Tarryl ClarkKnocking off U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann will take a lot of cash. The flamboyant Republican has already raised $600,000 this election cycle — more than any other members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation. That might explain why state Sen. Tarryl Clark, who’s hoping to unseat Bachmann, was in Pittsburgh last week currying favor with liberal bloggers at the Netroots Nation conference.

As Roll Call noted, there might not have been a single 6th Congressional District voter present at the gathering. But there were plenty of folks who could help pad Clark’s coffers as she wages an uphill battle against the two-term incumbent in Minnesota’s most pro-Republican district.

“I think it’s important if we’re going to win this, we’re able to play on the even playing field,” Clark told the Capitol Hill publication. “And the net roots can help do that.”

Politico’s Charles Mahtesian also caught up with Clark at the conference and solicited her views on Bachmann.

“It’s hard to go almost anyplace and not find that everybody knows who she is,” Clark told him, comparing her opponent to Sarah Palin. “She’s become a public opinion leader, though not the kind we’d like her to be.”