Politico:

GOP Reps. John B. Shadegg of Arizona, Lee Terry of Nebraska, Henry Brown Jr. of South Carolina and Dan Lungren of California are all fighting for their political lives, a reversal of fortunes that has caught even the most astute campaign observers by surprise.

Markos commented on the Politico piece,

Shadegg’s AZ-03 is R+5.9.

Terry’s NE-02 is R+9.0.

Brown’s SC-01 is R+9.6

Lungren’s CA-03 is R+6.7.

We haven’t had any public polls in Iowa’s fourth or fifth district races, but last week Republican incumbent Tom Latham (IA-04, D+0) released his first negative television ad, suggesting that his internal polls may show Becky Greenwald gaining on him.

I can’t tell you today who will win on November 4, but I guarantee you that some Democrats in “tossup” seats will lose, even as other Democrats take over “likely Republican” or “safe Republican” districts. Which brings me to my third point.

3. We need to expand the field of Republican-held districts we’re playing for.

Thankfully, the bad old days when the DCCC would target 22 races, hoping to win 15, are just a memory. The DCCC has put more than 60 Republican-held seats in the “Red to Blue” category. Not all of those seats have seen media buys or other significant financial investment from the DCCC, however.

Plus, as I mentioned above, Dan Lungren is sweating bullets in CA-03, which isn’t even on the Red to Blue list.

In 2006 we won at least two seats that were not in the Red to Blue program (IA-02 and NH-01) and came oh, so close in NC-08.

The bottom line is that a lot of Democratic challengers with the potential to win are not getting the support of the DCCC. This post at Swing State Project lists lots of seats once thought safe for Republicans, which are becoming competitive.

Where can netroots fundraising have the most impact? In my view, it’s in the winnable districts where there will be no influx of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the DCCC or other outside groups. Many of these are districts where an additional $50,000 or even $25,000 can make the difference.

The mother of all moneybombs dumped three-quarters of a million dollars into Elwyn Tinklenberg’s campaign in 24 hours over the weekend. It was a strong statement against the intolerance and bigotry Michelle Bachmann (MN-06) displayed on Hardball.

While I respect the enthusiasm, I can’t agree with those who are still asking the netroots to give to Tinklenberg, even after he’s collected more than $750,000 and the DCCC has promised to put $1 million into this race. Tinklenberg now has the resources to run an aggressive paid media and GOTV effort for the next two weeks. He probably has more money than he can spend effectively with so little time left.

Raising $50,000 for each of ten good challengers would be a better use of our energy than continuing to push activists to give to Tinklenberg.

Remember, few challengers are able to match incumbents dollar-for-dollar, but that doesn’t mean they can’t win. They don’t need to match incumbent spending, but they do need the resources to improve their name recognition and capitalize on the Democratic wave.

Which House races should we target for a moneybomb? I would suggest looking at the list of candidates on the Blue America ’08 page at Act Blue, as well as the candidates endorsed by Russ Feingold’s Progressive Patriots Fund. We have good reason to believe that those candidates will stand up for progressive values.

I would then pick a few Democrats on those lists who are not benefiting from large independent expenditures by the DCCC or others.

Our money will go further in districts with relatively inexpensive paid media.

I would also favor candidates taking on particularly odious incumbents, such as Dennis Shulman (running against Scott Garrett in NJ-05) and Debbie Cook (facing Dana Rohrbacher in CA-46). RDemocrat has written a book’s worth of material on why we should support Heather Ryan against “Exxon Ed” Whitfield in KY-01.

And what kind of Iowan would I be if I didn’t mention Rob Hubler, who is taking on Steve King in IA-05? My fellow Iowa blogger 2laneIA published this comprehensive diary showing that if we’re talking about the most ignorant and bigoted wingnuts in Congress, King gives Michelle Bachmann a run for her money. Click the link to read all about King’s “greatest hits,” including his suggestion that we electrify the border fence with Mexico like we do “with livestock,” his prediction that terrorists will be “dancing in the streets” if Obama becomes president, and his pride in working to scale back funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (which he calls Socialist Clinton-style Hillarycare for Illegals and their Parents). King considers his work to reduce SCHIP funding a “key moment” in his Congressional career.

Amazingly, there’s even more to dislike about King than 2laneIA had room to mention in that piece. For instance, while still a state senator, King was a leading advocate for Iowa’s “official English” law, which was adopted in 2002. Then he filed a lawsuit in 2007 to stop the Iowa Secretary of State’s office from providing voter information in languages besides English. It’s not for nothing that Ann Coulter calls King “one of my favorites.”

Hubler is a good progressive who spoke out against the FISA bill and supports the Responsible Plan for Iraq. I just found out yesterday that during the 1980s he was INFACT’s national director of the boycott against Nestle. Hubler also happens to be running a great campaign, but he is not getting much outside help except from Feingold’s Progressive Patriots Fund, which has sent an organizer to work on the campaign.

Two dozen House Democrats already represent districts with a partisan voting index of R+5 or worse. We should be able to increase that number in two weeks and send home Republicans who didn’t even realize they were in trouble.

Few people have enough money to donate to every worthy Democratic candidate. But if the netroots could raise more than three-quarters of a million dollars for Elwyn Tinklenberg in just over 48 hours, we ought to be able to raise $50,000 each for ten good challengers, whose races are relatively low-profile.

Who’s with me on this, and which districts should we target?

Today Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama quite eloquently on Meet the Press.

But why did the lifelong Republican endorse Barack Obama, a Democrat? In part beacuse of our very own agent of hate, Michelle Bachmann.

This business from the congresswoman from Minnesota saying, let’s examine all congressman to see who is pro-American or not pro-American.  We’ve got to stop this kind of nonesense and pull ourselves together.  And remember that our great strength is in our unity and diversity and so, that really was driving me.

I’ve had some disagreements with Colin Powell in the past to put it lightly. But he hit the nail on the head. Even Colin Powell, a man who probably could have become the Republican nominee for President  in 1996 realizes the hateful fear mongering of Michelle Bachmann hurts our image abroad and hurts the political debate in our country by bringing it into the gutter.

Hopefully Powell will take some time out of his busy schedule and come to Minnesota to endorse and campaign for El Tinklenberg, the common sense candidate who is running against Michelle Bachmann.

But even if Powell isn’t able to do that, I hope you donate to El Tinklenberg through the Netroots for El page. So far we’ve raised 1,415 from 28 donors and I’ve set a goal of 2,300, the equivalent of one maxed out big money donor. Let’s prove that a politics of hope can win and can defeat a agent of hate like Michelle Bachmann

Donate to El Tinklenberg!

Photo by Aaron Landry

Michelle Bachmann has turned into quite a hot topic here in the netroots after her disgraceful performance on Hardball that that you can watch for yourself here.

It’s hard to even begin on how horrifying that McCarthyesque, hateful interview was. But a lot of us Minnesotans have known about Michelle Bachmann and her hateful, extreme ways for years. Thankfully we’ve got a real shot at beating her this year, and you can help send her and her hateful brand of politics packing. Keep reading to find out how!

The Bachmann Record:

First a little more about Michelle Bachmann and why it is so critical that we win this race. You already know about her shameful performance on Hardball. But Michelle Bachmann has been embarrassing Minnesotans for a long time on a lot more then just that.

Blames Economic Woes on Minorities:

Just recently she blamed the financial crises on minorities,

Anti-Gay Zealot:

She was Minnesota’s leading anti-gay politician and now she’s a favorite of the anti-gay movement. When there was a march for GLBT rights on the day the Minnesota legislature voted down a hateful anti-gay constitutional amendment of hers she literally hid in the bushes and spied on them, I’M NOT KIDDING! During her rallies for her hateful amendment people carried signs calling for the murder of gay and lesbian people and she’s since said she’s proud of that rally.

Energy Dumb:

Bachmann is a global warming denier despite all the evidence out there. She also thinks if those horrible Democrats didn’t take over Congress gas would magically be 2 dollars a gallon. Yes she’s from the “Drill Baby Drill” school of thought.

Worst Person in the World:

Michelle has been appearing frequently on Keith Olbermann’s Worst Person in the World segment for over two years now. Here was her first time

and here is her latest

If you want to know more about why we need to Dump Bachmann head over to the good folks at Dump Bachmann who have been working hard to do just that since before she was even in Congress!

Send El to Congress!



Photo by Aaron Landry

Thankfully we’ve got someone great running to replace her. Elwyn Tinklenberg. El was a city councilman and mayor of Blaine (a big city in the district), Minnesota Transportation Commissioner and is currently president of the The Tinklenberg Group a transportation consulting firm. He’s a big advocate for public transit, strongly pro-union and for smart economic policies, supports universal healthcare, is for ending the war in Iraq and is a strong advocate for a transition alternative energy and a green economy.  

But he win?

Yes! A recent poll showed him only 4 points behind Bachmann or within the margin of error with 15 percent undecided. El’s got a perfect profile for the district but while Bachmann has raised 2 million as of the end of Q3 Tinklenberg has only managed to raise 1 million. In short, he needs our help to get his message out and win.

So donate!

Every little bit counts.

I set up a fundraising page with a goal of 10,000 so we can show Michelle Bachmann that we reject her politics of hate and so we can tell El Tinklenberg and his campaign that we embrace his politics of hope.

So donate to El Tinklenberg!

If Bachmann wins this race it will be a lot harder to beat her in the future and her politics of hate and fear could be in Congress for a generation. This is our best shot to prevent that. Michelle Bachmann is a disgrace to Minnesota and decent people everywhere in our nation.

So please, please. Donate to El Tinklenberg.

Originally posted at The Populista Report