So where is she? Why, here, of course:
She’s only very rarely in Minnesota, and it turns out that she’s not at the Capitol nearly as often as she should be. Looking at data on missed votes in Congress, Dusty Trice discovered that Bachmann has missed nearly one-sixth of all votes this year — putting her amongst the top ten vote-missers in Congress.
Crazy Shelly has made the front page of the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/us/politics/15b...
And yet she raised almost $100,000 yesterday. I live in the 6th and I am always told that this district is almost impossible to win. I believe that we just need to put the time, effort and money into the race.
A couple of things are obvious. The 1st is that Tarryl Clark will be the endorsed candidate. The 2nd is that we can no longer afford to sit on or hands and wait to see what happens. Send Clark money!
Bachmann can be beat. Her margin of victory over El Tinklenberg was something over 12,000 votes. Bob Anderson, the Indepence Party candidate who didn't bother to campaign, received over 40,000 votes. That's a lot of anti-incumbent sentiment gone to waste.
I hope your right! I'm doing everything I can to make that so.
Bachmann hurts Republicans. Please defeat her.
Now, Now Jack, the people who vote for her are OK with having part time representation. She gets re-elected even after saying the craziest of things, has little to no constituent services and has more people on her staff writing PR releases and getting her on TV than reading laws or writing bills… but those voters get what they apparently want… a do-nothing media whore Republican representative.
She's the gift that keeps on giving… I have very mixed feelings about going all out and getting her out of office. And you must admit a district gets what it deserves when it votes in a do-nothing like her.
My vote is that this is a "Jennifer's Body" situation, and that the real Michele Bachmann was taken over by some kind of creature that eats people.
Jack "Handy",
Michelle Bachmann = ratings.
Why would any Republican be opposed to that?
Last night (Wed. 10/13), Representative Bachmann was allocated time to speak at the conclusion of the House session … when they called her name, she was AWOL … sad, because it’s during those “open speaking sessions” that Minnesotans get a “different” slant on the goings-on in Washington … everything from Gangsta to sex clinics for children.
Obviously, Dusty Trice has provided valuable information on her participation in Roll Call votes, but I wonder about her participation in her only assigned committee …. Financial Services … so often when CSPAN broadcasts committee hearings, she does not appear to be in attendance. For example, last October 21st, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee scheduled a hearing “to examine our failure to regulate credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and their derivatives, and the other fruits of their deregulatory push from 1995-2006. The results of that effort are now in—a crisis that is sweeping the global economy and threatening tens of millions of working families. The committee’s job is to see that this never happens again and that is the purpose of the hearing.” Sorta a big deal … and still is. The hearing was broadcast via C-SPAN and offered expert opinion and suggestions from a panel of witnesses. Bachmann was a no show … instead she went to a Rotary meeting.
Cherry picking statistics only tells your portion of the story.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Representing: Minnesota, District 5
Votes: 78 votes missed (10.1%), 698 votes cast
I thought this blog was about original content, not regurgitating the diarhea mouth of Dusty Trice.
Finally, if anyone who votes in the 6th district is surprised that Michele Bachman votes down party lines, they don't deserve to be a registered voter.
Libby,
Defining Dusty Trice as a "diarhea mouth" for repeating things people say about issues is misleading.
Do you agree or disagree?
Show some proof.
Only a republican would equate missing 1/10 votes with missing 1/6.
who are you calling a Republican
Bachman missed 13.4%, Ellison missed 10.1%. Bachman may be a media whore but at least she's in the country and not off on a personal pilgrimage trip.
Gee Libby, I'm so glad that Minnesotans get to argue who is the laziest most worthless Representative in Congress. What would happen if we could argue between who was best?
Congressman Ellison is doing a great job in both constituent services and votes consistently in a manner that best represents my wishes. He will have the job as long as he wants it because he makes 90% of the votes and does represent his district. He also doesn't spend his time chasing after cameras and microphones like a certain useless whackjob.
Ellison missed the same 58 votes on June 18 as Bachmann did. He was at his son's graduation; she was absent because of her stepmother's death. If you discount these 58 votes, plus those missed by Bachmann in the days just before and after and also two days in May due to her father-in-law's death, Ellison missed 25 and Bachmann missed 16, out of over 700 possible. Neither record is deplorable.
Of more concern to me is that Bachmann has served on only one House committee in her Congressional career - Financial Services, and she is frequently absent from those meetings. Only a quarter of Reps serve on only one committee, and half of them are committee chairs, party leaders, or Appropriations committee members, who rarely serve on another committee.
BTW, Ellison has served on two committees (and several subcommittees) in both the 110th and 111th Congress.
Bachmann can definately be defeated. It will take a Blue Dog to do it. I actually thought Tink would do it last year. Keep in mind, in 2010, voters will be punch drunk from spending money on TARP, $1 trillion on stimulus, $1 trillion a year on healthcare…… Any left-of-center message will need to be balanced with fiscal restraint. If this was 5th, there would be no need for that. But in the 6th, voters care about their taxes.
I definately equate Bachmann to Ellison, however. Yes, very different ideologies. Yes, one is a media hound and one is not. But they both tend to be a lightning rod and take up issues that play to the base. With Bachmann, talking about people being unAmerican. With Ellison, leading the charge to impeach Bush. With Bachmann, doing the tour of Cable News. With Ellison, doing the tour of Mecca funded by a lefty group who benefits from tax dollars.
I know you hate to hear it, but there are more similarities than there are differences.
DantheMan's arbitrary, subjective ranking on the most effective, constituent-centered Congresspeople from MInnesota.
1. Collin Peterson
2. Tim Walz
3. John Kline
4. James Oberstar
5. Betty McCollum
6. Erik Paulsen
7. Keith Ellison
8. Michelle Bachmann
Colin is my representative, and he does a good job in looking out for the CD-7. My one concern is he tends to be "penny-wise, pound-foolish" when looking out for the economy here. He is proactive in protecting the current economy, but seems to lack the foresight to implement policies that will protect the economies here in CD-7 in the coming decades.
Another question: is Tarryl Clark a legislator from within Bachmann's district? Are voters in that area accustomed to her name and voting for her?
Tarryl Clark is from that district. That district is one of the weirdest shaped ones in the state, which is why it remains just slightly red. It stretches from the far West Twin Cities exurbs (where Mark Kennedy lives) to St. Cloud (Tarryl Clark) and around the northern suburbs all the way to Stillwater (Bachmann). It is a weird district with 3-4 distinct regions/populations in it.
How do we know the real Michele Bachmann isn't some kind of creature that eats people?
Lazar you just about made me laugh my coffee out of my nose!
The House was not in session when Rep. Ellison made his trip.