Michele Bachmann for Senate

Wednesday was a sad day for political pundits everywhere as Michele Bachmann, perhaps the greatest sufferer of foot-in-mouth disease ever to emerge on Capitol Hill, announced that she is retiring. 

News outlets and liberal bloggers had a field day with the news of the Minnesota Republican’s departure, offering several versions of Bachmann’s “greatest hits” – the inaccurate or just plain wacky quotes she has spewed during her seven years in the House and her several months on the 2012 presidential campaign trail.

I say, let’s get Michelle back out there. Have her run for U.S. Senate in 2014 in Minnesota against Democratic Sen. Al Franken, the former jokester from Saturday Night Live.

That would likely become the most wildly entertaining congressional race in U.S. history.

Alas, if Bachmann declines, I suspect no one in the media will be more disappointed than the folks at Politifact.com. The fact-checking organization, known for its infamous “Pants On Fire” ratings for politicians' most blatant lies, has practically created a cottage industry out of monitoring the congresswoman’s miscues.

Overall, Politifact has rated 59 of Bachmann’s statements on their “Truth-O-Meter.” Here’s the scorecard:

True:                       5     (8 percent)

Mostly True:            4     (7 percent)

Half True:                6     (10 percent)

Mostly False:           8     (14 percent)

False:                     21     (36 percent)

Pants on Fire:        15     (25 percent)

As Politifact noted, Bachmann was gold from the beginning. “She had a remarkable streak: Her first 13 ratings were False or Pants on Fire.”

As my Macomb Daily colleague, Frank DeFrank, points out, Bachmann’s most comical miscue may have come during a December 2011 presidential debate when, in response to criticism of her truth-telling record from Newt Gingrich, the congresswoman said that, after a previous debate, Politifact came out and said, “Everything I said was true.”

For that statement, Politifact gave her a “Pants on Fire” rating.

Here is the Politifact sendoff posted on Wednesday: “Bachmann isn't leaving immediately, however, so we will keep the Truth-O-Meter turned on”

As for Bachmann's rhetorical track record and ratings, you can see them all.