Female opposites clash in a Minn. House race

Tom Curry National affairs writer • Profile • E-mail

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Michele Bachmann is a secular liberal’s worst nightmare.

She’s an articulate, polished, and determined Christian conservative who sponsored a bill to ban same-sex marriage in the Minnesota state Senate -- and now she’s on the brink of winning a seat in Congress.

Standing in her way is another woman who is in almost every way Bachmann’s opposite: Democratic candidate Patty Wetterling, a former high school math teacher and an advocate for missing and exploited children.

After her son Jacob was abducted at age 11, Wetterling pushed for legislation to require sex offenders to register with police.

The Wetterling-Bachmann battle “is the hottest race in the state,” said Jason Lewis, the host of the afternoon politics show on right-wing talk radio station KTLK in Minneapolis. He said there’s more interest in this contest than in the Senate race between Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Republican Mark Kennedy.

“Bachmann has energized the base and that’s why she’s going to win,” Lewis said.

The Bachmann-Wetterling contest has drawn national attention due to the contrast between the two women’s personas and ideologies, but also because they’re fighting for the Sixth Congressional District, a place that, by its voting history, ought to stay in Republican hands.

In 2004 President Bush carried the district with a margin of nearly 55,000 votes, while Wetterling lost her race to Republican Mark Kennedy by 30,000.

Bachmann’s opponents have created a “Dump Bachmann” web site which features video of her recent speech at a church in Brooklyn Park, Minn., in which she said, “God called me to run for the United States Congress.” She said that after the Mark Foley scandal, God had “focused like a laser beam” on her campaign. The outcome of her race had implications “for defeating radical Islam” and “for the future of the family,” she told the congregation.

Asked Wednesday about those comments and whether her opponents had defined her as an extremist, Bachmann stayed strictly on message:  “What I’ve talked about from the very beginning of the campaign until today, and what I’ll talk about until Election Day is the fact that I’m all about cutting taxes…. I’ve said from the very beginning I’m a federal tax lawyer who’s going to cut your taxes. And that’s what people know about me.”

As her answer showed, Bachmann is a disciplined, and smooth politician.

In her campaign she has talked less about her effort to outlaw same-sex marriage than about her tax-cutting zeal. Even though she once opposed the North Star commuter rail project to connect the Twin Cities to the northern suburbs, she said last week, “I’m here to make it work.” She said she’s worried about its excessive costs and the $7,200-per- passenger annual operating subsidy. “We have to find a way to make this system so it’s not cost prohibitive,” she said.

At a panel discussion in St. Cloud where Rep. Tom Petri, R- Wisc., was her guest Friday, she displayed a savvy, in-your-face style.

Petri happens to be the vice chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Bachmann pressed Petri twice on her ambition to serve on the committee if she is elected. “You can make it happen,” she told Petri, with a humorous edge to her voice, drawing laughs from the crowd. “You can see I’m not shy,” she cracked, turning to Petri and adding, “so what’s your answer?”

MORE FROM POLITICS

Politics Section Front

Obama details Afghan war plan, troop increases Focus group: Obama supporters urge patience   $1 trillion war bill poses a problem for Congress Fact check: Obama overlooks some realities Tempers flare as Senate nears health vote Troops, families mixed over Afghan surge Analysis: Endgame or escalation? Or both? Afghan plan to test limits of nation-building Full text of Obama's address at West Point Democratic Congressman Tanner to retire Politics Section Front   Add Politics headlines to your news reader: