Fascinating discussion. I mean, this is what she looks like. If it was an image she paid a photographer to make for her then it was an epic failure. But what it turns out to be is a dead-on capture of political persona. Excellent.
Michelle Bachmann is a lot of things, unattractive isn't one of them - I'm with John Stewart of the Daily Show on this one... This photographer and Newsweek went out of their way to make Bachmann look bad to sell magazines and further fuel the liberal and conservative divide in America... No one in their right minds would use this photo as a cover photo, unless they disliked Bachmann.
You can capture even the most normal person looking crazy or evil any day of the week, especially if you click the shutter when they're not quite ready. Which is why I think this photographer had an agenda of his own, or was asked to try for a crazy shot; looks to me like he shot this when she wasn't ready. Her mouth isn't even in a smile yet and her eyes suggest she's almost asking a question or listening to something instead of posing. Terrible thing to do to any woman or any client.
The photographer surely took tons of shots but he, and mostly Newsweek for sure, picked this one. Newsweek favors liberals, so picking a shot to make a conservative look crazy to support their views and the article is business as usual. Check out Bernard Goldberg's book "Bias". Fox or mainstream, everyone has an agenda.
We've all seen tons pics of Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton that are far more frightening than this.
guess we both gagged...for different reasons. 
