Rep. Michelle Bachmann -- she of the memorable chat with Chris Matthews -- returns to D.C.

Michelle Bachmann found out the hard way that getting caught up in the moment with Chris Matthews can be hazardous to one's political health. But she survived to serve another two-year term in Congress.

In what no doubt became the most closely watched House race for Matthews, the Minnesota Republican retained a seat that was put in jeopardy after controversial comments she made on his MSNBC talk show a few weeks back.

Lots of other folks from outside the district were paying attention to it as well, after Bachmann questioned Barack Obama's patriotism and called for a wide-ranging media investigation of whether her colleagues on Capitol Hill held pro- or anti-American views. Her remarks sparked a spurt of donations to her Democratic rival, Elwyn Tinklenberg, and cast in doubt her reelection prospects.

Bachmann first won the suburban and exurban district surrounding Minnesota's Twin Cities two years ago by an 8-percentage-point margin.

With most of the vote counted in Tuesday's vote, she led Tinklenberg by 4 percentage points.

She had to sweat it out for a while, but in her victory speech to supporters, she said: "Thank you, Team Bachmann! You rock!"

[UPDATE]: On the stage near Bachmann was a sign that read, “Nice try Chris Matthews.”

No word on whether she'll be sitting down soon with him to discuss her close call.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Mark]

such a pretty woman ... on the outside.

[Ol' Whip]

While the election of Obama gives me hope that we can progress as a nation, the fact the she was reelected tells me there is still a long way to go.

[momsaid]

Thank heaven for people with brains! At least some folks weren't swayed by the hype surrounding her responses to Matthews. BTW, since when did questioning values and loyalties become a deal-breaker? Ooooh, yes...when the thought police came to power. Watch the next four years. Our enemies are celebrating and planning their next big blow-out party. In our home.

[Ed]

Congratulations to the lunatics who reelected this blithering idiot in the mold of Joe McCarthy.

[Jim, Rochester, Mn]

The good thing about people who are hateful and divisive is you know exactly where they stand. Her congressional district has declared itself and we know where they stand now, don't we!

[cmhmd]

>>BTW, since when did questioning values and loyalties become a deal-breaker?<<

1954?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_McCarthy#Public_opinion

CONGRATUALTIONS FOR KEEPING ANOTHER AUTHORITARIAN/REGRESSIVE/"CONSERVATIVE" IN OFFICE.
Cheers,

[James]

she is a disgrace but Im sure she will be singing a different tune from now on or be out in 2010

[Steve Thompson]

These Christian hypocrites... one of the main reasons I will never buy into their talking snake mumbo jumbo.

M. Bachmann whatever happened to Love thy Enemy?

What would Jesus have done if he were the one opposing Obama? Request the press do an exposé into Obama's background to see if he harbored anti-American views?

Would the son of God have pulled a greasy, sleezy stunt like this?

And what about the ninth commandment? Any comments on where this fits into your Christian "book of values"?

It is holier than thou wing-nuts such as yourself that makes the right wing out to be oh so disgusting.

Enjoy the next 4 years, your mental dim wit of a Christian pres is almost done, time for a fresh start.

[Wesley]

That's okay, she can't help but say something completely outrageous again in the next two years. Matthews didn't "try" anything. He asked a questions and gave Ms. Bachmann some rope. She uttered the ignorance, then denied it, then uttered some more.

2 more years Ms. Bachmann, that should be just about all American can stomach from you.

A McCarthyite Liar and a convicTed felon; way to go (r)s.

[Brook]

Steve, you do realize Obama is going to be a Christian President who ways politicians should not be afraid to discuss their faith -- or are you just another dim-witted Christian basher?

[AVoter]

I'm thankful she was reelected and congratulate her. It seems anything besides adoration and unquestioning support for Obama is considered smearing him. When Rep. Bachmann said he *might* hold anti-American views, it was a serious charge, but the evidence that he does is still more serious, and she had not just every right to bring it up, but a responsibility to do so, as does everyone who knows of it. Have an open mind and research Obama's connections to socialism, communism and marxism for yourself. Here is only one example, which is not the most severe of them, but it speaks very clearly - that he had an openly communist band open and close for him at a Portland rally this past May. The band is the Decemberists (they perform the Soviet anthem in Russian), and he posed for pictures with them. What does that say about his political beliefs, that he wouldn't just politely decline if this band offered to perform? Does he think that the communist system is anything other than an evil system, since its citizens are completely without any rights and brutally ruled by one-party dictatorships? And what does it say about his judgment and his sense of responsbility that this middle-aged man would essentially being giving his endorsement to communism before all the young people of this country that look up to him? That's only one reason why I applaud Rep. Bachmann for speaking out in a climate absolutely hostile to anything negative whatsoever about Obama, even if it's the truth. Hopefully this climate won't last for long, because no person or president is perfect.

[Rachel]

Bachmann won her district, but she lost (badly) my parents' precinct, which she won in her last term. If you're interested in some analysis from folks in the 6th district, check out http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/

[Joe McCarthy]

Yes! My legacy lives on!

[Dennis]

How novel! A Republicans with tortured logic and no honor. Reminds me of a President I know.

[DC Voter]

A Voter,

With all due respect, I don't find your assertions about the Decembrists credible. I checked their website and there is no mention of communism, socialism or any other isms. Nor is there any such mention in the Wikipedia entry. Methinks you are drawing unsupported inferences from their name. if in fact they have played the Soviet anthem, did it occur to you that that was simply a parody given the band's name?

More importantly, what if they are communists? To contend that Obama is a communist because he posed in photos with them at a rally is nothing more than another "guilt by association" argument. In the early 1980s, John McCain traveled to Chile and met with Augusto Pinochet. Are we to conclude from that meeting that Senator McCain endorses brutal dictatorships? Of course not. It's patent nonsense.

DC Voter

[Randal McD]

Michelle Bachmann told the truth. Get over it you Christian-bashing hatemongers.

[Renee James]

Just because you are a Christian, does that mean you have to be stupid also? Michelle Bachmann and other neocon/right wing nut jobs, who turn out to be nothing more than hypocrits who used the name of God to garner power, votes, and support from other Biblically illiterate hypocrits, are the reasons why America has lost her moral and intellectual integrity in the rest of the world. Since when do Christian men believe in absolutes? "You are either for me or against me...." I don't know about the rest of you conservative whack jobs, but I serve a God who is a merciful savior. I also serve a God who sent us a son who said, "Judge not lest ye be judged." It seems that evangelical Christians have forgotten that verse, since they not only judge people based on superficial observations, but go a step further and label and demonize them. Though you nuts want to see yourselves as saviors riding in on a blazing white horse, you really remind me of pharisees and saducees. You know all of the rules and by-laws of a religion, but have internalized none of the spirit of God's word. When are you all going to have that moment when the scales cover your eyes, and you realize that you have been destroying people, thinking you are doing God's work, but doing evil and wrong all along? Will you all be forever in your Saul stage? I don't think you will ever have your dessert moment so you can become Paul? Why is that? Oh, because you don't study it. You sit back and let idiots like Michelle Bachmann, Bill O'Reilly, and whatever backwoods, half-educated preacher at your church tell you what is right instead of reading the word for yourselves!

Oh Yeah! For all of you who are Bible-beating nut jobs, I bet you did not know that the name Barack is a Christian name. It appears in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible (Judges 4-5, Hebrews 13). He was a soldier for the Lord. Even though he felt that a man like himself could not possibly lead an army of 10,000 against a tyrant, he put his faith in the Lord's hands, and delivered the Children of Israel from the hands of tyrants. He took on an outdated power structure and fought for the down-trodden and oppressed, and his faith made him victorious.

[Sarah]

Jesus knew what to do with hypocrites and bullies. So-called "Christians" better run!

[El Grande]

What is up with Minnesota? They are proving to be as obtuse as Texans. Why do they feel the need to elect racist, anti-democracy, reactionary evangelicals? Go Michele Bachmann, just keep saying the tape of you accusing Obama of being anti-American is an urban legend. Palin - Bachmann in 2012.

See it at http://crooksandliars.com/node/24155