Michele's Mojo

Even though she’s in the Republican minority and a mere first-termer among 435 House members, it should come as no surprise that Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, 52, persuasive, passionate, tough, is intent on making her voice heard.

“I’m an eternal optimist. I feel like I’ve been able to make a difference,” she says of her first 18 months in Congress.

She drew national attention speaking out against earmarks by Congress members. Saying the earmark system has been abused, she announced that she will not request money for any “pet project” for the 6th District this year, stunning local officials in Minnesota who rely on federal aid.

Her first year and a half in office has been marked by many such controversies. Bachmann is an unwavering fighter for her deep conservative beliefs, armed with a Michele mojo and the muscle of a loyal, mighty fortress-like conservative base, one not always in sync with her Republican Party.

“She is behaving as you would expect, voting with the president almost all the time, very conservative on social and economic issues,” says Steve Frank, political science professor at St. Cloud State University. “That is what she campaigned on … what she said she would do.”

Bachmann faced a major crisis in mid-March when the 49-year-old DeSoto Bridge, which goes over the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, the largest city in her district, was closed because of warped gusset plates. Replacement would cost an estimated $30 million to $35 million and require federal funds; she was on the spot with her rejection of earmarks.

Under fire for not seeking quick earmark money for the DeSoto Bridge, Bachmann assigned an aide to obtain federal money for “deserving” projects, on a new “fast track” process based on merit. Bachmann said, “That is the highest-priority project … St. Cloud is the largest city in my district, and it is the No. 1 most-used bridge. It qualifies as a meritorious project. So I want to make sure we actually get that bridge built and get the funding for it.” She added, however, “I can’t guarantee it. I’m in the minority. I’m a freshman. But we are going to make all efforts to make sure that we get that bridge, rather than relying on cronyism.” It was a defining moment for the tenacious Bachmann. But Gov. Pawlenty stepped in, showing up in St. Cloud with much fanfare, looking like a rescuer and setting the stage for an announcement the next day of a Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) expedited plan to replace the bridge. MnDOT will build a new $35.3 million bridge without federal funds, using state money from a bridge fund in a just-passed transportation/gas-tax increase bill, according to MnDOT assistant district engineer Jim Povich and St. Cloud mayor Dave Kleis.

At the same time, she was confronted with other brush fires. The West Sherburne Tribune quoted her telling county Republicans that any human connection to global warming is “voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.” Bachmann detractors went into a feeding frenzy. Bachmann explained she made that remark “tongue in cheek,” and said, “I am not disputing climate change, whether or not it is a threat. What I am not convinced of is whether or not human activity is the cause of global climate change.” Her introduction of a “Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act” to repeal the phase-out of conventional incandescent light bulbs in favor of more efficient compact fluorescent bulbs brought national headlines. Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury and are a health risk, Bachmann says. “I think the light bulb law is a symbol of going too far. Everybody should have freedom to choose what light bulb you want to buy,” she says. “Bachmann is pro-choice on light bulbs” topped a page 1 Star Tribune story. Pundits joked.

The earmark brouhaha and the side issues had put Bachmann on the defensive, hurting her opportunity to show and get credit for leadership in resolving the bridge problem.

There have been other thorny times, such as when Bachmann held onto President Bush for an awkwardly lengthy amount of time in front of national TV cameras after his 2007 State of the Union address; a shakeup in staff; her claim, which she later said was misconstrued, of a secret plan to give Iran half of Iraq for a terrorist safe-haven zone.

Tom Prichard, president of the Minnesota Family Council, a Bachmann friend and ally, says, “She’s a wonderful woman. Very compassionate. Her [evangelical Lutheran] faith is important to her. She shares the values of a majority of people in her district.” But she’s been “demonized,” he says, “because she’s not afraid to stand up and say what needs to be said.”

In her first year in Congress she raised $1.187 million for her re-election campaign, much of it from businesspeople in the Twin Cities area and outside the state, outpacing her Minnesota House colleagues, leaving DFL challengers trailing in the money race. That does not bode well for powerful, organized labor unions backing her current opponent, DFLer Elwyn Tinklenberg.

She has a well-organized, visible presence in the six-county, east-central Minnesota 6th District, with offices in Woodbury and Waite Park, and a mobile office. She named her close friend Julie Quist, a longtime social conservative leader in the state, as district manager, solidifying her conservative base.

In Washington she has a small apartment across the street from her office in the Cannon House Office Building. She goes on morning walks, changing her signature high-heeled slides (she found one pair for $5 at a Famous Footwear closeout) for sneakers to stride around the Mall. There’s little time for socializing in her schedule. She flies home to Stillwater on Friday nights, meets with constituents around the district on weekends, returns on Monday mornings. She has a son in medical school, a son in college, three daughters of high school age—one just graduated, two still attending. As if that weren’t enough, Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, are also foster parents to 23 children in addition to their own five. She testified before the Ways and Means Committee on a bill to provide tuition scholarships and other educational aids for children in foster care. “They were very, very favorable,” she says. “I am hopeful it might be included in reform legislation that will be coming up with children. You never know until it’s across the finish line.” She also introduced a bill to require that family services funds be used for counseling to pregnant women to choose childbirth instead of abortion.

The biggest surprise so far of her life in Congress? “I thought members of Congress, naively, were boozing, skirt-chasing slackers. I got to Congress and found out members on both sides of the aisle are very dedicated, hard-working, intelligent, accomplished people, who work longer hours than anyone can imagine and care passionately about issues. We certainly disagree on issues, and we let those disagreements be known on the floor of the House, but we are friends.”

Her mentors include Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, head of the Republican Study Committee, and Minnesota Republican congressman John Kline. She calls Democrat Reps. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, and fellow freshman Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, very good friends. Former Congressman Mark Kennedy, now with Accenture Limited in Minneapolis, a global business consulting firm, is a supporter and adviser, she says. “As a new member, so much is about relationships and people you know. I spend a lot of time trying to get to know people across the aisle. I grew up as a Democrat, became Republican when in college. So I am not afraid of people across the aisle.”

In Congress, she keeps a low profile on her opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion, and is out front on fiscal issues. The first measure she introduced, with bipartisan co-sponsors, was her Health Care Freedom of Choice Act, which would allow taxpayers full deductibility for medical expenses, whether employer-paid or self-paid. “I was grateful the president referred to that concept in his State of the Union speech. Secretary of Treasury [Henry] Paulson has been speaking about that quite a bit as well.”

Although her bills have about as much chance in the Democrat-controlled Congress as Washington cherry trees blossoming in December, Bachmann has introduced or co-sponsored measures for reforming the income tax system, repealing the inheritance tax, making President Bush’s tax cuts permanent and reducing capital gains taxes. The National Taxpayers Association praises her as “a true taxpayer’s friend who will courageously fight for lower taxes.”

She’s specific about her goals for a second term if she is returned to Washington. “To make sure we can shore up Medicare and Social Security. We know this huge [deficit] bill is going to come due that could literally bankrupt the country. We have to keep a balance, so we are maintaining promises made to the country, but we can’t bankrupt the children either.” Bachmann has no desire to go outside the public sphere to make the systems solvent. “No, I don’t favor privatization of Social Security.” Nor does she like the idea of massive tax increases or massive spending cuts. “We need to have a full floor debate about a funding mechanism for Social Security and Medicare. At the same time, I want to simplify the tax code because it is so difficult that average Americans, certainly small businesses, have a very hard time even filing.”

Her voting record is lengthy with “No” votes against Democrat bills she says are too expensive, notably the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction bill, co-sponsored by fellow Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad, which requires equal health insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses.

The political arm of the Children’s Defense Fund named her, along with 2nd District Congressman Kline, as the “worst for children” in the Minnesota delegation, listing votes against increasing funding for early-childhood education and expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), vetoed by President Bush. Her vote against CHIP was “almost incomprehensible,” says Rick Varco, political director at Health Care Minnesota, Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Minnesota SEIU, a 28,000-member union with 3,700 members in the 6th District, spent $150,000 on “issue advocacy” against her in the 2006 election, and is going after her again this year.

Kline often is with Bachmann on opposition votes. “She is casting principled votes,” he says. “She is voting against huge tax increases. I would argue, and she will, that a ‘No’ vote is the right vote for our constituents.”

Bachmann made two trips to the Middle East and Iraq last year, and is a staunch defender of the president’s stay-the-course stand on Iraq.

“We must stand strong in our resolve to fight and win the war on terror,” she said during a House floor debate, saying that “victory in Iraq transcends politics.”

Opponents are taking aim at her backing of the lame-duck, unpopular president. “Michele Bachmann has made it clear that her priorities are supporting the president, not delivering for working families in Minnesota,” says Varco.

Bachmann denies she’s a rubber stamp: “I have a great deal of respect for the president, but on policy issues we part ways strongly.” She points to the Energy Act, which she voted against, although President Bush hailed it as a major step toward reducing U.S. dependence on oil; his No Child Left Behind law, which Bachmann, a strong supporter of local control of education, wants to overhaul; his immigration stand, which she says leans too much toward amnesty and not enough toward sealing borders.

She’s a favorite target of cyberspace critics, who call her actions in the past year outrageous. But pro-Bachmann watchers warn not to underestimate her.

“I’m a reformer,” she says. “I didn’t go to Congress to continue the way that business is done. I’m trying to reform that system.”