(MintPress) – Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has become just as popular throughout the nation as she has in her home state. Yet the utterance of her name doesn’t always evoke positive feedback, as she’s regularly been associated with right-wing extremist ideology and numerous intellectual blunders.
But that doesn’t mean she’s losing among voters in her very own Minnesota 6th District.
A poll recently released by Survey USA and KSTP, a Minneapolis, Minn.-based news station, showed Bachmann leading Democrat Jim Graves with 50 percent of the vote, compared to his 41 percent. A poll conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research showed a similar trend, with 47 support for Bachmann and 45 percent for Graves.
The reason for the support?
Bachmann is a well known name throughout West Central Minnesota, where she’s known as someone who represents the tea party — a strong movement in the area. But not everyone is thrilled with the way she’s handled herself in the national spotlight.
Kate O’Reilly, communications director for the Graves campaign, says she and her team have seen a shift even among Republicans, who claim the congresswoman was too focused on her presidential race the last time around. That’s something O’Reilly and the Graves campaign hopes will shine through in November.
“Registered Republicans are coming out to speak for us, even people who voted for her in the past,” O’Reilly said in an interview with MintPress. “The tipping point was the presidential run. Data shows that 9 out of 10 votes were missed in the last reported session.”
And while that might be, Graves campaign doesn’t have nearly as much as Bachmann, with the Republican congresswoman raking in $3.5 million more than her Democratic challenger within the last quarter.
Campaign funding
O’Reilly reported that in the last quarter, the Graves campaign raised more than $1 million in contributions from 12,000 individual donors in the third quarter.
A visit to the Michele Bachmann for Congress website immediately takes viewers to an “urgent message” from the congresswoman, followed by this statement:
“The Democrats have a plan to defeat me and are going to spend millions to do so. I need you to take just a few moments to click and listen to my urgent message.”
Just down the page, however, is a press release indicating Bachmann raised $4.5 million in the third quarter — $3.5 million more than her Democratic opponent. The release goes on to mention Bachmann among the top fundraisers in the nation.
“Bachmann’s haul makes her the most productive House fundraising candidate of the quarter, so far,” the press release states. “Her total is a bit more than Rep. Allen West’s (R-Fla.) $4 million haul, and is likely to top even some Senate contenders.”
Bachmann has done better, though. In 2010, she raked in $5 million within three months, according to her campaign. That’s a record for Minnesota congressional campaigns.
O’Reilly admits the Bachmann campaign is dealing with more money, but says residents within the district are tiring from the congresswoman’s focus on national attention — enough, possibly, to deliver her a defeat in November.
“People are rooting for us in the district and all over the country,” she said in an interview with MintPress. “It’s really what keeps us going. We don’t have her money, and we’re aware of all this. There are about six to eight of us working very, very hard, and we have the support of the people in the 6th District who are tired of it.”
Across the country, Graves is seeing support, too — and not just through well wishes, but through cash. Earlier this month, the Chicago Tribune reported that Bachmann’s visit to an Illinois synagogue was met with resistance, with some congregants walking out and promising support for Graves. Gary Sircus, who was among those who stormed out, pledged to do what he could to help raise funds for the democrat’s campaign.
What do they see in Bachmann?
That same poll that showed Bachmann leading with 50 percent also gave insight into why. Of those surveyed, 45 percent said the congresswoman would do more to bring jobs to the area, compared to 36 percent who thought that of Graves.
Social issues are also proving to be deal breakers for voters of the 6th District, with 46 percent claiming in the most recent poll that they agree with Bachmann on social issues. Only 39 percent look to Graves as their man on those issues. Bachmann has set herself aside as a candidate who does not support abortion or gay marriage, which seems to bode well among constituents.
While those figures suggest a Bachmann victory in November, O’Reilly says her candidate is increasingly winning the hearts of 6th District residents.
Greenberg polls dating back to June show a steady rise in support for Graves. A survey taken June 12-14 indicated 48 percent support for Bachmann, 43 percent for Graves. By August, Graves had earned 46 percent, while Bachmann’s support remained static.
The Greenberg polls indicate that it’s the undecided voters who had begun to come around to see things Grave’s way. And, according to that poll, Graves now sits at 45 percent, compared to Bachmann’s 47 percent, with a 4.9 percent margin of error.
The Graves campaign has taken a grassroots approach to earn the trust of district voters. O’Reilly said the campaign reached 8,000 doors in one day during its door knocking drive, meeting area residents and taking in feedback.
While Graves lives in the area and attended college at St. Cloud University, he’s not exactly known yet as a household political name like Bachmann. But it’s that same quality O’Reilly hopes will help push him to victory Nov. 6.
“For him it’s not just about defeating Michele Bachmann,” she said. “He grew up there — it’s his neighborhood, so he wants to provide a better future for the people of the 6th District. He’s going to dedicate himself full time to increase the paycheck of the Middle Class and create livable wage jobs there.”
Meanwhile, the Bachmann campaign has been active revving up the base and promoting the congresswoman as someone who hasn’t strayed from the political platform she ran on.
Calls made to Bachmann’s congressional campaign team were not immediately returned.
The two candidates will face off in their first ever debate Oct. 30 in St. Cloud, Minn. There, money aside, the two will have an opportunity to attack the issues face-to-face, perhaps providing an opportunity undecided voters to take a side.
Two more debates will follow, both sponsored by Minnesota news outlets, Minnesota Public Radio and ABC affiliate KSTP-TV.