The latest in a long series of provocative utterances that regularly net U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann worldwide Internet buzz came in a speech Friday night at the Western Conservative Summit.
The Stillwater Republican spoke to several hundred conservative voters gathered in Denver about the need to combat Washington's liberal agenda, which she said is making America into "a nation of slaves," according to the left-leaning Colorado Independent website.
She made the comment in relation to a quote from Founding Father John Jay. "'We are determined to live free or not at all. And we are resolved that posterity shall never reproach us with having brought slaves into the world,'" Bachmann read to the crowd.
She then added, "We will talk a little bit about what has transpired in the last 18 months and would we count what has transpired into turning our country into a nation of slaves."
The "nation of slaves" bit caught the attention of Talking Points Memo and a slew of other Web observers, providing fresh fodder in the increasingly expensive Sixth District race against DFL state Sen. Tarryl Clark.
Clark's campaign wasted no time in making a fundraising pitch off the news Monday afternoon. "Once again, it's time to send Bachmann a message that this kind of outrageous rhetoric is not acceptable for a Member of Congress," wrote campaign manager Zach Rodvold.
Bachmann's congressional office did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
On Monday, a new poll of Bachmann's reelection chances shows the two-term Republican leading Clark by nine percentage points.
The KSTP-SurveyUSA poll is one of the first looks this year at the political landscape in the Sixth District and provides further evidence that unseating Bachmann will be a tough challenge for the state legislator.
Forty-eight percent of likely voters surveyed said they would vote for Bachmann if the race were held today, compared with 39 percent for Clark.
Men and women disagreed about the candidates by an unusually large margin. Bachmann won over men 56 to 31 percent, while women supported Clark 47 to 39 percent.
Age was also a factor. Voters under 50 favored Bachmann over Clark by a 20-point margin, while voters 50 and older placed Bachmann ahead by only 1 percentage point.
Notably, 6 percent of respondents said they would vote for Independence Party candidate Bob Anderson. In 2008, Anderson walked away with 10 percent of the vote, a block that neither Bachmann nor Clark can ignore.
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