Photo: Paul Demko, MnIndy

Senate Democrats are salivating at the prospect of attacking Republicans in 2010 who voted against an anti-rape amendment sponsored by Al Franken, reports Politico. The provision, which was supported by 68 senators, would prevent the Department of Defense from contracting with companies that prohibit employees from suing over workplace disputes — including complaints of sexual assault.

The amendment was inspired by the story of a 19-year-old KBR employee who was gang-raped by co-workers while detailed to Iraq. Upon returning to the U.S., she learned that she was unable to sue the company because of a clause in her contract. Thirty Republicans voted against the measure, often coming up with rather tortured explanations for their votes.

“I think anyone who voted against that has some tough explaining to do,” New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, told Politico. “And I think particularly some incumbents already in a challenged position — it can be very detrimental to them because women voters are going to look at that and wonder, ‘Does this senator stand on my side?’”

But Politico posits that the amendment could also prove politically problematic for Franken as he attempts to complete the transition from liberal pitbull to respected legislator.

“Franken’s amendment may make sense for national Democrats in laying down lines of attack heading into the 2010 campaign — but this is not what Franken needs to build a base in Minnesota,” Larry Jacobs, of the University of Minnesota, told Politico. “Being a poster boy of a hard-hitting campaign against the Republican Party is the opposite of what he needs in Minnesota.”

Boehner and Cantor were writing to disgruntled Republican blogger Andy Aplikowski, a resident of Bachmann’s district, who had taken the two to task for the Politico article.

“Sources say,” Politico wrote, “they have been especially wary of the possible damage inflicted on the party’s reputation by bomb-throwing Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), who last fall called for an investigation into whether members of Congress are ‘pro-America or anti-America.’”

Boehner and Cantor strongly disagreed with Politico’s characterization. “We wanted to respond to your letter to us last week and to assure you that regardless of what inside-the-beltway media writes or what unnamed “sources” it quotes, we are proud to serve with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann,” they wrote.

But shortly after posting it to the House Minority Leader website…

…the letter disappeared:

But Aplikowski has the whole exchange on his blog.

Here’s the full text of Boehner’s and Cantor’s letter:

Dear Andy,

We wanted to respond to your letter to us last week and to assure you that regardless of what inside-the-beltway media writes or what unnamed “sources” it quotes, we are proud to serve with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

She has been a consistent and strong voice for the American taxpayer in Washington from the day she took office. And, despite the taunts and insults that the media elites and liberals hurl at her, she never wavers in her commitment to fiscal responsibility.

Republicans in Congress – buoyed by the American people who have risen up against the Democrat tide in Washington – are fighting against bad policies. Their health care prescription is bad policy. Their cap and trade national energy tax is bad policy. Their tax-and-spend agenda is bad policy. We’re strong in our opposition and vibrant in the alternatives we offer.

Republicans have real solutions. And, that includes Congresswoman Bachmann, who has introduced positive solutions for health care reform, budget reform, energy independence, and more. We’re the Party of real hope and change.

When the other side can’t come up with arguments to defend their policies, they turn to personal attacks against their detractors. Congresswoman Bachmann stands shoulder to shoulder with her constituents and that really seems to irk some on the left. We fully expect that despite the best attempts of the media and the liberals, Michelle will continue to be a strong voice for freedom, smaller government, and better solutions.

Sincerely,
John Boehner
Republican Leader

Eric Cantor
Republican Whip

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.”

The flap erupted following Peterson’s comments to Politico regarding conspiracy theorists in his district.

“Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and [then-Defense Secretary Donald] Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the twin towers down,” he told the online news organization. “That’s why I don’t do town meetings.”

The GOP is also vowing to run a credible candidate against Peterson in 2010. Last year Peterson, who chairs the House Agriculture Committee, won re-election over GOP challenger Glen Menze by a 72-28-percent margin. By contrast, Seventh District voters narrowly preferred John McCain over Barack Obama.

“Peterson was out of touch long before he insulted the voters of the Seventh District by saying 25 percent of them were conspiracy theorists,” said Michael Brodkorb, deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP, in a statement announcing the ad campaign.

Peterson has apologized for his remarks. The DFL released a statement of support today for the 10-term congressman and criticized the GOP for its attacks.

“Their salvo against Representative Peterson is just the latest in a string of spurious attacks against out elected officials that show the Republican Party grasping at straws to score political points instead of working together to tackle our biggest problems,” said DFL chair Brian Melendez, in the statement. “Maybe someday, instead of attacking the elected leaders who are actually working to solve those problems, the Republicans will start working for Minnesotans too.”

Here’s the GOP ad:

WORD ON THE STREET: The next RNC chairman will be Norm Coleman, after he loses his recount fight and big donors see Michael Steele’s March numbers.

Of course we’ve heard this rumor before.

This morning in the Pioneer Press, Dave Orrick contrasts Coleman’s statement that the Jan. 28 breach was an “attack on this campaign” with quotes from Web and banking experts who blame the campaign. Banking security professional Kelly McShane, who sent $100 Coleman’s way, called the breach “so irresponsible that I can’t believe it.” (Contacted by MnIndy’s Chris Steller yesterday, McShane said she felt “extreme anger” at having her personal data revealed by the campaign.) Eric Schultze, chief technology officer for Roseville’s Shavlik Technologies, faulted the campaign for not encrypting the credit card numbers, adding that credit industry standards dictate that credit card information never be on the same server as a Web site. He called the failure to encrypt card info “a big ‘oops’ on the part of the Web site administrator … I’d be surprised if that person still had a job.”

MPR’s Mark Zdechlik interviewed Adria Richards, an IT professional who weighed in at MnIndy on the security flaws she found back in January, who said she didn’t hack into the site. She echoed Schultze’s sentiments about the error of storing sensitive data on the web server: “It’s like putting your filing cabinet outside of your house.“

Cornyn also told Politico that Coleman has repeatedly brought up the possibility that the state will hold a re-vote. The former Minnesota senator has mentioned a do-over election at “different times,” the Texas senator said. Legal experts call a re-do one of the most distant of possible scenarios for resolving the Senate-seat snarl.

The absence from the U.S. Senate of Democrat Al Franken — who was determined to be the winner by 225 votes of a statewide recount that’s been contested by Coleman in a St. Paul courtroom for the last month and a half — was felt most sharply last week as Senate Democrats struggled on votes to pass the omnibus federal spending bill.

I proudly stand in support of Senator Norm Coleman’s pursuit to see that Minnesota’s voters are enfranchised by having their ballots counted. If voters do not have confidence in elections, then they will not have confidence in their elected leaders. That is why the judges’ review of thousands of additional ballots in Minnesota is critical to the democratic process. The Republican National Committee remains committed to Norm Coleman’s campaign and confident that when the recount contest is complete, he will be re-elected to the U.S. Senate.

And here are some excerpts from Politico’s report on Coleman’s finances:

Coleman’s efforts to make ends meet on a public servant’s salary were a persistent theme throughout his 2008 reelection campaign — and burned him politically time and again. …

Under the right circumstances, that argument might have provided Coleman with a populist edge and, indeed, during his reelection campaign last year, Coleman argued he was more in tune with working Minnesotans than his highly polarizing Democratic opponent, former comedian Al Franken. …

But the steady drip of stories about Coleman’s own finances, many of them appearing at the most inopportune times, may have had a more lasting impact on the race than the short burst of negative publicity that accompanied Franken’s admission [of failure to properly pay taxes]. …

“I’m not quite sure why, but there’s been a lot more scrutiny of Norm’s finances than any other politician I can think of in Minnesota. At least more than any other politician who hasn’t done anything wrong — or at least, we don’t think he’s done anything wrong,” said Coleman friend Vin Weber, himself a former Minnesota congressman. …

According to an analysis of members’ personal financial statements by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, at least 26 members of the Senate were less wealthy than Coleman in 2007.

Last week I noted how the 180-turn that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has apparently taken in her opinion of President-elect Barack Obama landed her on the front page of the New York Times. In a story headlined, “Harsh words about Obama? Never mind now,“ the Times made Bachmann the leading example among Republicans who, post-election, turned on a dime in their public attitudes toward the president-elect. Bachmann’s evolution, evident in a post-election interview with Politico, came after her infamous “anti-American” remarks on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” a tepid Obama mention on Election Night and more inflammatory remarks about him on radio the next day.

I also noted an error in the Times account: The article had Bachmann telling Politico she was “extremely grateful” for Obama’s win on Nov. 5 when Politico had clearly stated her comments came on Nov. 6. Now the Times has corrected the original story online and owned up to the error:

Because of an editing error, a Washington Memo article last Sunday about some Republicans who spoke more kindly of Barack Obama after he was elected reversed, in some editions, the dates on which Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska commented on Mr. Obama. It was on Nov. 6 that Ms. Bachmann said she was “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year.” And it was on Nov. 5 that Ms. Palin said, “God bless Barack Obama and his beautiful family.”

So now we know the rest of the story. It was the Times getting goofed up by the election season welter of Bachmannisms and Palinisms that forced the error. The Palin-Bachmann axis was quickly recognized in Minnesota but apparently is still enough of an unknown beyond our state’s borders that it can wreak havoc on the national stage.

Bachmann’s conversion earns pride of place because it’s the sharpest and most succinct. Her take on the Democratic president-elect evolved from being “very concerned that he may have anti-American views” on Oct. 17 to “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year” on Thursday. Only two days after the election, Bachmann was already casting herself in a new role among his cheering throngs: Obama’s victory is “a tremendous signal that we have sent,” she told Politico.

But the political calculation required for a reversal of Bachmann’s verdict on Obama wasn’t in evidence on Election Night, a review of video from the vaults of the Minnesota Independent and The UpTake indicates. The only thing she had to say about Obama came in the first line of her victory speech, about her Democratic challenger’s dashed desire to serve with him:

I just had a phone call with my opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, and he graciously wished me well and said he wished he could be in Washington, D.C., working with the president-elect.

Bachmann’s was an opinion that changed, but not immediately on Election Night and not overnight either. (The Times article erroneously date-stamps her Politico statements as being made on Nov. 5.)

There was, however, a clue on Oct. 16, the day before Bachmann’s “anti-American” accusations. Bachmann made this statement to reporters after a candidate debate, when her re-election was still considered a waltz: “If the presidency would somehow go to Barack Obama, I would welcome him to the 6th District as well. As a matter of fact, I would put my hand on his shoulder and give him a kiss if he wanted to.” As if she’s an actor in her own play, Bachmann delivers a line that both foreshadows her post-election conversion to Obama’s side and harkens back to the death-grip smooch she gave President George W. Bush at his State of the Union address in 2007 — when she first made her inimitable presence felt on the national stage.

UPDATE: Commenter Karl below provides a link to Bachmann’s Nov. 5 appearance on conservative radio host Mark Levin’s syndicated program. The audio offers insight into her thinking on the day between Election Night and her Politico interview. Here it is: