Sep 27, 2008 9:14 am US/Central
Palin Parallels Put Minn.'s Bachmann In Demand
ST. PAUL (AP) ―
She's a mother of five from a state known for its pristine wilderness and she's just starting to make her mark on the national scene.
No, not Sarah Palin -- it's Michele Bachmann, Minnesota's most conservative member of Congress.
Bachmann's profile was already rising when John McCain picked someone a lot like her as his running mate. Once Palin, Alaska's governor, joined the GOP ticket, Bachmann was suddenly in demand, too.
"So how do you feel about pro-life mothers of five?" Bachmann asked as she warmed up a roaring crowd at a McCain-Palin rally in her district last week.
The similarities between Palin, 44, and Bachmann, 52, a first-termer from a sprawling district northwest of the Twin Cities, don't end there. Both are Christian conservatives who got into politics close to home -- Palin as a hockey mom, Bachmann working to start a charter school. Both support drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which Bachmann calls "the most perfect place on the planet to drill."
The two shared dinner and swapped family stories when Bachmann visited Fairbanks, Alaska, on an energy tour with House Republicans in July.
This month, Bachmann has been appearing on national TV talk shows about every other day. She is sometimes asked to give perspective on Palin's situation by explaining how she juggled motherhood and politics. On top of raising her own children, Bachmann has also parented 23 foster children.
"We both share a lot of the same values," Bachmann said in an interview on Tuesday. "And neither one of us came from a Washington background."
Bachmann has come a long way since making her first impression in Washington -- by hanging onto President George W. Bush's shoulder after his 2007 State of the Union speech for nearly 30 seconds, until he leaned in for a kiss.
With less than two years in Congress, she has become one of the Republicans' most persistent advocates for domestic oil drilling. And her spot on the House Financial Services Committee puts her in the thick of debate over the $700 billion bailout for the financial services industry.
As a state senator, Bachmann made her name trying to ban gay marriage by constitutional amendment, an effort that ultimately failed.
As Bachmann runs for re-election in Minnesota's 6th District, she runs the risk of turning off independent voters if she says something they don't like on national TV, said University of Minnesota political scientist Kathryn Pearson.
"It gives her opponent potential ammunition to use against her with swing voters," Pearson said.
Bachmann beat Democrat Patty Wetterling two years ago by eight points. This year, her main opponent is Elwyn Tinklenberg, a former state transportation chief who has the endorsement of both the Democratic and Independence parties. The latter carries some weight in a district that backed former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura for governor a decade ago.
Even as Palin takes knocks for minimal contact with the media, Tinklenberg has criticized Bachmann for missing some local events as she builds her national profile. He said it makes it easier to run against her in a district that wraps around the northern half of the Twin Cities and stretches west past St. Cloud. He has been spending his time knocking on doors and visiting football games and union events.
"She's so busy being popular that she doesn't really have time for the people of the 6th District," Tinklenberg said.
Bachmann said the talk shows have been calling because she is a mother of five in Washington -- "a hot political commodity," she said. She said campaigning comes second to doing her job in Congress.
"What I've been hearing from the people of my district is they want me to be here," Bachmann said from Washington.
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