The Gifts Just Keep On Comin'...

Sunday's StarTribune (I never read that rag, myself; I first heard about this on TPM) reports that Minnesota may lose a seat in the House as a result of the 2010 Census:

Minnesotans have extra incentive this year to be sure they are counted -- and counted here -- by the decennial U.S. census that will begin in March. The retention of the state's current complement of eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives is on the line.

Now, who's been the most vociferous opponent to the Census in Minnesota? And who's also likely to lose their seat if the state loses a congressional district as a result of the 2010 Census?

It's ironic that a Minnesota member of Congress, Republican Michele Bachmann, went so far last summer to declare her intention to only partially complete her census forms, and to suggest reasons for others not to comply with the census law. If Minnesota loses a congressional seat, Bachmann's populous Sixth District could be carved into pieces. She likely would have to battle another incumbent to hang on to her seat. We've noticed that her anticensus rhetoric has lately ceased.

Poetic justice, I call it. TPM also noticed the deafening silence on this issue from Bachmann recently:

[...]interestingly enough, it's been a while since we heard Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) talk about refusing to participate in the Census.

Last year, Bachmann repeatedly said she would defy the Census by not completely filling out the information on the forms, but would instead only give the number of people in her household. She said that Census data was used to conduct the 1940's Japanese-American internment, and warned that the government was seeking to gather information about people's mental health. But as far as we can tell, her last anti-Census public statement was in August.

[...]The really fun fact, as I've learned from Minnesota experts, is that Bachmann's district would likely be the first to go if the state lost a seat. The other seats are all fairly regular-shaped, logical districts built around identifiable regions of the state (Minneapolis, St. Paul, the Iron Range, and so on). Bachmann's district is made of what's left over after such a process, twisting and turning from a small strip of the Wisconsin border and curving deep into the middle of the state. As such, the obvious course of action if the state loses a seat is to split her district up among its neighbors.

Awww, Bachmann might have to run against a sane politician, and not be able to have her christian Taliban buddies stuff the ballot boxes for Bachmann in her gerrymandered district again? Whatta predicament! I tell you, it's Christmas in January.