More on the new found Republican sport; whapping the pinata - Eric Black at MinnPost writes, "Republican Bachmann’s Sixth District should be solid red. In fact, it is the most pro-Republican district in Minnesota. A generic Republican starts with about an 8 percentage point advantage, according to Cook Political Report’s 'Partisan Voting Index.' Yet, Bachmann won reelection last year by less than 2 points against political newcomer Jim Graves, and despite the fact that Bachmann outspent Graves by about (hold your breath) 12 to 1. Bachmann spent more than any other House candidate in the country and barely survived. [...] One of the long-time Republican operatives who spoke to me off the record said 'a lot of Republicans think Michele Bachmann is the only Republican who could lose that district.' [...] Bachmann also would be disconnected from reality if she didn’t know that she is no longer considered a rising star in Republican circles. Her presidential campaign flamed out early and left her looking fairly foolish (not that she was the only one). [...] She was tolerated by the House leadership because of her following within the Tea Party wing, but even that is now in doubt. [...] You never know what to make of people who say things like this, but if you take it seriously (either that God did call her or at least that she believed God did), it is hard to subject speculation about her possible retirement from politics to normal logical analysis." OUCH.

But, Eric Black, why were you not noticing things of this nature years ago, before writing, now? Better late than never can be said, or is it hearing an ascending drumbeat but not electing to have ever led the parade?

There's more, Black's item is online here, so please read the entire posted item for full detail.

And "tolerated ..." is perhaps as good a characterization as any for this Congressional specimen. My recollection which seems vivid, is Michele Bachmann was tolerated by mainstream media, Black included, in contests over the years involving clearly superior ultra high-quality candidates, namely Patty Wetterling and Tarryl Clark. Only when a suitably business-firendly DFL quality offering was advanced, Jim Graves, have the pundits of Graves' opposing party and the press taken due notice of arguably unsatisfactory ongoing dimensions of the incumbent specimen. Dimensions that are unchanged from day one in the Minnesota Senate, with change being only on how inner party guru attention is changing with the press taking notice of the guru shift.



See recent earlier Crabgrass, on the subject of current GOP mini-seismic Angst, here. Incorporate all that evidence and thinking into this post by reference.

See SOMETHING REALLY STUPID, here. Spinning an entire premise about possible GOP "luminaries" not residing in Minnesota's CD6 and how that might be problematic is quaint, given that Michele Bachmann lives in CD4 and not CD6 as things are currently districted.

The argument does not hold water, with Bachmann's last run having vented and vetted all that concern by noting how judicial precedent allows a resident of anywhere within a state to run in any congressional district in-state. Simply put, a question of district residency would not work to prevent a great roller-blader like Tom Emmer pushing a DumpBachmann candidacy, nor is an editing out of Emmer-mention or Hegseth-mention by Black somehow causally related to Kurt Zellers being a resident of CD3. Something like that premise of the True North post is True Wrong.

Here's one. My idea, so don't blame Eric Black for this hummer. Watchdog acolyte and savant, the in forma publishing impresario John Kysylyczyn, the Record fellow, run him. He should make the all time list of Bachmann alternatives for those who now suddenly break out in a sweat over Bachmann's feet of clay, abuzz, "She's got feet of clay. Of clay, by golly. Under the bus. Under the bus. The bus, the bus, by golly, under the bus." Same feet as ever. Same bus. Only the "under" rhetoric arises anew.

Run Kysylyczyn. Send him off to DC, keeping the district GOP and proudly so. Note for later - I say it here and now, it would be very likely I would cross over on primary day to vote Kysylyczyn on the Republican ballot side, if he's on the primary ballot, GOP side. A crabgrass promise. I might.

_____________UPDATE_____________


Here's a fine example of one of my big complaints about Bachmann, she starts, presumably with Uncle Sam being you and Ben Dover the Ramsey Taxpayer, footing the bill, some half-assed self-agrandizing stunt like this, which she then flits away from, the last press release on site being dated summer, 2012. And, also, she talks against waste.