Bachmann Beat: Errant Email Sparks Aide's Ire

Sixth-district Congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s campaign is incensed over an internal email sent by CBS News’ political analyst John Dickerson in advance of the Republican debate.

Dickerson accidentally copied Bachmann’s campaign manager on an email to debate organizer in which he wrote that “she’s not going to get many questions” during the debate and expressed distaste toward interviewing Bachmann afterward due to her low poll numbers. 

Bachmann campaign manager, Keith Nahigian, spoke out after the debate, calling Dickerson a “piece of (expletive)” and a “fraud.” 

“The liberal mainstream media elites are manipulating the Republican debates by purposely suppressing our conservative message and limiting Michele’s questions,” he said. “We need to show the liberal media elite that we won’t stand for this outrageous manipulation. Help us fight this affront by sharing this with your friends.”

A CBS News spokesperson responded with the statement that "it was a candid exchange about the reality of the circumstances–Bachmann remains at 4 percent in the polls."

During the debate, Bachmann blamed President Barack Obama for increases to the national debt and deficit and lamented the end of CIA interrogation techniques, calling waterboarding a “very effective practice.

"It gained information for our country," she said.

She also decried Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs, which include Medicare and Medicaid, saying they have “not worked” and juxtaposing the American welfare state unfavorably to (socialist) China where, she said, “they don’t have food stamps” and “they save for their own retirement security.”

According to an October 15 campaign finance report, Bachmann’s expenses were in the red during the third quarter of 2011, and she now has almost $550,000 in debts and $1.3 million in cash. 

Bachmann is focusing on Iowa--she added staff there on Friday--where she won the straw poll in August. The Pioneer Press has reported that she still has a strong chance in Iowa if she can raise additional funds.

Bachmann also earned headlines over the weekend for her comments on the Penn State University sex abuse scandal.  

“I'd want to go find that guy and beat him to a pulp,” she said of accused child rapist Jerry Sandusky. 

But she said the event did not merit a congressional investigation.

"When something horrific happens people's automatic reaction is: Somebody needs to do something," she said. "But it doesn't necessarily mean that this issue should be kicked up to Congress. I really do believe this needs to stay exactly in the jurisdiction where the offense occurred. Congress has a lot of other things to pay attention to."

More information: The National Journal compiled a foreign policy dossier on Bachmann in advance of Saturday’s debate.