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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Mary Sanchez
April 25, 2011
I will not poke fun at Michele Bachmann.
I will not poke fun at Michele Bachmann.
I will not poke fun at Michele Bachmann.
Always knew those elementary school chalkboard rituals would come in handy someday, a reminder not to act recklessly, to remain on task. It's just that the Republican congresswoman from Minnesota makes it so hard.
Here she was last week (as quoted by Politico), speaking to a conservative audience in Iowa about a shadowy conspiracy afoot in the state: "That's what you had here in Iowa: black-robed masters. ... They are not our masters. They are not our morality. They are not put there to make the decisions."
She was referring to the
Bachmann's frequent appearances in Iowa of late are no mere coincidence. The state's caucuses are the opening round of the presidential primaries, and Bachmann has been coyly suggesting she might just throw her hat in the ring.
She's not a viable candidate for 2012, and I suspect she knows it. However, her star is on the rise as a leading voice of the tea party, adding to her reputation as an outspoken evangelical conservative. And she's a savvy and charismatic politician. If she joins the Republican presidential primary race, and is not neutralized by the party establishment, she may well push the
Republicans would certainly profit from her ability to energize evangelical Christians, and her impassioned calls for slashing the federal government to shreds may endear her to many libertarians. But then there are the all-important swing voters. How would they respond, say, to Bachmann's call to shut down the
"Any place where we could abolish we should go ahead and cut back and abolish," she said in Iowa last week. "The private sector can handle that on their own."
Seriously? Does she really believe that charter schools and private schools and home-schooling mothers will suddenly fill the massive national void of no federally guided public education in America? All those soccer moms in conservative suburbs across the nation might beg to differ.
Of late, the conservative Young Turks in the
The
Bachmann's recent appearances in Iowa showcased the possible pitfalls. She preached about criminalizing same-sex marriage and dumping the entire tax code, and declared that
In fact, candidates from either party would do well to study Bachmann's gifts at constituency building and her accessible, consistent rhetoric. She even tops Sarah Palin in that regard. True, her views are out of whack with the vast majority of the nation -- and her opponents would be wise to begin pointing that out -- but she's good at marketing a message and packaging a brand: that of the fiery challenger, proud, plain-speaking and energizing. That's a type of intelligence not to look down on, and I can't think of a single prominent Democrat who possesses it.
As with her rootin'-tootin' forerunner Palin, you can marvel at what comes out of her mouth and gawp at her drive to overreach, but you'd be unwise to dismiss her.
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