jon: happening now , a familiar face won t be around in next congress. minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann is bowing out. the tea party favorite saying she will not run for another term in the house. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel with that. mike? reporter: on the timing is interesting. dropping a video to support erstwhile on a congressional delegation trip overseas. in her departure announcement congresswoman michele bachmann says eight years is long enough to serve a congressional district and maintained a tough re-election fight against democrat jim graves is not why she s leaving. be assured my decision was in the in any way influenced about any concerns about my being reelected to congress. i ve always in the past defeated candidates who are capable, qualified and well-funded. and i have every confidence that if i ran, i would again defeat the individual who i defeated last year, who recently announced that he is once again running. reporter: bachmann
immigration reform, gun control, president s statements about gay marriage. if democrats are going to take back the house, they are going to need to flip a number of districts where mitt romney won and that is hard with this agenda. so democrats taking the bright side are saying, well, this has to distance ourselves from the president and some of these districts, that could actually be helpful. these are swing districts. you quote jim graves who almost beat michelle backman. another guys in the news the last week or so, jeb bush on set with us on morning joe last week and making the rounds on the sunday talk shows to promote his book. he claimed one thing many see as the biggest obstacle running for president his brother s legacy is not an obstacle at all. listen. i don t think there is any bush baggage at all. i love my brother. i m proud of his accomplishments.
african-americans, that is not a formula to get over 50%. i think there is going to be a lot of hard thinking about where they want to go in the future here now that they ve lost the white house for a second time. bill: interesting as we watch this unfold again and it will continue to unfold. john roberts, thank you, live in boston this morning. martha: former presidential candidate congresswoman michelle bachmann won a close re-election race in minnesota. she managed to hold off a challenge from jim graves by just under 4,000 votes. bachmann ran for president this year but dropped out after losing the iowa caucuses, she what s elected in 2006 and found epd th founded the tea party caucus. with 99% of the precincts reporting congressman jeff flake born and raised in arizona defeated richard carmona who was president bush s surgeon general.
primary just endorsed the democrat in the race. michele bachmann is locked in a tight race against democratic challenger jim graves. the right wing s war on women came up in the last debate. bachmann was asked about richard mourdock s remarks. bachmann wouldn t tell voters where she stood, dodging questions about abortion, access for rape victims. you heard what richard mourdock said and you know that has been controversial. god intended this to happen if a fetus results a consequence of that rape. i want to know if you agree with that. what i agree with is i m 100% pro-life and i agree with the position of the catholic church on this issue. let s bring in kelly goth, political correspondent for theroot.com and democratic strategist chris kafinis. the war on women. these remarks by mourdock continued to erode away. how big of an impact is this going to have on these races?
his republican opponent in the primary just endorsed the democrat in the race. michele bachmann is locked in a tight race against democratic challenger jim graves. the right wing s war on women came up in the last debate. bachmann was asked about richard mourdock s remarks. bachmann wouldn t tell voters where she stood, dodging questions about abortion, access for rape victims. you heard what richard mourdock said and you know that has been controversial. god intended this to happen if a fetus results a consequence of that rape. i want to know if you agree with that. what i agree with is i m 100% pro-life and i agree with the position of the catholic church on this issue. let s bring in kelly goth, political correspondent for theroot.com and democratic strategist chris kafinis. the war on women. these remarks by mourdock continued to erode away. how big of an impact is this going to have on these races? huge. it already is, right? and i think the way i look at