More at http://www.theuptake.org One of the undisputed stars of the Minnesota Republican Party was, and will remain to be, Michele Bachmann. Her penchant for outrageous comments coupled with a hard-right bent has earned her intense scrutiny from the media and strong support from Republican activists.

With the results of her race against DFL and Independent endorsed candidate Elwyn Tinklenberg still in doubt Bachmann entered the ballroom floor relatively early in the evening to talk with a select few members of the media.

Bachmann stopped to talk with former Minnesota Sen. Rudy Boschwitz and conservative talk show host Jason Lewis.

Lewis appeared to suggest that if Bachmann had tied her controversial comments about Barack Obama and some of her congressional coleagues holding "anti-American" views to the KKK and individuals such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney then more of the public would have understood.

Sometime after midnight, Tinklenberg conceded and Bachmann delivered her acceptance speech to roaring approval. Minnesota GOP Chair Ron Carey was particularly fired up for the occasion. Many late polls had Bachmann trailing Tinklenberg.