If you thought you were seeing Rep. Michele Bachmann every time you turned on the television, it’s because you probably were.

The Smart Politics blog, from the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, has an illuminating analysis of the 6th District congresswoman’s surging national media exposure.

The study, which examined media transcripts from the day Bachmann took office in 2007, found that the Minnesota Republican, who has a penchant for making controversial statements, has made 22 appearances on national cable news programs so far this year, matching her total number of appearances for all of 2008. “Representative Bachmann has thus substantially increased her national profile from averaging one national cable television news interview every 16.6 days in 2008 to one appearance every 9.1 days thus far in 2009,” wrote Eric Ostermeier, the center’s research associate.