The New York Times is reporting that Michele Bachmann will not seek reelection next year.
In her congressional race last year, Mrs. Bachmann won re-election by just 4,200 votes out of 356,000 votes cast, beating the hotelier Jim Graves, who was greatly outspent. Mr. Graves recently announced that he would seek the seat again.
“My decision was not in any way influenced by any concerns about my being re-elected to Congress,” she said. “If I ran I would again defeat the individual who I defeated last year.”
That the people of Minnesota’s 6th Congresionial District reelected Bachmann last year after having had the opportunity to witness her complete freakshow of a presidential campaign is a testimony to their idiocy. Bachmann’s retirement will make it harder to win this seat, not easier.
Still, I suppose the demise of Bachmann’s career is a good thing. She is a charlatan and, apparently, a crook, and we need fewer of those things in Congress. The Senate has already been infiltrated by teabaggers like Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul, and they are in the process of turning the upper chamber into a parody of a deliberaive body. I am relieved that Rep. Steve King isn’t running for Tom Harkin’s seat. I am hopeful that whichever lunatic wins the Republican nomination for senate in Georgia will prove too insane for the Georgia general electorate. With any luck, we may be able to look back and see the highwater mark for crazy in the rearview mirror.
