Editor’s note: MnIndy published this piece on Monday, and we’re foregrounding it again now in light of Palin’s VP nod today.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann: a real meeting of the minds

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann: a meeting of the, uh, minds.

Michele Bachmann will be a featured guest at the “The Life of the Party Party,” a reception honoring Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during next week’s Republican National Convention. The event is sponsored by anti-feminist and Bachmann financier Phyllis Schlafly and the Republican National Coalition for Life.

Bachmann will be joined by two of her other pals from the religious right— prominent anti-gay crusader Gary Bauer and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. The Palin soiree is September 2 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown St. Paul. Tickets are $95.
Governor Palin has been considered a rising star in the Republican Party. However, a recently developing political scandal could tarnish her political future. She’s been accused of pressuring the state’s public safety commissioner to fire a state trooper who was involved in a messy divorce with Palin’s sister, and then firing the public safety commissioner when he refused to fire the trooper. A legislative investigation has been launched to look into the matter.

Perkins, who was a featured speaker at one of Bachmann’s anti-gay rallies on the state capitol steps in 2005, has been linked= to the white supremacist group Council of Concerned Citizens and former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke.

Like Bachmann, Gary Bauer has made a career out of bashing public education and gays and trying to inject religion into every avenue of public life. He ran for president in 2000 but like so many other moralists on the Christian right, was dogged by rumors of infidelity.

Schlafly, the event’s co-sponsor, has been a heavy contributor to Bachmann’s campaigns through her Eagle Forum PAC–$13,500 since 2005.

The Republican National Coalition for Life gave Bachmann $5,000 in her 2006 campaign.

Minnesota Independent has more on Schlafly, Perkins and Bauer here.

Although Bachmann’s name doesn’t appear on the event’s web page, an RNC delegate from Washington enthusiastically noted it in her blog this month.

Bachmann will also address the RNC September 1, the same day Bush and Cheney take to the podium, and plans to visit the Minnesota State Fair during the convention with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. And in keeping with her perfect record of avoiding public meetings in the 6th congressional district that she represents, Bachmann is hosting a reception for members of Congress at an undisclosed location in the district.

Karl Bremer can be reached at saintcroix@aol.com