Michele Bachmann, the former U.S. representative from Minnesota and one-time Republican presidential candidate, said in a TV interview that she is mulling a political comeback by running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated Tuesday by Al Franken. 
 
 "I've had people contact me and urge me to run for that Senate seat. The only reason I would run is for the ability to take these principles into the United States Senate, to be able to advocate for these principles," Bachmann said, referring to the Christian conservatism that defined her political style. 
 
 "The question is, should it be me? Should it be now?" Bachmann asked, in her appearance on the "Jim Bakker Show" in late December. She did not answer the question, but spoke of what she described as the increasingly high personal toll of big political campaigns. 
 
 "The price is bigger than ever because the swamp is so toxic," Bachmann said, borrowing a campaign refrain from President Trump to "drain the swamp" of Washington, D.C. 
 
 Bachmann did not respond to a phone message left at her home on Tuesday. She served four terms in Congress from the Sixth Congressional District, from 2007 to 2014, and was an unsuccessful GOP candidate for president in 2012. She was a vocal supporter of Trump's candidacy, and remains one of Minnesota's most well-known Republicans. 
 
 In this Jan. 26, 2011 file photo, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., left, talks with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., during the "Hot Dish Off," cooking contest in Franken's office on Capitol Hill in Washington, 
 
 On Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Tina Smith will be sworn in to replace Franken, following her appointment by Gov. Mark Dayton. Smith has pledged to run for the remainder of Franken's term in a November special election; the seat will be on the ballot again in 2020, when Franken's term would have ended. 
 
 So far, the only other candidate to announce a run is state Sen. Karin Housley, R-St. Marys Point. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, another unsuccessful GOP candidate for president in 2012, is also seen as a possible candidate. 
 
 Bachmann would bring a committed base of supporters and a proven ability to raise significant sums from small dollar donors via a valuable and closely guarded mailing list. 
 
 "She has extremely high name recognition and a national fundraising base. So, there's some strengths there," said David FitzSimmons, who was a GOP state legislator in Bachmann's district and is currently chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, who won Bachmann's seat when she did not run again in 2014. 
 
 Even now, Bachmann has $1.67 million in her old House campaign account that she could move into a Senate race. 
 
 Bachmann's shoot-from-the-hip style of conservative populism mirrors Trump's. Her ability to make news with a provocative tweet or Facebook post would be unparalleled in Minnesota politics. 
 
 FitzSimmons cautioned that Bachmann would also confront challenges: "Running statewide is a tough hill to climb, and there a lot of different constituencies that you have to piece together," he said. 
 
 Bachmann has long been a polarizing figure both in Minnesota and nationally. She was a champion of religious conservatives and a relentless critic of Obamacare and other policies of former President Barack Obama. 
 
 Democrats would be energized to stop her. They spent millions trying to unseat her from a solidly conservative House district that included the St. Cloud area and some northern Twin Cities suburbs. She became nationally known for statements that fact checkers found to be untrue, such as a claim in a nationally televised presidential debate that the HPV vaccine can cause mental retardation. 
 
 "Michele Bachmann is a national embarrassment. Her extreme views are dangerously out of touch with the people of Minnesota," DFL Chairman Ken Martin said. 
 
 He said her time in the U.S. House was "so focused on spewing hurtful rhetoric that she accomplished little more than humiliating our state." 
 
 Her presidential campaign, which briefly sparked the imagination of social conservatives, flamed out. Later, news of an FBI investigation surrounding the campaign broke into public view. 
 
 Two former aides to the Minnesota Republican told the Star Tribune in 2013 that they had been questioned by FBI agents from the bureau's public integrity section. 
 
 Central to the FBI inquiry were alleged payments to former Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson, a top official in Bachmann's 2012 presidential campaign who endorsed Rep. Ron Paul in the closing days of the 2012 Iowa caucus race. 
 
 Sorenson was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison last year, according to the Des Moines Register, after admitting to taking payments from the Paul campaign in exchange for the endorsement. 
 
 An independent counsel in Iowa concluded he had also taken payments from the Bachmann campaign. 
 
 Changing of the guard: Sen. Al Franken left office Tuesday, and Tina Smith was set to be sworn in. B1 
 
 Bachmann denied the allegations that her campaign paid Sorenson, but the issue is bound to come up should she make a run for the Senate. 
 
 Bachmann acknowledged the challenge of running as a conservative Republican given the current political climate. 
 
 "My husband and I aren't money people. We're just normal," she said, "If you're a billionaire, maybe you can defend yourself." ||||| 
 
 Michele Bachmann speaks at the 2014 Values Voter Summit in Washington. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP) 
 
 Former U.S. representative Michele Bachmann recently announced on a televangelist’s show that she is mulling a run for Al Franken’s U.S. Senate seat. Franken officially resigned Tuesday over allegations of sexual misconduct that emerged in late 2017. 
 
 Bachmann, who has five children and fostered 23 children, has become somewhat of a hero in some conservative circles, taking the stage at several conservative Christian conferences, including the Family Research Council’s Values Voters Summit. She was part of President Trump’s evangelical advisory council during his campaign. 
 
 Bachmann, who represented Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District from 2007 to 2015, became the first Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. House from Minnesota. She was one of the final six Republican candidates in the 2012 presidential election. She was investigated by congressional committees over allegations of campaign finance violations by her presidential campaign and did not seek reelection in 2014. 
 
 Last week, Bachmann told televangelist Jim Bakker that she fears she will be unfairly attacked by Washington insiders because “the swamp is so toxic.” 
 
 “My husband and I aren’t money people. And that’s the thing. We’re normal. . . . If you’re a billionaire, you can maybe defend yourself. We’re not money people. You know, you can have frivolous lawsuits filed against you all the time, and then what do you do?” Bachmann said on the show. 
 
 [Also on Acts of Faith: Anne Lamott on a few quick thoughts on that diet you are about to fail] 
 
 “It is really tough if you are going against the tide in D.C. — if you are trying to stand for biblical principles in D.C. and you stick your head up out of the hole, the blades come roaring and they come to chop you off,” she said. 
 
 Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith (D) will sit in Franken’s seat until a special election in November for someone to serve out the final two years of his term. State Sen. Karin Housley, a Republican, is already in the race. Former governor Tim Pawlenty, an outspoken evangelical and a Republican, is seen as another potential contender. 
 
 Using the language of many conservative Christians, Bachmann said she felt as if she had fulfilled her “calling” when she left Congress. She said her goal was to put the issue of Obamacare front and center in the presidential race. 
 
 “The question is, am I being called to do this now?” she said. “I don’t know.” 
 
 Bakker said that right now, the political process and the media are “dirty,” adding, “They want to kill the president of the United States, and if they could put a contract [out on Donald Trump] . . . — which they probably already have — they would do so.” 
 
 “The Jim Bakker Show” is an hour-long daily broadcast that features “prophetic and biblical revelations” and regularly advertises products like apparel and jewelry. As Bachmann was speaking, an ad running across the bottom of the screen pitched a year’s worth of food for $650 or nine years’ worth of food for $3,700. Bakker has urged his followers to stock up on food, saying that this generation will experience a rapture and that Christians must be prepared for difficult times. 
 
 Ahead of her run for the 2012 presidential nomination, Bachmann said she left her Lutheran church for a church that is part of the Evangelical Free Church of America in Minnesota. Her former church was part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, which received media attention for calling the papacy the Antichrist. She has called herself a “spirit-filled Christian,” meaning she considers herself a part of the charismatic movement, which is known for emphasizing practices such as healing services and speaking in tongues. 
 
 Bachmann’s appearance on Bakker’s show is interesting, given his controversial past. Bakker was a well-known televangelist from the 1970s and early 1980s who had millions of viewers before his ministry took a hit. 
 
 In a report, Christianity Today magazine cited historian John Wigger’s recently published book “PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire,” which tells the story of Bakker and his former wife. Wigger writes in his book that a young woman alleged Bakker and she had a nonconsensual sexual encounter (although he writes that she does not call it rape) and that Bakker allegedly had sex with at least six of his male employees. 
 
 Bakker also bought a houseboat with ministry funds and gave himself an extravagant income while the ministry laid employees off, according to Wigger. Bakker was indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges and spent time in federal prison. His son Jay Bakker is a progressive pastor in Minnesota who has been critical of the religious right. Another son, Ricky Bakker, serves as a host on his father’s show, which also features Jim Bakker’s second wife. ||||| Pastor Jim and Lori Bakker discuss the current state of the nation and what is needed to save America, with special guest Michele Bachmann. 
 
 Quotes 
 
 Scripture says that you don’t worship the creation, the creature, you worship Him, but mankind continually moves away from God’s way. -Michele Bachmann 
 
 I’m a big believer in the protection of childhood innocence, that’s our job. -Michele Bachmann 
 
 Where we are right now in 2017 is there’s a demand for the biblical standard and they’re willing to possibly throw justice out the window to get it. -Michele Bachmann 
 
 Scriptures 
 
 Matthew 11:29 MEV Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me. For I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 
 
 Romans 13:4 MEV For he is the servant of God for your good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him who practices evil. 
 
 Matthew 24:8 MEV All these are the beginning of sorrows. 
 
 Matthew 25:35 MEV For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in. 
 
 Proverbs 24:17 MEV Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles. 
 
 Isaiah 1:18 KJV Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 
 
 John 17:23 MEV I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfect in unity, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. 
 
 Ephesians 4:32 KJV And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. 
 
 Romans 3:23 MEV For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. 
 
 Exodus 23:1 MEV You must not give a false report. Do not join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. 
 
 John 8:7 MEV So when they continued asking Him, He stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 
 
 2 Timothy 3:1 MEV Know this: In the last days perilous times will come. 
 
 Headlines 
 
 Collective consciousness to replace God: author Dan Brown -Reuters 
 
 Stop second-guessing Al Franken’s resignation. He has to go. -The Washington Post 
 
 Trump Will Withdraw U.S. From Paris Climate Agreement -The New York Times 
 
 U.S. GAVE PALESTINIANS $221 MILLION ON OBAMA’S LAST DAY IN OFFICE -Newsweek 
 
 ISIS has detailed instructions for carrying out truck attacks. They’re pretty horrifying. -PRI 
 
 Trump could get 3 percent, and maybe even 4 percent, GDP growth this quarter -CNBC 
 
 North Korea preparing for ANOTHER nuclear test as Kim Jong-un expands base -Daily Star
– Conservative firebrand Michele Bachmann says she's mulling a run for Al Franken's Senate seat, the Star Tribune reports. The former Minnesota congresswoman, whose controversial remarks helped make her a mainstay in 2012 Republican primary coverage, recently shared the news on The Jim Bakker Show, though she told the televangelist she's not quite ready to announce. "The question is, am I being called to do this now?” she said, per the Washington Post. “I don’t know.” While Bachmann served on the Trump campaign's evangelical advisory council, she's largely been absent from politics since leaving Congress in 2015. However, Franken's official resignation on Tuesday following allegations of sexual misconduct may well bring Bachmann back to the fore. As a potential candidate, Bachmann already has an opponent in Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, who's been tapped to replace Franken starting Wednesday. Smith has pledged to run in the November special election to replace Franken for the final two years of his term, as has state Sen. Karin Housley, a Republican. Ever the outsider, Bachmann said she also has a foe in the Washington establishment. "It is really tough ... if you are trying to stand for biblical principles in DC," she told Bakker. "The swamp is so toxic."