Is Michele Bachmann a Lightning Rod?

On Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallas had the following exchange with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN):

WALLACE: We’ve got about a minute left. Why do you think you’re such a lightning rod both for your supporters, especially in the Tea Party movement, and for your many critics?

BACHMANN: Well, I think part of that may be because when I talk about what is happening in Washington, D.C., I use the actual statements or comments or the data that Nancy Pelosi or President Obama or Harry Reid refer to. I use their own statements on them. And usually they don’t like that very much. They don’t like to be quoted back with what they’ve said.

For the sake of argument let’s pretend she didn’t even make that really lame response to the question, and that her being reviled by the left has nothing to do with all the bizarre claims and statements she has made in the last year or so and get on to answering the question of whether or not she is a lightning rod.

For clarity the definition of a lightning rod according to Free Online Dictionary is “one that attracts and absorbs powerful, typically negative feelings and reactions, thereby diverting interest from other issues”. Think of a lightning rod as something you want to stay away from out of fear of getting yourself zapped.

I can think of a few people who are lightning rods, deservingly or not. For example, on the left Michael Moore was made out to be a lightning rod by the right in order to marginalize the effects of his wildly successful anti-Bush documentary Fareignheit 9/11. In the book “Top 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America”, a simple picture of Moore was placed as number one. As ridiculous as this right wing smear campaign against him may be, the effects of turning him into a lightning rod was very effective, forcing politicians to distance themselves from him. In an effort to paint then presidential nominee John Kerry as an over the top liberal, Bill O’Reilly even asked Kerry to justify why he had Moore in his skybox at the Democratic National Convention, as if he was hiding a wanted fugitive.

Other examples of lightning rods on the left are Bill Clinton during the 2000 presidential election. With the Monica Lewinsky scandal clearly in his rear view mirror, Al Gore was baited into distancing himself from the embattled president and in the process the accomplishments of the Clinton/Gore administration. Currently Rep. Charlie Rangal (D-NY) is a lightning rod. While the attention of the Democrats were on passing a major health care reform bill, Rangal, the chairman of the powerful tax law writing Ways and Means Committee was mired in a tax evasion scandal. As a result, he was pressured from the Democrats both on Capitol Hill and the liberal base to step down as chairman of the committee which he eventually did. And most notably on the right the most famous lightning rod was George W. Bush. Political campaigns were won or lost based on how far politicians could separate themselves from the legacy of the woefully unpopular president.

Bachmann is a favorite of the Tea Party movement, and they are being courted by the Republicans like the prettiest girl at the prom. Whenever there is a rally she’s given preferential treatment as a keynote speaker. She and Sarah Palin shared a stage at her Tea Party rally in Minneapolis. Because she is so admired by the right, it is impossible for the left to user her as a liability to turn off her base in order to gain political advantage.

So is Michele Bachmann a lightning rod? The answer is no. Polarizing maybe, but not a lightning rod.