Bachmann May Face Competition for Media Face Time.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann quickly established herself as the arch-conservative camera hog of the last Congress. It looks like she'll get a run for the title from Freshman Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), who has launched a personal PR blitz well before starting work — let alone before mugging the president at the State of the Union Address.

Chaffetz was elected from the most Republican district in the nation, defeating an already very conservative GOP incumbent. Among the members of his class, he gained the most attention for his stunt declaring he will sleep on a cot in his office — employing rather tangled syntax for someone who made good money as a corporate spokesman.

"You work hard into the night and then the last thing I want to do is spend $1,500 a month on a place I don't intend to be and a place I just plan to sleep at," said the freshman congressman.

Go ahead, ask your boss if you could move in to your office to show your dedication and save yourself some money.

Actually, if he plays his cards right, Chaffetz might pick up a basement crash pad for only $600. There's at least one that should soon be vacant.

Chaffetz's financial filings noted net worth of between $1.2 and $5.6 million, though it's likely he's on the low end. (For comparison, Sen. Norm Coleman listed net worth of $435,001 to $975,999 in 2007; in 2006 he reported $514,305 to $549,304, so he's likely in the bottom half of the new reporting range.)

Chaffetz also scored the first slot on the Colbert Report's renewed "Better Know a District" feature, which Stephen Colbert had to suspend because it had humiliated too many members, and he couldn't sign up new victims.

Chaffetz got plenty of exposure and had nothing to fear from Colbert's jibes. His district is safer than Rep. Keith Ellison's Minnesota 5th is for Democrats. But having spent his college and adult years in the safe confines of Utah, he failed to learn an essential truth: Mormons aren't that funny and they can't talk trash.

Here's the segment, which gets to the Utah Congressman about 2:00 in. It concludes with Colbert and Chaffetz leg wrestling. Colbert won the match, and then revealed the next night after Chaffetz demanded a rematch on the local Utah Fox News affiliate, that the Congressman had already lost multiple matches during the taping of the original segment.

Making this even more surreal, Chaffetz was a place kicker for the BYU football team, and he holds the school record for kicking 10 consecutive extra points in a game. But maybe you don't need a strong leg to kick for a team that can put that many touchdowns on the board, since an offense like that doesn't create much call for field goals.

Comments

[Mark Gisleson]

In Chaffetz's defense, Colbert cheated. The point of leg wrestling is to flip your opponent, not to roll them. Then again, I suspect Chaffetz gets rolled a lot.

[Lady Logician]

Charlie,

A couple of corrections.

1) Chris Cannon was not all that conservative. His ACU lifetime rating is in the mid-80's but that is mostly from his early career. His rating in his last few years in Congress was in the low 70's which for this district is a Democrat (I moved to Cannon's district last summer).

2) The cot is no stunt. Chaffetz ran a campaign that was free of debt. Part of his "debt free" campaign is his living arrangements. His family is staying back here in Utah and his simply can't afford (at this time) D.C. rents. That may change in the future but for now....

You're right he can't talk trash - but he does have a self-deprecating sense of humor and a charm that puts you at ease. You really feel like he is a guy you can hang out with over coffee. I met him at a couple of debates this summer and he is genuine.

LL

[Rod Loper]

He wouldn't drink the coffee if he was a kicker for BYU....

[Lady Logician]

OK - I can drink his coffee for him! He can have my water....

LL

[Charlie Quimby]

Mark,
You're right, the contest was not regulation (and place kickers aren't really football players). Chaffetz likes to challenge his opponents. He challenged Cannon to a soccer shoot out, but neither one could hit a goal.

LL,
Chaffetz was a good sport, and I expect your reading is correct. He's not a loon.

It's true he ran a modest campaign, and it's also true he's not the only rep who lives modestly in D.C. Some 40 "live" in their offices. But only one guy did the cot thing for the cameras, so in my book, that's a stunt.

The ACU website has Cannon at 96 for 2007 and 96.3 lifetime, which puts him a lot closer to Bachmann's 100 than Ellison's 0.