Maybe the problem with Minnesota media's coverage of Rep. Michele Bachmann is that Bachmann doesn't behave like a legislator. When Sen. Klobuchar, as an example, tries to eliminate the medical device tax, this is a newsworthy political story. They all report it.
They don't cover the media appearances our delegation makes because, outside of Rep. Keith Ellison, they are few and far between. For example, Sen. Franken doesn't give interviews to national journalists nor does he appear on national political TV shows. Franken has only been granting interviews to MN media.
Rep. Collin Peterson (DFL-MN) only gets interviewed about ag policy, Rep. Rick Nolan (DFL-MN) about mining, Rep. Tim Walz (DFL-MN) about veteran's issues or, recently, his STOCK Act and Rep. John Kline (R-MN) because he's chair of the House Education committee. Rep. Erik Paulsen never does anything so nobody wants to talk to him. These interviews also never appear in MN's media.
Keith Ellison is the one exception. He has been appearing on nearly all the networks and tangling with conservatives. Sometimes it even gets heated. For the most part, MN's media doesn't cover this. But Ellison does work on legislation and he's Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, so his legislative work gets covered.
But Bachmann doesn't do legislation. She has never authored a piece of legislation that passed either in the MN Senate or the US House. The only thing she could possibly point at is the Stillwater Bridge Boondoggle. But she did none of the work.
She only does self-promotion and political theater.
She criss-crosses the country appearing and speaking at all kinds of events. She has huge Facebook and Twitter followings she broadcasts to. She has one of the largest email lists in the country. She frequently appears on Fox News and calls into right wing radio shows. Since her behavior doesn't fit what politicians are supposed to do, they don't report it.
But why has our media failed to adapt? She is MN's highest profile political figure after all.
Her lastest gaffe is relatively minor. The line from Hamlet "the lady doth protest too much, methinks" became "thou protesteth too much." Who hasn't botched a line from Shakespeare or some favorite piece of literature.
But Minnesotans don't know the extent to which she gets these kind of things wrong.
It took the national spotlight of her joining the 2012 presidential race for Minnesotans to find out how often she embarrasses herself. Minnesotans didn't know because MN's media doesn't cover her. She doesn't fit the way they report politics.
But the lie she told just before her botched Shakespearian quote will never make the MN news. Even though she told it on the floor of the United States House of Representatives! Why? I have no idea.
She claimed she voted against the sequester because it would harm the poor.
Minnesotans have to go out of their way and read the Washington Post to find out that her claim that she cares about the poor was a lie. WaPo fact checkers gave her four Pinnochios (worst rating) for telling a bald-faced lie. They cite examples of how she supports or votes for bills that hurt the poor.
Maybe MN's media just doesn't report what she says and what she does because they've never gotten into the habit of it. Maybe it's because staff cuts over the last decade have left the organizations with too few reporters.
Is it because, as the Associated Press admitted, they couldn't keep up? The AP set a quota of stories about her explaining they didn't want her to dominate all of the Republican presidential news.
I've always argued that it would take a basement full of Red Bull and Cheeto fueled bloggers to truly keep up with Bachmann.
After all, she is the Energizer Bunny of right wing crazy, lies, gaffes, flubs, fear-mongering and conspiracy theories.