Bachmann and Coleman make list of top race-changing moments

Rep. Michele Bachmann's MSNBC comments about Barack Obama's potentially anti-American views could be this election season's No. 1 gaffe, according to a list compiled by Politico.

Our favorite Senator, Norm Coleman also made the list with his string of negative ads.

On Bachmann:

A case can be made that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) made the gaffe of the election when she went on MSNBC’s “Hardball” and suggested that Barack Obama and other Democratic members of Congress held anti-American views. Her comments changed what looked like an easy path to victory into a political dogfight with a very uncertain outcome.

Her little-known opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, raised more than $1.3 million in a week — more money than most Democratic challengers raise in an entire year. And a newly released poll shows that a whopping 40 percent of voters in Bachmann’s district said they were less likely to support her after she made the comments.

And why is Coleman on the list?

Coleman’s “Angry Al” ad. Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign telegraphed its campaign strategy against former “Saturday Night Live” funnyman Al Franken early on: Make Franken an unacceptable alternative for Minnesota voters. So Coleman ringed together Franken’s angriest and most expletive-filled moments in recent years for the public to see.

The strategy backfired — though the ad brought down Franken’s favorability ratings, it also cost Coleman in a state where “Minnesota nice” prevails. Once polling showed Coleman losing ground, he decided to take down all his negative ads.

We think Politico got it right. Thank you politicians for putting us on the map.

Still our personal favorite? Crazy McCain lady at rally.