by T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol reporter

Even though sales of her action figure trail that of Sarah Palin’s, Sixth District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann nonetheless has broken through.

A “Smart Politics” late summer analysis of Bachmann’s media appearances showed the second-term Republican congresswoman appearing on national cable television every nine days. Bachmann outshines the state’s congressional delegation in terms of fund raising, and just secured another peg hold on national celebrity through a favorable review by national conservative columnist George Will.

Sixth District Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, has become one of the new faces of the Republican Party nationally. She's almost regular on national cable television and  Googling her name reveals an astonishing number of items — many more than longer serving members of Congress produce. Now in her second term, Bachmann is pictured at a  health care forum she sponsored this summer in Lake Elmo.  (Photo by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)

A quick Google check of her name showed Bachmann tallying 1.2 million items.

There’s talk of a presidential run, though the congresswoman pooh-poohs the idea.

Says she’s not eyeing presidency

“Goodness, I’ve only been in the House for three years, so, no, I’m not considering anything like that,” she was recently quoted telling the Sioux City Journal.

“It’s very impressive — nothing short of spectacular,” said Tom Horner, co-founder and principal of Himle Horner, a public relations firm and a former staffer for former Republican U.S. senator David Durenberger, of Bachmann’s ascent.

“I believe there has been a very conscious strategy by Congresswoman Bachmann to take advantage of an opening,” he said.

The opening maybe a national shortage of new faces and voices for the Republican Party.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, like Bachmann another Minnesota Republican casting a long shadow, has complained about the party having a stagnant national image.

Too often the faces seen are those of angry men, the governor has said.

Fresh spokespeople needed, Weber says

Former Minnesota Republican congressman Vin Weber, a Washington insider, agreed that the party needed fresh spokespeople. “We’re very anxious to have women and minorities speaking on behalf of the Republican Party,” he said.

“And she (Bachmann) is highly visible — there’s no question about that,” said Weber.

Weber views Bachmann as still building her reputation in Washington.

A lot of people noticed, he said, that Bachmann won re-election in a Democratic year last year.

There are different pathways to influence in Washington, visibility being one of them, Weber explained.

He credits the late Republican congressman Jack Kemp through his visibility and outspokenness on taxes of greatly influencing Reagan Administration tax cuts.

“(But) that also comes with some risk,” Weber said of visibility, “because you can make a target of yourself.”

It can chaff others in Congress

Beyond this, it can chaff other members of Congress,  former Democratic congressman Tim Penny explained. “It’s not that some members wish they were the ones in the news,” said Penny. “It’s more of a negative impression created with colleagues who view you as being a little too media hungry,” he said.

But the political reaction against Bachmann stemming from her soaring visibility serves to solidify and strengthen her base of support, some believe.

Former Republican state senator Sean Nienow of Cambridge, who worked for a year as Bachmann’s district director after she first entered Congress, sees a self-generating political dynamic at work.

The congresswoman, Nienow explained, often talks about how Democrats are out to get her.

“I’m one of the top targets for elimination by Speaker (Nancy) Pelosi. Because of that, I have to work that much harder on fund raising,” Bachmann told the Iowa newspaper.

She says the same thing in speeches to conservative groups.

In doing this, Bachmann in essence is telling conservatives that she is doing a good job, Nienow explained.

Otherwise, why is she drawing so much Democratic attention?

Lucrative fund-raising tool

“It feeds on itself,” said Nienow, noting how the dynamic has proven a lucrative fund-raising tool for Bachmann.

He views his old boss as skillful.

Bachmann is also pictured as as state senator campaigning in her first run for Congress in 2006. (Photo by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)

“Yes, but not completely yes,” Nienow replied when asked if surprised by Bachmann’s national recognition.

Bachmann has a sharp eye for spotting budding issues, Nienow explained.

Long before national attention was focused on the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the congresswoman was vocal in her opposition to the group, he said.

Although Democrats accuse Bachmann of actually having accomplished little in her years in the state senate and Congress, Nienow disagrees.

Profile of Learning opponent

“Probably but/for Michele Bachmann that wouldn’t have happened,” he said of the repeal of the show-me-what-you-know Profile of Learning in Minnesota.

Democrats, too, had misgivings about the Profile when Bachmann crusaded against it early in her state senate career.

But Nienow argued it took Bachmann to push it over.

Sen. Ray Vandeveer, R-Forest Lake, who won Bachmann’s old state senate district, is not surprised by the congresswoman’s climb, he said. “I think it’s message,” Vandeveer said. Bachmann is willing to take on controversial issues and has a gift for translating them into language understandable to the average person, Vandeveer explained.

And Bachmann is reliable.

“There’s no surprises here,” said Vandeveer, saying the congresswoman has shown consistency on the issues. He believes she’ll be re-elected.

Bachmann is intrenched

Weber sees Bachmann as intrenched. “Michele has a real hold on her constituency,” he said.

She has one of the most dedicated, motivated constituencies of anybody he knows in Congress, said Weber.

Vandeveer, in talking to Bachmann, doesn’t sense the congresswoman is currently looking for a larger political arena.

“I think she likes it there,” he said of serving in Congress.

Penny views Bachmann, 53,  as a fairly typical 6th District Republican. It’s possible to be both conservative and effective in Congress, he explained, pointing to the late Illinois congressman Henry Hyde as an example.

“I don’t think she’s in that category,” said Penny. “At least not in this stage of her career,” said Penny.

Horner, who views Bachmann as a “very savvy politician,” sees her as representing a very conservative, narrow band within the Republican Party — representing some views he personally disagrees with.

Still, Horner sees Bachmann’s future as full of possibilities. “I wouldn’t rule out a role for her on a national ticket,” he said.

DFL spin on Bachmann

Asked if 6th District DFLers were uneasy about Bachmann’s national attention, District Chairwoman Nancy Schumacher offered a quick reply.

“If by uneasy you mean are we embarrassed by the national attention, the answer is ‘Yes,’” she said in e-mail.

“In my state-wide travels, I can’t begin to tell you how many times people have said, you live in the 6th CD? What is wrong with you electing that woman?” Schumacher wrote.

Bachmann’s “rants” generate campaign contributions for Democrats, Schumacher wrote.

As for the Bachmann action figure and conservative women’s calendar, that belongs in the entertainment business, not the business of running state and country, said Schumacher.