DB reader Anna thinks Bachmann willl be defeated... but not by Tinklenberg:
Bachmann is done. The only thing left is for the Democrats to fight over who gets the seat, and it looks like Clark will get the prize.
The parallels with McCarthy's career are uncanny, and whoever runs against Bachmann only needs to set up a series of TV ads that place Bachmann next to McCarthy (clips of McCarthy with his "anti-American" rants followed by Bachmann with her nearly exact same rhetoric).
William Proxmire ran on a message of McCarthy as a "a disgrace to Wisconsin, to the Senate and to America." The candidates running against Bachmann have already started that same campaign.
Like Bachmann, McCarthy's speeches on the floor were delivered to an empty or near-empty chamber (we've been seeing this for a long time now with Bachmann). Her peers don't want to be seen with her. Her own Republican peers tried, unsuccessfully, to get her to back off on her census nutwhackery.
From Wiki:
"After his censure, McCarthy continued senatorial duties for another two and a half years, but his career as a major public figure had been unmistakably ruined. His colleagues in the Senate avoided him; his speeches on the Senate floor were delivered to a near-empty chamber or were received with conspicuous displays of inattention.[100] The press that had once recorded his every public statement now ignored him, and outside speaking engagements dwindled almost to nothing."
Bachmann hasn't officially been censured, but effectively has been censured in the press.
Her only platform now is extreme right media, and speaking engagements with extreme right groups. I'm not sure she'd even be welcome at the local Chamber of Commerce these days.
What do you think?
UPDATE: El Tinklenberg sent out email about the 2010 election (PiPress):
Last November I came within three points of being elected to Congress. It was a tough campaign, and early on it was hard to convince many people that I had a chance to win. I was running against an incumbent member of Congress in a district with a history of supporting Republicans. But by coming within three points, we showed we could make this a competitive race, and that I can win.
The national parties have noticed how close I came last year. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has listed this race as one of their top eight pick-up opportunities. And just last week the National Republican Congressional Committee acknowledged that Michele Bachmann is one of their most vulnerable incumbents.
I've thought a lot about the last campaign, and have sought guidance and insight from many wise and experienced people. I have learned a lot, I have become a better candidate, and I am using what I've learned to assemble a team and to run a campaign that can win next November. I will tell you more about my campaign over the next few days, but I have hired a campaign manager who's run two straight winning campaigns against incumbent Republican members of Congress, and a team of consultants who over the last two elections have helped defeat dozens of incumbent Republican members of Congress.
The Sixth District of Minnesota needs better representation in Congress. In my professional life, as a minister, as a mayor, as a leader in transportation, I've worked to bring people together and build on our common interests and foster trust and cooperation. Michele Bachmann acts in opposition to those principles, and instead seeks to divide people, to spread cynicism, and instill distrust and exploit differences and fear. I have a record of accomplishments, while she has a history of embarrassments. We need someone in Congress who will serve the people of Central Minnesota, and not a small radical fringe motivated by distrust and fear.
In the last two elections eight Democrats who had previously lost to a Republican incumbent were elected to Congress. I intend to speak with each of these eight members of Congress, to learn from them, and apply the lessons they learned with what I've learned from my last campaign. I'm determined to build a great campaign operation, to work tirelessly, and to take the fight to Michele Bachmann and never let up. I am running for Congress against Michele Bachmann, and I'm running to win.
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