Minnesota Independent: Reed/Clark Campaigns Highlight Michele Bachmann's Out of District Travels

Minnesota Independent:

By Andy Birkey 2/26/10 12:41 PM Digg Tweet
Tarryl Clark, Maureen Reed

Clark, Reed

Democratic House candidates Dr. Maureen Reed and Sen. Tarryl Clark criticized U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann on Friday for her ambitious national speaking schedule. Both have created maps of Bachmann’s recent travels.

Reed’s map, called “Where’s Michele? Missing in Minnesota and Washington, D.C.,” tracks Bachmann’s national appearances, criticizes certain votes, and makes note of Bachmann high number of missed votes.

Reed’s communications director, Trevor Willett, said the campaign is “trying to spread, in a creative way, the message that Michele is not delivering for the people of the 6th CD, but also not doing the job in DC — missing 11% of votes this session.”

Clark’s map, titled “Where in the World is Michele Bachmann?,” which offers a comprehensive list of appearances around the country that Bachmann has made since Clark announced her campaign in 2009.

“It’s clear Congresswoman Bachmann’s priorities are chasing her national celebrity and pursuing her personal agenda – and those priorities come at the expense of her district,” Clark’s campaign manager, Zach Rodvold, said in a statement Friday. “While she appears on countless national talk shows and conservative conventions, a local reporter stumps her by asking her to name just three things she’s done for her district. Her constituents deserve better.”

That was a reference to a Feb. 14 interview with the St. Cloud Times’ Dave Aeikens in which the sophomore representative explained her lack of legislative success: “I am in the deep minority in Congress and a fairly new freshman, so I don’t have substantive bills that I have passed. I would love to.”