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Bachmann says she was trapped, words twisted
At Bachmann for Congress headquarters in Woodbury Wednesday afternoon, it was full speed ahead for busy volunteers and staffers. The campaign clock is down to 13 days and ticking, so every minute is crucial. It's much the same for the candidate herself, Sixth District Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. She shuttled from meeting to meeting throughout the day in Stillwater and other spots through the district, hoping to defend the seat she's held for two years. Her schedule is all the more hectic due to the reaction to the controversial remarks she made about Senator Barack Obama last Friday, during a live appearance on the MSNBC cable show "Hardball with Chris Matthews." "Chris Matthews did what Chris Matthews does," Rep Bachmann told KARE 11, "He's very provocative; he wanted to have a provocative show. He laid a trap; unfortunately, I walked into his trap." Matthews asked her, "So you believe that Barack Obama may have anti-American views?" She responded, "Absolutely, I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views. That's what the American people are concerned about." Wednesday she insisted that the thrust of her argument to call into question the Democratic presidential candidate's policies, in terms of taxes and spending and how those would affect Americans. "I didn't say, nor do I believe, that Barack Obama is anti-American," Rep Bachmann told KARE, "I didn't say, nor do I believe, that he's not patriotic." She continued to lay blame at the feet of the host, Matthews. "But what was twisted by Chris Matthews is what is being reported, unfortunately." She added, "So the twisting that he has done is now the news story, so now I have to counter something that is a false statement of what I said." The first-term federal lawmaker said she regrets answering Matthews with the same term he used in his question, "anti-American," but she offered no apology for her main rhetorical approach to the topic at hand. "He misappropriated my remarks, but I don't take back, nor do I regret, questioning Barack Obama's policies, because his policies of punishing tax increases and redistributing wealth are frightening for the average American." Tinklenberg's Hardball bounce Wednesday new contributions continued to roll into the campaign offers of her opponent, Democrat Elwin Tinklenberg. Since the broadcast aired a total of 23,000 individual donors from all 50 states had poured a combined $1.3 million into the challenger's effort. Minnesotans topped the list of new contributors, with 3,210 chipping as of Wednesday afternoon. During an interview on WCCO Radio 830-AM Wednesday, the former Minnesota Transportation Commissioner and long-time mayor of Blaine, quipped "It's that old line about it took me 20 years to be an overnight success." He said the new advertising he'll be able to do will help him relay the same signals he's been sending to potential supporters in other ways. "We were confident already our message about jobs and the economy was attracting voters in the 6th District," he told talk show host Jack Rice, "And this has helped boost that." The prelude to episode Bachmann has become a regular on the cable talk show circuit because of her ability to skillfully convey and argue the themes being employed by the Republican National Committee in races throughout the nation. Her Congressional staff regularly notifies the media, with news releases done in large, bold typeface announcing her next upcoming cable appearance. She has become a frequent guest on Larry King's show on CNN, as well as on FOX and Bloomberg. She had never been on "Hardball" before last Friday, and now calls appearing on that show a mistake. On that particular night host Chris Matthews was examining comments made on the campaign trail by Senator John McCain's running mate, Governor Sarah Palin, who maintained that Barack Obama had "paled around with terrorists." Robocall messages launched by the Republican Party that week also played up the theme that Obama had ties to terrorists, because he serves on foundation boards with a college professor Bill Ayers. Ayers served time for his role in the Vietnam era domestic terror group known Weather Underground, which bombed buildings around the nation. Bachmann told Matthews "Usually we associate with people who have similar ideas to us, and it seems that it calls into question what Barack Obama's true beliefs and values and thoughts are." She went on to say that both Ayers and Barack Obama's former pastor and mentor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, have "negative views" of America. "What is it that Barack Obama really believes?" she asked Matthews, saying it's a question that the news media should pursue more aggressively. Matthews apparently read between the lines, and assumed Bachmann was implying that Obama shares those "negative views" of America. Matthews then introduced the phrase "anti-American" into his line of questioning. "If you have liberal views does that mean you have anti-American views? What's the connection? I don't get the connection?," Matthews asked, "What's the connection between liberal and leftist and anti-American?" Bachmann shot back that Ayers and Wright are "over-the-top anti-American" and reminded Matthews of a comment by statement Michelle Obama made during the primary campaign which raised a ruckus. "Remember it was Michelle Obama who said she's only recently proud of her country," Bachmann said, "And so these are very anti-American views." Matthews took the ball and ran with it, leading to the key exchange. Matthews: You believe that Barack Obama may, you're suspicious because of this relationship may have anti-American views? Otherwise it's probably irrelevant to this discussion. Bachmann: Absolutely, I abso-absolutely yes. Matthews: So you believe that Barack Obama may have anti-American views? Bachmann: Absolutely, I'm very concerned that he may have anti-American views. That's what the American people are concerned about. That's why they want to know what his answers are. That's why Joe the Plumber has figured so highly in the last few days.
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