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James Novogrod / NBC News
Tamara Scott and former Iowa state Rep. Danny Carroll, increasingly visible surrogates for Michele Bachmann, speaking at an Ottumwa, Iowa, restaurant Thursday night.
By NBC's James Novogrod
BLOOMFIELD, Iowa -- Michele Bachmann’s 99-county bus tour reached the eight-day mark Friday, and the candidate was losing her voice. In a whisper she circulated tables at the Oasis Coffee House, greeting voters, autographing yard signs and posing for photos.
While the grueling schedule left Bachmann quieter than usual, a group of surrogates raised the volume this week on a message the campaign hopes will resonate among Iowa’s evangelical voters, in the run-up to the Jan. 3 caucus.
“Do you know that the qualifications for public office are found in the Bible?” asked Danny Carroll, a former state representative, during a visit to a restaurant in Albia on Thursday.
Carroll was citing a passage in Exodus in which Moses is counseled to trust those who "feared God, were capable, and hated dishonest gain."
“I believe that Michele Bachmann fits all of those qualifications,” he added.
Carroll, who has supported Bachmann since the summer, has hosted her at his farm in Grinnell – but had rarely joined her for public events around the state. His presence, the campaign says, sends a signal to Iowan social conservatives.
“He has a tremendous amount of credibility in that state, and people look to his opinion,” says campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart.
After a 12-year career in the Iowa statehouse, Carroll was chairman of the board of the Iowa Family Policy Center, a group that was later spun into the Family Leader, one of Iowa’s most high-profile evangelical groups.
Carroll's message seems designed in part to punch back at the Family Leader's current CEO, Bob Vander Plaats, who earlier this week endorsed one of Bachmann's chief rivals for the evangelical vote: Rick Santorum.
The endorsement directed unwelcome attention on the Bachmann campaign, after Politico reported that Vander Plaats had tried to influence the race more directly, by calling Bachmann to urge her to drop out.
Bachmann acknowledges the call happened, but disputes the account of the discussion. (A source close to the telephone call tells NBC News that Vander Plaats called to ask that she merge her ticket with Santorum, or with Rick Perry. Bachmann, according to the source, declined.)
Since the endorsement, the Bachmann camp’s pushback has been polite but sharp.
A second surrogate, Tamara Scott – the Iowa director of a conservative women's group, Concerned Women for America – called out the Family Leader and Santorum by name Thursday, during a stop in Ottumwa.
"The Iowa Family Leader had a series of meetings, and the papers said it was to make sure [Mitt] Romney was not the nominee," Scott said.
"Bob Vander Plaats turned around and endorsed Santorum, who had endorsed Romney in the last election. I just don’t understand those kinds of politics," Scott said.
In an interview with NBC, Scott stressed that she is not speaking on behalf of Concerned Women for America, and added that Bachmann was the only candidate she felt comfortable endorsing.
“Her integrity is intact,” Scott said.
The effect of the campaign’s effort is unclear so far, but the bus tour itself has seemed to win points in rural counties. Voters in small restaurants and bakeries often said they appreciated Bachmann’s attention.
“She stands for Iowa,” said caucus-goer Kay Rouch, in Keosauqua, on Wednesday. “This is where her roots are, her beginnings, and I think that she basically has a real concern for the people in the Midwest.”
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As does the Republican party. Why ANY woman would vote republican and accept second class citizenship is truly a mystery to me.
Fact is that I'm raising girls and this republican/religious dogma really pisses me off. My girls are as good as anyone and a darn sight better then most.
So let me get this straight, she wants to be elected because she wants to violate the separation of church and state? Sounds pretty contradictory to me.
'god' is an idiotic idea promoted by immoral people to control and pacify the weak minded. Pandering to the lowest common denominator in our society may get her lots of votes but doesn't mean it's what's best for the country.
You are not a "Lunatic", you are an "Atheist" just as I was some time ago. Today I am not an atheist anymore, but rather a member of God's loyal oposition.
Proof that, over time, some people get LESS intelligent...
Bachmann why don't you just quit.
dobi,
Oh my, telling someone else to give up. Typical liberal thinking!
Why don't you just tell everyone to "just quit"?
I think its funny Bachmann... is so anti American... the minute she started her BS about god her bid was over ! 92% of America want no part of any religious cult members or their "HUSBANDS" ! I kinda feel sorry for her she is pathetic ...
Bachmann please go away!
J, Please go away.
Obama....Please go away.
See any difference??
Bernie please go away and take the crazy lady that chases after old couples at the Minn. State Fair while spewing expletives at them along with you! She's a Nutzo!
clwyd,
Please go away and take Obama with you. He's a crazy man that chases after Wm Ayers and Rev Wright. He's a "Nutzo".
See any difference??
No, I've met both Bachmann and Obama and I can tell you, all color wards aside, that she is really crazy.
Excuse me, but Obama left the church and minister you are talking about almost 3 years ago? So what is your point?
The dictionary defines the word evangelical as 'of or according to the teaching of the gospel or the Christian religion maintaining that the doctrine of salvation by faith in the Atonement is the essence of the gospel'. In Christian service, there is no unemployment;God has work for everyone. That said, who are these so-called select group of evangelicals mentioned in this article? Are they only to be found in Iowa? Heaven forbid. Could it be a code expression for those who are mandated to follow O'Bachmann's prejudices? In any event, get over it people for you're merely being enticed by a wolf in sheep's clothing.
First of O'Bachman, as Letterman calls her, would never be elected should she in the remotest way become a candidate. Her and her gay husband, typical right wing theist bigots. Makes one sick. Of course most all of the Refublican candidates meet that criteria.
pissed,
Wow.....You take your walking orders from Letterman!
Now, there's a genius.
The only problem with the Bible quote is that it missed the most important attribute of Michelle Bachmann - The missing attribute is STUPID.
Another foray into fossilized drivel by this blockhead. Her coarse familiarity with sacred things sows the seeds of ignorant cruelty that Jesus died to expiate. If you quoted Jesus' teachings to her without naming him,she'd tell you it was the words of some "socialist liberal" like Obama. Ignorance is eternal.
Did they pitch the fact the Bachmann is seriously mentally unstable?
michele bachmann does not even deserve to be president of the pile of fecal matter i just dropped off in my toilet
youdaman,
I just saw the chunks of you in Bachmann's stool.
Yes, she is also a rather she wolf B i t 2 #
ChestyPuller you a really naive to think that she'll doport anyone...it's called politics.
They get rich in the process.
What you should concern yourself with is who doesn't play this stupid game where everone except for the voter gets what they want.
She's the only one who hasn't said at least some of the illegal vermin will be allowed to stay.
Our rotten politicians, all Democrats and many Republicans, refuse to do anything about illegal immigration or the millions that are here, and they assume people will just vote for them anyway, even if they care about this issue.
They're wrong. So I have to go with Bachmann. Tom "Tan-crazy" Tancredo would be better, but he ain't running this time.
And yes, I have to admit a second fact. For the second presidential election in a row, I will not vote presidentially if the candidate does not support deporting all the illegal trash. I'll help the Repubs take back the Senate though, which is a virtual lock. Repubs will have at least a majority in both Houses after next November, if not the presidency too.
Michelle Bachmann 2012! All you Northerners who take 2 seconds to pronounce your "O" 's, rally to the standard!
Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Messiah descended upon Iowa in 2008 and delivered a miracle. It was the victory that pole vaulted the community organizer to the Democrat nomination and a promise of change we can believe in. All that was possible because the voters wanted change from the Bush policies. Since the last three years have been basically a replay of the Bush years, another miracle can happen in two weeks. Iowans should send a message to the Republican Party that they resent being told to vote for Romney for the last three years. The Democrats rejected a woman president with the aid of ACORN. Iowa, Bachmann needs your support.
I'll give her support! A Straight Jacket!
Stranger things have happened during bad economic times when the public feels we need new leadership to turn things around. Reagan was viewed as too crazy, too conservative, too religious, too old and too non-compassionate. But he won 44 states and a majority of the votes even with a disgruntle Republican running as an independent. Sound familiar?
ChestyPuller, you're obviously part of the 99% of religiously screwed up people in the country.
So brainwashed you can't see the forest for the trees.
How long do we have to carry the Puritan carbage.
Wake up ChestyPuller, this is 2011.
XXXd, now that the brilliant Hitchens is dead, we God-believers are going to start re-asserting our authority.
Get in line, you atheist filth!
Carroll was citing a passage in Exodus in which Moses is counseled to trust those who "feared God, were capable, and hated dishonest gain."
______________________________________________________________________________
I'd say that narrows the field down quite a bit. Of course, all 3 attributes are the sort of stuff that candidates have every incentive to lie about. Good call overall, though, on Michelle's part; better by far for her to be chasing the "evangelical vote" than to be wasting her time on people who have a clue.
She is not only a theocrat but also an idiocrat! She should break out of the Republican party and join Trump. Goofy and Dumbo 2012!
Michelle Bachmann "fears God, is capable, and hates dishonest gain." ??? What a Crock ! I won't speak as to her capability, as I'm not one of her Constituents... but the other two are laughable. "Fearing God" and "Speaking for God" are diametrically opposed... the latter being a sure sign of Hubris, which this woman has in Spades.
As for "hating dishonest Gain", the utterly fraudulent Business she runs with her husband prove that to be false. The woman is nuttier than squirrel poo (perhaps not as nutty as "Mama Grizzly" Palin, but close).
-if bachman were elected the government would have to live within its means is that possible
Are you kidding? Congress and the Pentagon would have a field day. Contrary to their rhetoric, conservative Republican administrations spend money like it's going out of style, simultaneously cutting taxes (aka revenue) and creating massive deficits. The difference between the so-called "tax and spend" liberals and the "borrow and spend" conservatives is that the former want to spend on those pesky social programs that conservatives love to hate, while the latter spend on things they love, like weapons, wars, and prisons.
Yeah, I know even before you say it that Obama is presiding over gigantic deficits. The trend started under a conservative Republican, who started two unfunded wars that quickly spiraled out of control, cut taxes in wartime (huh?), and fiddled while Wall Street burned.
What poor confused soul tied these unrelated phenomena together ??? Good example of the dumbing down of public discourse and logical thinking that will surely bring this poor country to ruin.
American social conservative= American Taliban. It's that simple people, they can argue all they want but they are no different than those we are fighting against across the seas. Those that suppress others thoughts and personalitites and look to force people to live like they do. Trying to create a theocracy here in America, all these groups that claim a name such as "American family" and others that use that "family" name as if that is suppose to comfort those that do not support such hate groups. Thats right "hate groups" that is what they are, there cover is blown and all should know it.
A religious zealot for President. God help us. Pun intended.
It is always fun to watch the wingnuts in Iowa, fighting over the right wing fringe vote.
As a Democrat, I pray for bachmann to win the nomination.
give her all the money you have lol she needs your suport; right here right now lol she is great lol a wizard a true star lol sorry about the spelling i am laughing and she woud not know anyway lol
Bachmann goes on and on about Iran getting a nuclear (sorry, newkular) weapon but doesn't say how President Bachmann would prevent it or what action she might take if Iran were successful in their quest for nuclear armament. Would she start another war? Sanctions are meaningless to Iran and Bachmann has said as much. Can we really afford another war? Talk is cheap, wars are expensive and sanctions do little even if other nations cooperate which they don't. I have a real problem with her disparaging government handouts when she herself has benefitted from farm subsidies. Nobody has confronted her on this. She gets a pass. And I'm sorry but I can't resist a sexist comment...she's cute. I wish I could use my powers of persuasion on her. Dang, I just lost all credibility with intellectual females. But they're all democrats anyway. I should still be ok with psuedo intellectual republican ladies. you out there Ann Coulter?
No, she is not cute. She has the scary crazy eyes of a mad woman. And besides, she's married to a gay man in denial.
She is about as cute as the robot in Lost In Space!!! LOLOLOOLOL!