From the Minneapolis Star Tribune (I think they ran this on the front page this weekend:)
(According to a poll conducted on October 16) Bachmann, who is waging one of the most expensive House campaigns in the nation against a political newcomer, is favored by 51 percent of likely voters in Minnesota's sprawling Sixth Congressional District, which stretches from west of St. Cloud into Woodbury. Another 45 percent would choose Graves, a St. Cloud native and owner of Graves Hospitality Corp., an expansive hotel chain. Four percent of voters are undecided.
Graves and his campaign aren't impressed by this latest poll. They have been pointing to Greenberg Quinlan polling suggesting the race is much closer. Graves support runs strongest with voters who've suffered most from the bad economy in the Sixth district: women, seniors, young people, and people making less than 40K a year.
This Strib/Pulse opinion poll also reports that feeling about Bachmann in the district is divided:
Forty-six percent of likely voters view Bachmann favorably and forty-five percent of the voters view her unfavorably.
The Strib story identifies several issues dividing voter opinion over Bachmann. One of the issues dividing voter opinion about Bachmann is the fact that she's an unrepentant conspiracy nut, but the Strib doesn't "do" that story. (Earlier this month, the St. Cloud Times reported that Bachmann alleged Barack Obama complicity in a plan to subordinate the US Constitution to Shariah law (link below.) Nothing about that or any of the other Bachmann allegations in this campaign story.)
The high "unfavorable" view of Bachmann is kind of embarrassing after three terms in office, because...
(CONTINUED)
...The Sixth is a very conservative and Republican district, with a plus-seven GOP advantage for congressional candidates even before redistricting.
Despite that demographic advantage and the $11 million she's raised so far: nearly half of the voters in her conservative district view her unfavorably. (Bachmann support among district independents is also split--less than half of them support her.)
All Bachmann challengers, present and previous--Wetterling, Tinklenberg, Clark, and Graves--come into the race with a media disadvantage. Because it's unofficial policy at Minnesota's three leading news outlets (The Minneapolis Star Tribune, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and Minnesota Public Radio) that timely reporting of Bachmann's regular nuthouse allegations is off-limits. (They don't even receive significant coverage in the profile pieces on Bachmann that these state news icons run in non-election years.)
Bachmann opponents have never been able to overcome the fact that the state's leading news media effectively "give Bachmann a pass" on the "national politics of paranoia" stuff. If you leave that stuff out of the news reporting--most of the news audience doesn't understand "what all the fuss is about, with regard to Michele Bachmann."
That cowardice in Minnesota daily news coverage is worth much more to her than the eleven million dollars she's raised in this cycle alone.
ACTION LINK: You've seen her lead the Tea Party movement, helping its candidates into Congress. You know the positive impact her flip-flop on Romney has had on his candidacy. Every time we've failed to stop her, you've lived to regret that she wasn't stopped. Here's a link to donate to her current opponent, Jim Graves:
https://secure.actblue.com/...
LINK:
http://www.startribune.com/...
LINK: Shariah law allegation against Obama...
http://www.dailykos.com/...