Michele Bachmann Not To Run For Reelection

[H. Ross Peron]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/us/politics/michele-bachmann-wont-seek-re-election-next-year.html?ref=politics&_r=0

Bachmann Won’t Seek Re-election Next Year
By GERRY MULLANY
Published: May 29, 2013

Representative Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota Republican who made an ill-fated run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, announced Wednesday that she would not seek a fifth term in Congress next year.

Representative Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, in Washington on May 16. Ms. Bachmann announced in a video early Wednesday that she would not seek a fifth term in Congress next year.
She made the announcement just six months after being re-elected in what was her most challenging Congressional campaign since she was first elected to the House more than six years ago. Her announcement also comes as her former presidential campaign faces inquiries into its fund-raising activities.

“I have decided next year I will not seek a fifth congressional term,” she said in a video on her campaign Web site. “This decision was not impacted in any way by the recent inquiries into the activities of my former presidential campaign or my former presidential staff,” she added.

Mrs. Bachmann is known for her strong anti-abortion stance and adherence to Tea Party values but her presidential campaign was marked by frequent stumbles and her candidacy failed to catch fire in a crowded field of candidates that included Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Herman Cain, who all eventually lost to Mitt Romney.

In her congressional race last year, Mrs. Bachmann won re-election by just 4,200 votes out of 356,000 votes cast, beating the hotelier Jim Graves, who was greatly outspent. Mr. Graves recently announced that he would seek the seat again.

“My decision was not in any way influenced by any concerns about my being re-elected to Congress,” she said. “If I ran I would again defeat the individual who I defeated last year.”

Her announcement comes as the Office of Congressional Ethics looks into claims by Ms. Bachmann’s former campaign aides that she may have improperly used money raised by one of her House-affiliated political action committees to help her presidential bid in the runup to the Iowa presidential caucuses in January 2012. She came in sixth in that race, even though she campaignied heavily in the state. The defeat led her to pull out of the race the next day.

While her presidential bid initially excited Tea Party supporters, Mrs. Bachmann would later find herself upstaged by conservative opponents like Mr. Cain and Mr. Santorum, and she was prone to misstatements, including saying the vaccine against the human papillomavirus was linked to “mental retardation.”

In her video announcement, Mrs. Bachmann did not rule out returning to politics in the future.

“There is no future option or opportunity, be it directly in the political area or otherwise, that I won’t be giving serious consideration if it can help save and protect our great nation for future generations,” she said.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

[Grumpier Than Thou]

^ what he said

[Sopranos Republican]

[pbrower2a]

Good riddance to Shady Lady.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

She was fun having around for the entertainment value. 

[Middle-aged Europe]

[MODU]

She was fun having around for the entertainment value. 

She's an odd one, that's for sure.  Almost like if she were Ron Pauls long lost sister.  hahaha

[perdedor]

"It's NOT because I would have lost anyway and it's definitely NOT because I'm a shady hypocrite with a legal problem. Not at all. Not even a little..."

Whatever, sweetheart. Enjoy being the next haggard, unemployed lady "analyst" on FOX News.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

"It's NOT because I would have lost anyway and it's definitely NOT because I'm a shady hypocrite with a legal problem. Not at all. Not even a little..."

Whatever, sweetheart. Enjoy being the next haggard, unemployed lady "analyst" on FOX News.

Hardly.  The woman is well connected.  She'll pick up a job with a lobbying firm or consulting firm eventually and make millions.

[tmthforu94]

I wish her the best.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Good riddance and never come back to my government you disgusting little disease. 

[DemPGH]

Good riddance to Shady Lady.

Yup, that sums it up.

Unfortunately, Grumps is right - she will probably not go away completely. Rather, she will work behind the scenes in some capacity of official corruption - i.e., a lobbyist or possibly a spinner of propaganda.

But it will be nice to have her out of Congress.

[perdedor]

"It's NOT because I would have lost anyway and it's definitely NOT because I'm a shady hypocrite with a legal problem. Not at all. Not even a little..."

Whatever, sweetheart. Enjoy being the next haggard, unemployed lady "analyst" on FOX News.

Hardly.  The woman is well connected.  She'll pick up a job with a lobbying firm or consulting firm eventually and make millions.

Even better. The less I have to see of this woman moving forward the better.

[publicunofficial]

Even though he didn't beat her in an election, everyone should send a personal thank you letter to Jim Graves.

[BluegrassBlueVote]

I'm sure some Democrat operatives are bummed.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Mixed feelings.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Republicans are breathing a sigh of relief here.

[John Dibble]

Wonderful. However, given that she got elected in the first place we need to be wary of whomever her district will elect to replace her.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Tom Emmer will likely run.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Damn, I wish she would have ran and lost. It would have been better.

[memphis]

She votes just like every other Republican in Congress. Who cares if she says crazy things? Personality is overrated.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

She votes just like every other Republican in Congress. Who cares if she says crazy things? Personality is overrated.

Actually she's been upstaged when it comes to saying crazy things by other members of Congress.  She's just one of the very large whack pack.

[Likely Voter]

She realized that even though she is one of the most recognizable Republicans she has no future in the House leadership and it is possible she could lose her seat anyway so why bother. She sees how she can  make a lot of money joining the right wing media.

[Blue3]

Hallelujah!


Now we just need to get rid of McConnell, Perry, Cantor, Ryan, and the pro-life republican congressman who forced his mistress to get an abortion.