Commentary; Posted: 3/14/07
Bachmann’s actions at State of the Union praised at the Capitol
T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol Reporter
Things are going great, explained Sixth District Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, last week.
She’s got a plum committee assignment, won a leadership post, is in a position to influence legislation.
It’s a wonderful start out of the gate, she said.
But it has been the recent actions and comments of Minnesota’s first Republican congresswoman that has brought the freshman the most attention.
Bachmann’s frozen grip on President George Bush’s shoulder after the State of the Union, her planting congressional smackers on the Commander in Chief, that may have brought Bachmann the most attention.
She depicts the whole matter as overblown — most people think that, she opined.
“He (the president) and I are very good friends,” said Bachmann.
After the hubbub broke, a White House official called Bachmann and told her they appreciated her support, she said.
“Because you know the president’s numbers (approval ratings) have not been particularly high,” said Bachmann. “I was concerned perhaps with all the flap I violated protocol. They assured me I had not,” said Bachmann.
Indeed, Bachmann’s husband Marcus reported that when introduced to the president later that very week, Bush told him that he was a “‘huge fan’” of Michele Bachmann.
“And I thought, ‘You know, all of this attention has helped to highlight who I am, and to give positive relationships between myself and the President of the United States, that only means good things for the people of the Sixth District,’” said Bachmann.
Things are fine in Washington.
“My colleagues in Washington D.C. loved it. The White House loved it,” said Bachmann of her actions State of the Union night.
The second, more convoluted flap came from comments to the St. Cloud newspapers in which Bachmann seemed to suggest she was privy to secrets concerning a partitioning of Iraq by Iran and others.
In the parlance of the intelligence community, she seemed to be spilling the beans.
“The fact is I could have been more precise,” said Bachmann. “But my underlying statement is true,” she insisted. “I was not speaking from classified information. I did not have secret information,” said the congresswoman.
Showman P.T. Barnum argued there was no such thing as bad publicity. But it might be wondered whether Bachmann has politically hurt herself.
Former Republican lawmaker Charlie Weaver of Anoka styled the State of the Union episode as first day of school exuberance.
That’s how the public views it, he opined.
But “a little cringe factor” existed in Bachmann’s initial comments on Iraqi partitioning, he said.
Professor and Walter F. Mondale Chair for Political Studies Larry Jacobs of the Humphrey Institute sees no evidence Bachmann harmed herself with supporters.
“Her comments about Iraq can be spun publicly but behind the scenes, the committed policy makers in Congress (of both parties) were no doubt surprised to see a member who sits on a tax committee making a major announcement about foreign policy and making one that was by all accounts not grounded in what is being reported by U.S. intelligence and flat out mistaken (including on basic geography),” said Jacobs in an e-mail.
“She has hurt herself among colleagues in Congress and this is a political problem in terms of getting assignments to high powered committees,” he opined.
Both Jacobs and Weaver see Bachmann as now on a media watch list.
Bachmann emerged out of controversy at the Minnesota Legislature. And her name, like the temperature, starts conversations.
“She’s certainly smart,” said Sen. Leo Foley, DFL-Coon Rapids.
But she could use her intelligence to greater advantage by being more bipartisan, he opined.
Sen. Ray Vandeveer, R-Forest Lake, sees a political factor in the attention Bachmann has gotten. “She’s the congresswoman liberals love to hate,” he said.
Bachmann seems philosophical.
“I am an unashamed member of Congress who is a conservative,” she said. “Sometimes that elicits more scrutiny than the other members,” said Bachmann.
She welcomes it.
Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605