Michele Bachmann's Political Poison Spreading: #2

Michele Bachmann's political poison is infecting the Coleman and Kline campaigns. From the Minnesota DFL: DFL Chair Brian Melendez Condemns Republican Silence on Bachmann’s Divisiveness Silence from Coleman, Paulsen, Kline and Davis shows either complicity or lack of courage St. Paul (October 20, 2008) — Brian Melendez, chair of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, today condemned the silence of top Minnesota Republicans in the wake of divisive comments that Republican Representative Michele Bachmann (MN-06) made last Friday on “Hardball with Chris Matthews.” Melendez noted that in the 72 hours since Bachmann called for a McCarthyite investigation into “anti-America” members of Congress with whom she disagrees, Republican Senator Norm Coleman and Republican Representative John Kline (MN-02), as well as Republican candidates Erik Paulsen (MN-03, running for the seat being vacated by retiring Representative Jim Ramstad) and Brian Davis (MN-01, challenging incumbent first-term DFL Representative Tim Walz), have failed to speak up. Melendez said that their silence indicates either that they agree with Bachmann, hence undermining any claim that they might make to bipartisanship, or that they lack the courage to challenge her and the far right-wing base of the Republican Party that she represents instead of her district. Melendez said: “I won’t go to the trouble today of denouncing what Bachmann said. Nothing I can say would match the elegance and simplicity of General Collin Powell, a true American hero and statesman “But in the wake of Bachmann’s call for witch hunts, I do denounce the silence of the Republicans who are part of, or who are running to join, Minnesota’s congressional delegation. Senator Norm Coleman and Representative John Kline, along with candidates Erik Paulsen and Brian Davis, have all been shockingly silent. “Senator Coleman has based his entire reelection campaign on the claim that he works across the aisle to ‘bring people together’ and ‘get things done.’ Indeed, he has declared partisanship to be the greatest danger facing America. “But Coleman has said nothing about Bachmann’s call for McCarthyite witch hunts on his Democratic and liberal colleagues that he so often . “Coleman’s silence can only mean that despite his rhetoric, he agrees with her, or that he is afraid to call her out publicly, and thereby miff his party’s far-right base. “If the reason for Senator Coleman’s silence is that he holds the same view as Michelle Bachmann — if he too believes that colleagues of his are indeed “anti-American” and should be investigated — then Minnesotans can no longer believe the central claim of his candidacy, that he will work across the aisle to get things done. “And if his silence results from fear of the angry right, on whose votes his reelection hangs, then Minnesotans will know that if Coleman squeaks by, he will owe his reelection to the most violent and rabidly partisan elements of his own party, and will be indebted to them for the next six years. “By now, it’s too late to call on Norm Coleman to denounce Michele Bachmann. Whatever the reason for his silence, 72 hours is too long to wait to break it. The time for him to stand up, show some courage, and do the right thing has passed. It’s simply too late. “And I say the same of Bachmann’s colleague and mentor John Kline, and of their would-be colleagues Erik Paulsen and Brian Davis. Seventy-two hours is too long for voters in their districts to wait for them to denounce this shameful episode. “Erik Paulsen wants moderate voters of the Third District to forget that he and Bachmann were close ideological allies in the Minnesota Legislature, and would be so again in Congress. For this reason he is running a stealth campaign, barely addressing issues or appearing in public and choosing instead to label his opponent a ‘liar.’ “John Kline has been a mentor to Bachmann and has consistently voted with her against common-sense solutions to the mess that we’re in and for a radical right-wing agenda. Yesterday he dodged a direct question about Bachmann’s comments from his DFL challenger Steve Sarvi “And Brian Davis is already well known to inhabit the same far-right fringes of the Republican Party that Bachmann does. “But there is no excuse for their silence. “Michele Bachmann can’t unring this bell. She’s backpedaling now, claiming that Chris Matthews put words in her mouth, but she’s backpedaled before, and she said what she said. This time she’s out of do-overs. “Michele Bachmann’s divisive remarks stand by themselves as a testament to someone who has accomplished nothing in Congress except embarrass Minnesota and offend America. Now she has exposed herself as a latter-day Joseph McCarthy and as someone who lacks the temperament to serve in Congress. “And the deafening silence of those Republicans who have silently acquiesced in her comments shows us either that they share her offensive views or that they are afraid to speak out against her and the radical fringe that she speaks for. “Both options are bad for Minnesota.” After Bachmann Calls for Witch Hunts, Republicans Say … Nothing On “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” Bachmann called for investigation into which members of Congress are “pro-America” and which are “anti-America.” After Bachmann repeatedly slandered Senator Barack Obama, Matthews asked her whether she believes there are members of Congress who are anti-American. Bachmann replied: “What I would say — what I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating exposé and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or anti-America? I think people would love to see an exposé like that.” [Chicago Sun-Times, 10/18/08] Colin Powell: Bachmann’s comments helped seal his endorsement of Barack Obama. While speaking to reporters following his appearance on “Meet the Press,” Powell said, "And this business of, for example, a congressman from Minnesota who's going around saying let's examine all congressmen to see who is pro-America or not pro-America. We have got to stop this kind of nonsense and pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity. And so that really was driving me." [Politico, 10/19/08] On WCCO-TV, Bachmann attempts to take back comments in which she called Barack and Michelle Obama anti-American and called for an investigation of Members of Congress. According to the Associated Press, “Bachmann appeared on a WCCO-TV show on Sunday to say she isn't saying that Obama's views are anti-American. She says, ‘That was a misreading of what I said.’ But she says the Democratic presidential nominee's views are ‘concerning’ and deserve more media attention. She says if he's elected it will mean tax increases, socialized medicine and climate change taxes.” [AP, 10/19/08] · In February 2007, Bachmann backed away from comments in which she said there was a secret plan for Iran to portion off part of Iraq to facilitate terrorist training. According to MPR, “U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann appeared to back away Friday from comments about Iran she made to a St. Cloud Times reporter. In an interview, Bachmann said she knew of an agreement allowing Iran to carve out a portion of Iraq which would serve as a terrorist haven.” Following the interview with the Times, Bachmann’s spokeswoman released a statement “in which Bachmann said she was sorry if her comments have been misconstrued.” [MPR, 2/23/07] · In September 2008, Bachmann blamed the financial crisis on a federal program that gave home mortgage loans “on the basis of race and often on little else,” then attempted to back away from those comments. The St. Cloud Times reported that Bachmann “defended herself against reports that she had blamed the financial crisis on a federal program that gave home mortgage loans ‘on the basis of race and often on little else.’ ‘It was an unfair characterization of my remarks,’ the 6th Congressional District Republican said of a published item in Roll Call newspaper.” [St. Cloud Times, 9/27/08] Coleman Dodged Opportunity to Distance Himself from Bachmann’s Claim that Some Members of Congress Are “Anti-American” Coleman dodged addressing whether he shares Bachmann’s sentiment that some members of Congress are anti-American. In an interview with Esme Murphy on WCCO, Coleman was asked, “Congresswoman Bachmann is going to be on in just a few minutes. She said this week on a national show that she feels Senator Obama has anti-American views. Do you agree with that?” Coleman responded, “I would not label his views as anti-American. I think clearly folks can look at past relationships and make some decisions about that but in the end I have a different perspective on that. Again, I disagree… I do not think his hand would be the best hand at the tiller in these times of challenge. I think John McCain would offer greater stability and greater experience but people present different perspectives and different world views and in the end the voters will decide.” [WCCO-TV, 10/19/08] Kline Also Dodged Opportunity to Walk Away from Bachmann’s Comments At Second District debate, Kline dodged question from Sarvi about Bachmann’s comments. At a debate aired by KSTC-45 on Sunday, October 19, 2008, Second District DFL-endorsed challenger Steve Sarvi asked incumbent Republican Representative John Kline: Sarvi: “I'm concerned about the tone of a lot of the elections that have been going on. I think I'm a pretty moderate guy, but I was concerned about something your friend Michele Bachmann said yesterday. You and Michele have very similar voting records, and I understand you're some kind of mentor to her. So I want to know if you agree that we should investigate certain Democratic members of Congress for un-American activities? Do you think the millions of people that voted for them are un-American?” Kline responded: Kline: “Well, speaking of tone, I too have been pretty disappointed in the tone in many campaigns in this election, and I was disappointed to see that Mr. Sarvi introduced himself to the voters of the Second District with an ad that attacked me in a way that the Faribault Daily News says was 'politics at its worse' and the allegations he made against me were 'patently false.' So there's name-calling aplenty out there. Many of us have been concerned about what my friend and colleague John Lewis said about Senator McCain and about the racial overtones. I don't like to see any of that. I don't like to see Republicans doing it; I don't like to see Democrats doing it. And I believe that we ought to stop it.” [KSTC-45, 10/19/08, transcript available on request.]