Michele Bachmann: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

With the exception of James Garfield in 1880, no member of the House of Representatives has ever been elected President of the United States. Of course, that is not stopping Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) - one of the most divisive and ineffective legislators in Washington, D.C. - from trying anyway. Can she win? Not a chance and like Representative John Yarmuth (D-Kentucky), I believe she would lose all 50 states to President Obama.

So, why is the media treating her like a legitimate presidential candidate? I will get to that in a moment. First, to understand the media's predicament, we have to look at her electability (or rather lack thereof).

This is Mrs. Bachmann's first TV ad in Iowa:

"The unifying choice that will beat Obama"? A look at Michele Bachmann's electoral history reveals that "anything but unifying" would be a much better word choice.

She is currently representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district. Its Partisan Voting Index (PVI) is R+7, which means that a generic Republican presidential candidate would be expected to receive 7 percent more votes than the national average. The same roughly applies to the Republican House candidate running in the district.

Here's a look at Mrs. Bachmann's past election results, starting with 2006 when she was first elected to the House:

2006: Michele Bachmann (R) 50.1% - Patty Wetterling (D) 42.1% (Republicans nationwide: 44.1%)

2008: Michele Bachmann (R) 46.4% - Elwyn Tinklenberg (D) 43.4% (Republicans nationwide: 42.5%)

2010: Michele Bachmann (R) 52.5% - Tarryl Clark (D) 39.8% (Republicans nationwide: 51.6%)

Considering her congressional district's R+7 PVI, she underperformed in each of her House elections. In 2008 John McCain (R-Arizona) won the presidential ballot in the district with 53.3 percent - garnering almost 7 percent more votes than Michele Bachmann.

Why did tens of thousands of Republicans not pull the lever for Mrs. Bachmann in all these elections? It is statements like these:

You think that's everything? Don't be silly!

Here are some more quotes by the one and only Michele Bachmann:

On homosexuality

"Our K-12 public school system, of which ninety per cent of all youth are in the public school system, they will be required to learn that homosexuality is normal, equal and perhaps you should try it. And that will occur immediately, that all schools will begin teaching homosexuality."

"And what a bizarre time we're in, Jan, when a judge will say to little children that you can't say the pledge of allegiance, but you must learn that homosexuality is normal and you should try it."

"Don't misunderstand. I am not here bashing people who are homosexuals, who are lesbians, who are bisexual, who are transgender. We need to have profound compassion for people who are dealing with the very real issue of sexual dysfunction in their life and sexual identity disorders."

"Normalization [of gayness] through desensitization. Very effective way to do this with a bunch of second graders is take a picture of 'The Lion King' for instance, and a teacher might say, 'Do you know that the music for this movie was written by a gay man?' The message is: 'I'm better at what I do, because I'm gay.'"

On her lesbian stepsister

"Any of you who have members of your family in the lifestyle, we have a member of our family that is. This is not funny. It's a very sad life. It's part of Satan, I think, to say that this is gay."

On same-sex marriage

"This is an earthquake issue. This will change our state forever. Because the immediate consequence, if gay marriage goes through, is that K-12 little children will be forced to learn that homosexuality is normal, natural and perhaps they should try it."

On the economy

"If we took away the minimum wage - if conceivably it was gone - we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level."

On evolution

"There are hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel Prizes, who believe in intelligent design."

And just in case you are wondering, this is how Mrs. Bachmann's husband Marcus - a clinical therapist who reportedly offers "conversion therapy" to homosexuals - thinks about them:

"We have to understand: barbarians need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. Just because someone feels it or thinks it, doesn't mean that we are supposed to go down that road. That’s what is called the sinful nature."

It should come as no surprise that The Daily Beast recently ran a story titled "Bachmann's Unrivaled Extremism". One part particularly stands out:

"Michele Bachmann says certain things that sound crazy to the general public," says Frank Schaeffer. "But to anybody raised in the environment of the evangelical right wing, what she says makes perfect sense."

Let's make no mistake: The woman representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district is not a nut job. She is merely a product of christian fundamentalism, which leads me back to the media's predicament: On the one hand, Michele Bachmann has no path to the presidency and therefore should be ignored. On the other hand, her extremism and countless gaffes make her great television. To Fox News, MSNBC, CNN or any other cable news channel, she is truly the gift that keeps on giving!

You don't believe me? Then let me end this post with last Friday's (unusually hilarious) Bachmann segment on Current's Countdown with Keith Olbermann: