It looks we will not have Michele Bachmann to kick around anymore.
The congresswoman from Minnesota who is famous for a failed presidential bid, numerous (alleged) ethical violations, anti-Islamic comments and well let’s face it, nearly anti-everything that is sane and decent in this world announced that she will not be seeking re-election in 2014. Bachmann cited a self-imposed “term limit” as the main reason for her retirement, though that seems rather odd given how she already started running ads against what would’ve been her likely challenger, Jim Graves.
But we all know why Bachmann is on her way out. It's quite obvious even, about as obvious as what pushed Joe Lieberman to retirement before the 2012 election cycle.
She was going to either lose, narrowly win or be found guilty of ethical violations.
In our saying goodbye to Bachmann, there really isn’t anything to be down about. Yes, Democrats will likely not win this seat now that Bachmann is out and a far more generic Republican will likely be the nominee in this R+10 seat. While Jim Graves is a decent candidate, it just probably won’t be enough to even get close running against a different non-Bachmann nominee.
However, the House is losing one of its most controversial and self-promoting people. We will probably never get to the whole fantasy of “let’s all just work together and pass every bill” that many people fall for but we are improving the House in one sense. This should also be a warning to people such as Ted Cruz in the future as well. Politicians who rely on overt fear tactics (Bachmann, Allen West for starter’s) do not have a long shelf life. Sure, you will have quick success in the grassroots but the minute you enter the mainstream; your 15 minutes begin to wind down.
Michele Bachmann will be out of the House in 2014, but should we count her for good? Odds are no, people like her tend to be ridiculously popular on the lecture circuit and have such delusions of grandeur that they will hear people clamoring them to run and believe in it. I don’t know if Bachmann will challenge Al Franken for Senate but there is minimal chance she stays on the sidelines for the rest of her life.
That being said, today is not a bad day even if it comes at the expense of no way gaining a seat.
