politics
With an insider’s eye, Hot Dish tracks the tastiest bits of Minnesota’s political scene and keep you up-to-date on those elected to serve you.
Contributors in Minnesota: Jennifer Brooks, Baird Helgeson, Patricia Lopez, Jim Ragsdale, Rachel E. Stassen-Berger and Glen Stubbe. Contributors in D.C.: Kevin Diaz and Corey Mitchell.
Contributors in Minnesota: Jennifer Brooks, Baird Helgeson, Patricia Lopez, Jim Ragsdale, Rachel E. Stassen-Berger and Glen Stubbe. Contributors in D.C.: Kevin Diaz and Corey Mitchell.
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Posts about 6th District
Graves-Bachmann matchup starts as a dead heat
Posted by: Kevin Diaz Updated: May 20, 2013 - 3:55 PM
A new survey, coming as the probe into her 2012 presidential campaign finances widens, shows her in a statistical tie with DFL businessman Jim Graves, who lost to her by little more than 1 percent in November.
Graves, who will be in Washington this week to meet with national party officials, touted the survey results showing him ahead of Bachmann 47 percent to 45 percent among voters. The difference is within the poll's 4.4 percent margin of error.
More ominous for the four-term congresswoman is her approval rating of 44 percent, well below the magic 50 percent mark where incumbents like to be. Meanwhile, 51 percent had an unfavorable rating, and this in an overwhelmingly Republican district. Just as remarkable, given Bachmann’s national Tea Party profile, is that 5 percent of voters in her district said they aren’t sure how they feel about her.
(Graves numbers are 39 percent favorable, 33 percent unfavorable, and 28 percent not sure).
Some GOP analysts say the numbers could explain why Bachmann has launched an unusually early television ad campaign so far in advance of the election. Recent filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show that Bachmann’s campaign also has been spending money on polling.
The Public Policy Polling survey of 500 district voters was conducted last Wednesday, the day before Bachmann’s ads went up.
Commissioned by the Graves campaign, the survey also shows a significant gender gap for Bachmann. If only women voted, Graves would be ahead 50 percent to 38 percent. (Among men, Bachmann leads 52 percent to 43 percent).
Bachmann draws big names for Tea Party press conference
Posted by: Corey Mitchell Updated: May 16, 2013 - 12:41 PMU.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah will join U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann this morning at a press conference on Capitol Hill to discuss the Internal Revenue Service targeting of tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.
Bachmann, chairwoman of the House Tea Party Caucus, has called the targeting "outrageous" and a "stunning abuse of power."
The tax scandal has served as a rallying point for the tea party, which began in 2009 as an anti-tax movement, but lost steam during the last election cycle. Tea party leaders from across the country and more than 20 Republican House members also plan to attend the event.
IRS leaders issued an apology last week for singling out organizations with the words "tea party" and "patriot" in their applications for extra scrutiny, stalling the approval process.
With political pressure mounting, President Obama announced Thursday that acting director Steven T. Miller will leave the tax agency next month.
The tax scandal has served as a rallying point for the tea party, which began in 2009 as an anti-tax moment, but lost steam during the last election cycle.
Bachmann goes up early on the airwaves this week
Posted by: Kevin Diaz Updated: May 15, 2013 - 7:37 PM
The ad campaign, first reported in the National Journal, begins Thursday, a full 18 months before voters go to the polls.
Records show that Bachmann’s campaign will run more than two dozen spots on KMSP, the local Fox affiliate, over the next two weeks. The $14,565 ad buy is part of a larger campaign that weighs in at closer to $85,000, according to Democratic sources.
A spokesman for Bachmann said he could not discuss the content of the ads.
The ads come as the Minnesota Republican is reportedly in settlement talks in connection with a politically-damaging lawsuit stemming from the alleged theft of a staffer’s email list by the Iowa chairman of Bachmann’s 2012 presidential campaign.
Bachmann also is scheduled to take part in a Capitol Hill press conference Thursday on IRS “intimidation” of Tea Party groups, an issue that could highlight her credentials as a Tea Party leader and former IRS attorney.
She also is sponsoring a new bill to repeal Obamacare, an issue that helped thrust her into a national spotlight three years ago. The repeal bill, which is scheduled for a House vote Thursday, represents the 37th time the GOP-led House has voted to defund all or part of the law.
Bachmann has been raising money at a furious pace in recent months, playing against her status as a top target for the House Majority PAC, the leading House Democratic super PAC. She faces a rematch next year with DFL businessman Jim Graves, who lost to her by little more than one percentage point in November.
Graves said he hadn't seen the ads, adding "candidly, I'm not very interested." His focus, he said, is employment and the business climate in the district.
Bachmann rails against Pentagon curbs on proselytization
Posted by: Kevin Diaz Updated: May 3, 2013 - 4:30 PM
Mikey Weinstein/AP photo
“What if our brave soldiers were told they couldn't practice their religion? That they were able to fight for OUR religious freedoms but they couldn't practice their own?” the Minnesota Republican wrote Friday in a fundraising pitch to supporters. “This may seem far-fetched, but unfortunately if some get their wish, it could soon become a reality.”
The campaign email, which asks supporters to sign a pledge, is based on a recent top-level Pentagon meeting with Mikey Weinstein, the founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
Bachmann, taking her lead from a chorus of conservative Christian groups that have raised the alarm about the meeting, referred to the group as “left-wing,” and “anti-Christian.”
The group, which says it has been inundated with a “non-stop torrent of shamefully ridiculously coverage,” says it is neither anti-Christian nor atheist.
Be that as it may, the contretemps have provided a rallying cry for opponents of newly-installed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, and an opportunity for Bachmann to return to her religious conservative roots.
Bachmann's House Tea Party Caucus is back
Posted by: Kevin Diaz Updated: April 25, 2013 - 11:51 AM
According to a report in Roll Call, about a dozen other representatives and senators are expected at the event, which signifies that the caucus intends to stay engaged in the new 113th Congress.
The Tea Party Caucus has not been much in evidence since last year, while Bachmann was defending her House seat in what turned out to be a surprisingly close challenge from DFL businessman Jim Graves.
Graves has announced another run at Bachmann next year, and there are already signs that it’s going to be a national rumpus. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which sat out last year’s race, pumped out a video this week chronicling the legal and ethical problems Bachmann faces from her 2012 presidential campaign.
Today, the liberal Super PAC CREDO announced that it is going to make Bachmann the first target of its 2014 campaign.
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