Michele Bachmann is running for reelection to her seat in Congress and she’s telling a whopper of a lie to get her credulous followers to send money. She’s claiming that a bunch of evil liberal judges redrew her district to kill her chances of winning in November. FactCheck calls that a “whopper.” Here’s her claim in fundraising letters:
A major development has just occurred in my race for the U.S. House of Representatives and I’m asking for your immediate help…
…You see, in retaliation for repeatedly standing up to President Obama on the national stage, liberal judges have redrawn the lines of my Minnesota Congressional District to try and wipe me off of the political map once and for all.
Their bias was so obvious they even gerrymandered my home — where my wonderful husband Marcus and I live –- entirely out of my District and placed it into one held by a six-term Democrat incumbent!
And here’s the reality:
Let’s start with the bogus claim that the new district lines were redrawn by “liberal judges.” As Mother Jones reported on May 9, the redistricting was done by a five-judge panel selected by Minnesota’s chief justice, Lorie Gildea. Gildea was elevated to chief justice by former Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty (the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote about it in an article headlined “Pawlenty’s picks keep high court tilting right“). Only two of the five judges on the panel Gildea selected were Democratic appointees. One was appointed by Gov. Jesse Ventura, who was a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota; one was appointed by Pawlenty. And one by former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson.
Contrary to Bachmann’s assertion that the development “just occurred,” the panel issued its redistricting decision on Feb. 21.
It’s true that the newly drawn plans moved Bachmann’s home in Stillwater into the 4th Congressional District. The decision to move Stillwater into the 4th District was perfectly logical, said David Wasserman, a political analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. The 4th District, which takes in St. Paul, simply had not grown as fast as the rest of the state and needed to pick up population. And the 6th District had grown so quickly, it needed to lose population, he said.
“This was not a partisan map,” Wasserman said. “Her assertions are baloney.”
Bachmann’s home now lies in the 4th District, which is considered a safe Democratic district. But Bachmann isn’t running in the 4th District. Per the U.S. Constitution, a congressional candidate doesn’t need to actually live in a district to represent it (though the candidate does have to live in the state). Immediately after the redistricting plan was unveiled, Bachmann announced she would run to retain her seat in the 6th District.
“It may be a nuisance to her that her home was carved out of the 6th District, but the 6th District actually got more Republican,” Wasserman said. “She’s even safer than she was before.”
Add it to the long list of lies she’s told while simultaneously claiming to be the God-ordained voice of morality for the rest of us.
14 comments
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raven
May 18, 2012 at 1:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Why shouldn’t she? I’m sure her target audience couldn’t care less.
Gregory in Seattle
May 18, 2012 at 1:45 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And in other news, the sun rose in the east today.
Spanish Inquisitor
May 18, 2012 at 1:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
{yawn}
I had long ago moved her onto my list of People-Who-Are-Lying-Because-Their-Lips-Are-Moving. That list has gotten sooooo long. Funny thing. Almost all of them are Republicans or Republican shills.
Larry
May 18, 2012 at 1:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
All part of the Obama-Sores plan, coming to fruition. These judges were hand picked way back in the 3rd grade and fed bribe money until they graduated law school. The feigned their political affiliations until nominated. Now, they’re letting their liberalness flag fly.
All hail the Kenyan Liberator Obama and his Financier Sores!
Ed Brayton
May 18, 2012 at 2:06 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I really hope Larry is a Poe.
slc1
May 18, 2012 at 2:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re Ed Brayton @ #5
I hope it’s not Larry Fafar*an.
Abby Normal
May 18, 2012 at 2:10 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Obama’s nefarious plan revealed, ensure Bachmann can keep on making her party look like they’re a bunch of escapees from a institution for the criminally stupid. That crafty bastard.
d cwilson
May 18, 2012 at 2:12 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
With Bachmann, it’s always hard to tell if what she says is a lie or if it is a sincerely held belief that bubbled up from her deluded brain.
doktorzoom
May 18, 2012 at 2:16 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“It’s not a lie if you believe it!”
–George Costanza
Alverant
May 18, 2012 at 2:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Well maybe she considers “liberal” to me “against her” and since the judges did something she doesn’t like they are against her ergo liberal. As for the decision being made months ago, well maybe she just found out and that’s the only day that counts in her mind.
Yeah, I know weaker than American mass produced beer. It just plays to her persecution complex.
fifthdentist
May 18, 2012 at 3:19 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I think “One L” lies because it is her default mode.
storms
May 18, 2012 at 8:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
At last the great Republican uber-strategy has been revealed!
1) Create your own media empire (Fox News, Limbaugh, etc) to completely isolate your audience from outside thought.
2) Make your party stand for myth based and revisionist crap and filter out all but the most credulous.
3) Lie to them (because they’ll now believe anything you tell them loudly and often enough) using fear to bilk them for votes and dollars.
4) Implement policy that furthers the goals of the 1% and large businesses (to keep the contributions coming in), and add the occasional “religious abridgment of freedom” law thrown in to keep the credulous coming back.
Nemo
May 18, 2012 at 8:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Districts aren’t even in the Constitution, at all.
reverendrodney
May 18, 2012 at 10:46 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This is somehow on par with Sarah Palin equating criticism as interfering with her 1st Amendment right to free speech.