Congresswoman Michele Bachmann won the Ames, Iowa, straw poll this week -- with it, all the legitimacy money can buy. It costs $30 to vote in the Ames straw poll, and campaigns can buy tickets for others and hand them out. The Bachmann campaign reportedly bought some 6,000 tickets. She finished with 4,823 votes, first place in what the Iowa GOP openly describes as mainly a fundraiser.
That's the process Rachel described on the show last night as electoral bingo. "If you're going to afford to only play one bingo card and you're playing against somebody else who just bought 50 bingo cards, the 50 bingo cards person is more likely to win. Yes, there is some chance and some skill involved -- listen closely. But basically you need a 1st grader's knowledge of math in order to understand the predictive odds here."
This morning on Ms. Bachmann's website, you can see what else she won at Ames: the chance to look like a winner and raise more money. After the jump, the full clip from the show.