Bachmann doesn't like McCain or global warming

Posted at 3:57 PM on March 17, 2008 by Tom Scheck (8 Comments)

The Pi Press' Political Animal points out (via the West Sherburne Tribune) that GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann is not so happy with John McCain as the party's endorsed candidate. Bachmann said: "He is not my man," she said. "Our candidate was chosen by the media. But there are other races out there."

She also called global warming a "hoax":

"The big thing we are working on now is the global warming hoax. It's all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax," Bachmann said. "The tax cap and trade system for limiting emissions is just another tax on businesses. By 2012, incandescent light bulbs will be no more. Fluorescent bulbs are more polluting because of their mercury content. We are working on the light bulb bill. If the Democrats can hose up a light bulb don't trust them with the country."

Do comments like this help or hurt Bachmann among Republicans? How about in the general election?

Comments (8)

I'd vote for her. I'd vote for her twice if I could.
Too bad I'm in California.

Posted by papertiger | March 18, 2008 6:52 AM

Rep Bachmann's comments may help her with the base; but the relevant question is whether such comments will help her with the swing voters. I'm curious about potential demographic changes in her district - will it continue to be as reliably Republican as it traditionally has been? I suspect some candidates could beat her; the question is whether the DFL will put up such a candidate.

Posted by bsimon | March 18, 2008 9:07 AM

You forgot her best line from Sherburne County:

"What our service men and women have accomplished over there has been nothing short of astounding," she said "Though you never hear about it in the media. God has not abandoned us."

Yep, we're fightin' "God's War" in Iraq. It must be a crusade. The End Times are near. Onward Christian Soldiers.

Posted by George Hayduke | March 18, 2008 2:58 PM

She's a crackpot. Always was.

I've been one of her constituents for years, ever since she was a state senator. Thanks for reporting stuff like this, Tom, but it's hardly the zaniest thing she's ever said. She doesn't believe in the scientific basis for evolution, she thinks homosexuality is of Satan, she literally tried to lead a mob into the offices of her Democratic opponents in the Capitol at St. Paul, announced a non-existent agreement with Iran to partition Iraq and turn it into a terrorist stateetc. etc. etc.; it goes on and on, and all of this is of record.

But the media--including MPR and Polinaut--didn't even begin to report the wingnut stuff until after she entered Congress. They're still not reporting it; most of the people in Minnesota still don't know that she's a protege of a national political evangelical movement. (I remember Bob Collins of MPR telling me that he couldn't see how Bachmann's "Christianity" mattered any more than his own "Methodism." He just didn't get it then; maybe he gets it now.)

"Do comments like this help or hurt Bachmann among Republicans?"

They don't hurt her. Bachmann's victory as a freshman in Congress during the year of the Dem tsunami makes her indispensible. Incredibly, this nut is considered one of the "bright spots" in an era when the MN GOP is suffering regular disasters. It doesn't really matter to MN conservatives that Bachmann's a nut, if she's the only one winning her district. And as long as the evangelical machine is behind her in the 6th district, she's likely to keep her seat.

There are plenty of GOP conservatives who don't buy into her nutty stuff ("global warming is a hoax" "so is evolution" "the federal government is trying to impose global one world socialism on America" "we've got to keep the nuclear option on the table with Iran" etc. etc.). But those conservatives will ignore that stuff, because right now she's one of the few Republicans who can win their district.

"(Will saying that kind of stuff hurt her) in the general election?"

Probably not enough to make a difference. You've got to remember that it was a bunch of right wing evangelical cranks who put into power, who leap-frogged over relatively sane conservatives like Krinkie and put her in Congress. These nuthouse positions are not original with Michele, she's simply articulating the craziness and bigotry of a lot of people who live in the western part of the Sixth. That, plus the backing of the national evangelical machine here in Minnesota, plus the backing of a GOP that wants to keep one of its few remaining seats, plus the fact that the media simply doesn't report the nuttiest things she's said--is likely to keep her in office.

Posted by Bill Prendergast | March 18, 2008 11:53 PM

Michele Bachmann is correct. "Global Warming" is a hoax. It was created by the left to limit our freedoms and redistribute wealth to the third world.

Posted by dare2sayit.com | March 19, 2008 4:46 AM

Still BatAmen CRAZY after all these years and HOT for God!
(politiking from the Living Word Community Church in 2006).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm16dBXn5u0

If you like this one, don't miss Michele Bachmann Youtubes on Terry Schiavo or Global Warming!
The audiences spontaneously laugh out loud at her.

Posted by Gerry | March 19, 2008 11:12 AM

"We are working on the light bulb bill. If the Democrats can hose up a light bulb don't trust them with the country."
A light bulb bill? What to ban fluorescent light bulbs? That actually cut demand for power plants and CO2 emissions? Maybe Bachmann ought to work on a dim bulb bill and vote herself out of Congress.

Posted by jonerik | March 19, 2008 9:28 PM

Michele Bachmann reminds me of Katherine Harris.

Posted by Kane | March 21, 2008 7:59 PM

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