Just like that nut Caribou Barbie, Michele Bachmann had the wingnut crazy virus a long time before she hit the national scene, as this Minneapolis Star-Tribune editorial points out:
Conspiracy theories have been a constant in Rep. Michele Bachmann's political career since she first ran for the Stillwater school board in the late 1990s. She made her initial foray into politics by claiming that the Profile of Learning amounted to social engineering. Her anti-gay-marriage ideas were rooted in notions of sinister forces bent on destroying traditional marriage. Her bizarre rants within the past year against "anti-American" members of Congress, a global currency and government-mandated youth "reeducation camps" all exhibit the same disturbing tendency.
Bachmann began here political career as a partisan for a office that was usually non-partisan - school board member 1:
The last Stillwater school board election was apparently a real yawner, attracting fewer than 10 percent of registered voters.
Tuesday's election, which will put five of 19 candidates on the seven-member board, might be more like a jolt of strong coffee.
For the first time in most people's memories, a political party has endorsed a slate of candidates. Those five Republican-backed candidates _ Michele Bachmann, Bill Dierberger, Doreen Fiest, Doug Nelson and Barbara Harper _ united in their opposition to the state's new graduation rule, the Profile of Learning, and they've pooled resources, including yard signs and campaign fliers, to run as one. Four of the five candidates have children in private schools or home-school them.
Neither she nor her GOP cohorts were elected2 but that didn't mean her political career was over. Next year, she ran for the state senate and was endorsed by movement conservatives over a long-time incumbent who was a moderate.3 Bachmann was described as one of the "strong social and cultural conservatives" in the state party.4 She won and in the senate, she was the lone holdout on her sub-committee on a bill to help provide child care for lower income families.5 She also voted against state-funded job training6 and benefits for gay domestic partners.7 She was supported by the very conservative Taxpayers League, which has a simplistic message - "If it raises taxes, it's bad. If it lowers taxes, it's good." The League also used nasty attacks against political opponents, such as Gov. Ventura, "In its almost daily stream of press releases, Ventura has been called a "gutless coward" and "a liar."8
Her Christianist credentials are solid; she thinks it's OK to post the 10 Commandments in every Minnesota school, in part because of a standard Fundie lie:
One of the speakers, state Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, told the crowd that the founders of the United States _ including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson _ "recognized the Ten Commandments as the foundation of our laws."9
She also takes what I'll call a "Michael Savage" view of homosexuals:
She delivered a 15-minute speech on the Senate floor last session tying homosexuality to mental illness and increased instances of domestic abuse.10
SOURCES
1Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
October 30, 1999, Saturday, Metro Edition
Partisan twist for school elections;
GOP supporting some candidates in Stillwater and other districts
Norman Draper; Staff Writer
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1B
2Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
November 3, 1999, Wednesday, Metro Edition
Correction Appended
SCHOOL ELECTIONS;
GOP nod fails to help slate of 5 in Stillwater
Norman Draper; Staff Writer
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5B
3Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
April 4, 2000 Tuesday
LAIDIG LOSES GOP BACKING;
DELEGATES PICK BACHMANN, A NEWCOMER CONSERVATIVE
BYLINE: Mary Divine Staff Writer
SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 1B
4Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
September 9, 2000 Saturday
SENATE DISTRICT 56;
EYES RIVETED ON RACE FOR SENATOR IN PRIMARY
BYLINE: Mary Divine, Staff Writer
SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 5B
5Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
April 7, 2001, Saturday, Metro Edition
Child-care funding moves ahead;
One provision of the bill would guarantee subsidies for families with income below a certain level.
Jean Hopfensperger; Staff Writer
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 5B
6Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
April 29, 2001 Sunday CITY EDITION
FIRST JOB, NEW JOB, BETTER JOB: ASSESSING THE STATE'S ROLE
MINNESOTA'S 53 WORKFORCE CENTERS ARE AT THE CENTER OF A DEBATE ON HOW, AND EVEN WHETHER, THE STATE SHOULD TRAIN WORKERS TO KEEP THE STATE ECONOMICALLY COMPETITIVE.
BYLINE: DAVID HANNERS STAFF WRITER
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. C1
7Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
May 2, 2001 Wednesday CITY EDITION
SENATE OKS GAY DOMESTIC PARTNER BENEFITS
CHAMBER HAD NIXED MEASURE ON MONDAY
BYLINE: Jim Ragsdale, Staff Writer
SECTION: LOCAL; Pg. 4B
8Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
September 22, 2002, Sunday, Metro Edition
Freedom Club/Taxpayers League of Minnesota;
Deep pockets, deep convictions;
A small group of entrepreneurs and donors is making its presence felt within the GOP and beyond, promoting smaller government and lower taxes.
Dane Smith; Staff Writer
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 12A
9Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
November 1, 2003, Saturday, Metro Edition
'Ten Commandments Rally' draws about 200;
Groups call for Christian values in public life
Dane Smith; Staff Writer
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2B
10Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
February 2, 2004, Monday, Metro Edition
LEGISLATIVE AGENDA 2004;
TEN KEY AND COLORFUL LEGISLATORS
Conrad deFiebre; Mark Brunswick; Staff Writers
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 8A
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