Bachmann No. 7 on Washington Independent’s ‘Best and Rightest’ list

MnIndy file photo

Rep. Michele Bachmann has made plenty of year-end lists, including many with not-so-flattering names, from Mother Jones’ “Capitol Hill’s Most Unhinged Republicans” to mnPACT’s “Top 10 Worst Political Persons in Minnesota 2009.” One tally where she’s getting props is by our sister site, the Washington Independent: Reporter David Weigel includes the Sixth District Republican in seventh place among “The Best and the Rightest: The Top 10 Conservatives of 2009.”

Weigel writes:

Omnipresent and ahead of the curve, the Minnesota congresswoman has become a 21st-century answer to Jesse Helms — a controversialist who gravitates to issues that drive liberals crazy. Sarah Palin’s Facebook post that alleged the creation of “death panels” in the health care bill was inspired by Bachmann’s floor speeches. The successful Republican drive to defund ACORN was borne from months of Bachmann’s attacks on the group. A year of liberal outrage has only furthered Bachmann’s credibility among conservatives: When the House passed a financial reform bill in December, Bachmann merely had to send out email alerts positioning it as a grave threat to freedom, and the conservative base was sold.