October 21, 2008

Bachmann (R-Crazy) May Lose Seat Due to Self-Inflicted Wound

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The nation was introduced to Michele Bachmann’s special kind of crazy last week, a fact that (surprise!) is bad for Bachmann’s electoral prospects. According to CQ Politics, her McCarthy-esque appearance on Hardball (video below) has put her in jeopardy of losing her seat, a previously unthinkable outcome in her deep red district. It helps that, because of Bachmann’s screed, her opponent El Tinklenberg has nearly doubled his fundraising for the entire race. Here’s CQ:

Tinklenberg, a former state Transportation secretary, had collected more than $810,000 between Friday night and Monday afternoon, after raising $1 million for the entire election cycle through the end of September.

“It’s hard to give a completely accurate number because the money keeps rolling in,” said Tinklenberg spokeswoman Kate Monson.

“We’re in the middle of a political earthquake here,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said on Hardball Monday evening.

CQ Politics is moving its rating of the contest from Republican Favored to Leans Republican, a more competitive category.

The DCCC plans on going on the air in the district this week, with the goal of spending $1 million in TV advertising that it hopes will unseat Bachmann. “She effectively put the race into play by herself,” says one Republican consultant. Video of her appearance is below.

MATTHEWS: So you believe that Barack Obama may have anti- American views.

BACHMANN: Absolutely. I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views. That’s what the American people are concerned about. That’s why they want to know what his answers are.

[…]

MATTHEWS: Well, he’s a United States senator from Illinois. He’s one of the people you suspect as being anti-American. How many people in the Congress of the United States do you think are anti- American? You’ve already suspected Barack Obama. Is he alone, or are there others? How many do you suspect of your colleagues as being anti-American?

BACHMANN: What I would say — what I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose 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 expose like that.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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