Letters of the Day (Jan. 5): Michele Bachmann

There are still some places one can't buy an election.

Michele Bachmann won the Iowa Republication straw poll last year, and that gave her some media attention. She beat the next closest candidate by less than 1 percent (0.0089).

Pawlenty, Perry and Romney came in a distant third, fourth and fifth (Perry wasn't even on the ballot, and Romney hadn't campaigned).

To participate in the straw poll, each Iowan had to buy a $30 ticket -- not a small sum.

Bachmann bused in 40 busloads of people and bought 6,000 of the tickets for $180,000 -- free on the condition that one would sign in at her tent first. This tent had air-conditioning, 1.5 tons of barbecue, Randy Travis, chairs and a petting zoo.

For this investment, 80 percent of those grateful people actually voted for her. Despite this vote purchase, she simply couldn't overcome the power of the super PACs and simply ran out of money.

In yesterday's statewide caucus, she only got an additional 1,250 votes. Grass-roots support does not work when you don't have good issues. Next time, she should take advantage of the super-PAC money.

JOEL MARTY, MINNEAPOLIS

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Now that Michele Bachmann has dropped out of the presidential race, can the liberal left finally stop cowering in fear of her and move on to more relevant issues?

As with Sarah Palin before her, I remain amazed at Bachmann's ability to terrify Democrats merely by existing.

Bachmann's presidential aspirations were admirable, but in reality she stood no chance of earning the nomination.