Bachmann to Retire

[n david]

Cue the "Hallelujah Chorus!"

Michele Bachmann folding...won't seek re-election.

I'm sure Jermyn will be having a party over this. IIRC, he wasn't too fond of her, to put it nicely.

Politico SOURCE LINK

BREAKING -- In an eight-and-a-half-minute video linked to a 3:21 a.m. email, Rep. Michele Bachmann announced she won't seek reelection: My good friends: After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I have decided next year I will not seek a fifth congressional term to represent the wonderful people of the Sixth District of Minnesota. [T]he law limits anyone from serving as president of the United States for more than eight years. And in my opinion, well, eight years is also long enough for any individual to serve as a representative for a specific congressional district. Be assured: My decision was not in any way influenced by any concerns about my being reelected. I have every confidence that if I ran, I would again defeat the individual who I defeated last year, who recently announced he is once again running.

And rest assured, this decision was not impacted in any way by the recent inquiries into the activities of my former presidential campaign or my former presidential staff. It was clearly understood that compliance with all rules and regulations was an absolute necessity for my presidential campaign. And I have no reason to believe that that was not the case. I fully anticipate the mainstream, liberal media to put a detrimental spin on my decision. But I take being the focus of their attention of their disparagement as a true compliment of my public-service effectiveness. To my detractors, my work continues for YOUR best interest as well. ... God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

TRIPLE FLASHBACK: On Thursday, less than a week ago, Bachmann began what was to be two weeks of ads in the Twin Cities area, promoting her candidacy an unusual 17 months before the election. On May 17, MinnPost.com reported: The FBI is investigating complaints of alleged campaign finance violations in Rep. Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign.

And on Monday, POLITICO"s Alex Isenstadt wrote, in Bachmann faces existential threat in 2014. The Federal Election Commission and the Office of Congressional Ethics are investigating whether her campaign concealed payments to an Iowa state senator who did work for her 2012 presidential bid. (A state ethics law bars senators from doing paid campaign work.) Democrat Jim Graves [a wealthy hotel executive] has launched a rematch against Bachmann after coming within 5,000 votes 1.2 percentage points of unseating her in 2012.

PLAYBOOK FACTS OF LIFE: When they say it's not about the money, it's about the money. And when Bachmann leads by saying it's not about the investigations or the competition, you can bet they both were huge factors. This is a marketing decision as much as a political one: Bachmann preserves her muscle as a popular conservative speaker and prolific fundraiser, rather than risking being marginalized as a loser.