The great Sarah Posner writes at length about the religious roots of Michele Bachmann’s politics, and digs up something that will induce nostalgia in anyone who watched cable news in 2003. Bachmann was one of three state legislators who participated in a rally in support of Judge Roy Moore’s quest to get the Ten Commandments displayed in his courtroom. From the Star Tribune’s account of the rally:
One sponsor of the rally was the Declaration Project, a group headed by Dave Racer, a veteran conservative Republican activist and a supporter of 2000 Republican presidential candidate Alan Keyes, who is organizing a national movement supporting the Ten Commandments. The Declaration Project’s newsletter lists on its letterhead priorities that include “Impeaching Federal Judges” and establishing the “Holy Bible as Foundational to All Governing Authorities.”
…One of the speakers, state Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, told the crowd that the founders of the United States _ including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, “recognized the Ten Commandments as the foundation of our laws.”
From the AP account:
“Who are we … to say we have no more need of this important document,” said Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater. Bachmann said it was time for state lawmakers to stand up to federal judges, who she believes are overstepping their bounds.
On the 1-10 scale of “odd religious things Michele Bachmann has prioritized in her career,” this is perhaps a 3. It’s just a reminder of how, before the Tea Party, she was pigeonholed as a religious right politician in the Phyllis Schlafly mold, and how post-Tea Party she’s become a Ron Paul-in-training.
