Posted on 01/08/2011 6:09:09 AM PST by Kaslin
She can raise a ton of money and has national name recognition, but has no legislative record and carries a reputation as a bomb thrower.
Crossing the media transom this week comes a story brought to us by the Star Tribune in Minneapolis and not, I should point out, from The Onion. Michele Bachmann is considering a run for the White House.
I’ll just give you all a moment to let that sink in.
At first blush, the idea might not seem all that far-fetched. We may begin by considering that two of the most daunting hurdles a prospective presidential candidate must overcome are the need (and proven ability) to raise massive amounts of money and establishing national name recognition. These are bars which Ms. Bachmann has already surpassed with ease.
She was able to raise nearly $14M in rapid order, a level rarely achieved by someone who was recently described on MSNBC as a “two term, back bench member of Congress.” And she’s been spreading that money around in all the right places, including tens of thousands dumped into Iowa.
As for name recognition, that particular check-box has already been ticked. Bachmann is a staple of the cable news shows and regularly garners ink in publications far from her home stomping grounds. She’s also well known as a provider of highly inflammatory quotes, feeding plenty of grist into the media mill.
Further, she comes pre-packaged with a compelling back story, critical to building the national buzz required for such an endeavor. Michele was the consummate soccer mom, back when politicos were scrambling for the attention of that media generated demographic. She left a lucrative career as a government tax attorney to raise her own five children, while also providing foster care for 23 more. It’s a touching story, and just the sort the media loves to highlight.
But circling back to the name recognition issue, she hasn’t exactly developed the type of brand which makes campaign consultants weep with envy. During her two terms in Congress she has, by her own admission, not amassed much of a body of work. She has authored a total of zero bills which have been passed into law, fueling the impression that most of her accomplishments have come in the media, rather than on the floor of the people’s house.
More to the point, that media legend hasn’t exactly developed as a portrait of professional competence and restraint. Her exaggerated rhetoric earned her CNN honors as the “wingnut of the year” with her most widely reported remarks seeming to run toward the sarcastic more than the scholarly. Whether she is referring to the president as a socialist or a tyrant or invoking visions of McCarthyism in calling for the investigation of her colleagues who might not be “American” enough, Bachmann has engineered a legacy which doesn’t seem to lend itself to the serious business of governance.
In short, Michele Bachmann is part of a new breed of politicians, but it’s a pedigree that runs well outside the mainstream. She has perfected the art of speaking in blog headlines — the juicier the better. While most politicians at the national level seek to provide a balanced meal to a diverse group of prospective diners, Bachmann is 100% red meat all of the time.
She is, for lack of a better term, a bomb thrower, and one who seems to revel in the role. And that’s a very effective tactic for raising large sums of cash from a base which is spoiling for a Pattonesque, blood and guts battle to the death in the halls of Congress. It is not, however, a proven tactic for winning national elections where one needs to bring along the middle as well as the extreme fringe.
Of course there are more options out there for Ms. Bachmann than just a path to the White House. Her name comes up repeatedly in discussions of positions from head of the RNC to majority leadership roles. Washington political analyst Stuart Rothenberg was recently quoted as saying, “It seems to me she’s been floated for every possible office except queen of England.”
This, of course, is a frivolous bit of speculation. One would be hard pressed to imagine her accepting the role of Britain’s monarch as a replacement for the far more prestigious “queen of the Tea Party.”
So will she make a grab for the biggest brass ring in the land? While she’s not ruling it out, there is already a parallel story making the rounds in which she will be running for the Senate in 2012 against Amy Klobuchar. Either way, she’s clearly building up a crack political team in preparation for something big. She’s enlisted Doug Sachtleben as her communications director. Doug, as you may recall, is a veteran of the highly successful Delaware Senate bid of definitely-not-a-witch candidate Christine O’Donnell.
What could possibly go wrong?
I love, love, love Michele Bachmann.
That said, if you liked what they did to Sarah Palin, you will absolutely LOVE what the MSM does to Michele.
grrr...
I could not have said it any better. I would vote for Michele over Palin and either of them over any of the current GOP men being courted.
2016 I’d go for the Double R: Rubio - Ryan
Basically the MSM is telling us that conservative women need not apply.
Okay let me understand you. You are saying you can not vote for a conservative woman? but wishing men had the balls like these 2 women so you could vote for the man? Is that what you are saying?
>>>>She can raise a ton of money and has national name recognition, but has no legislative record and carries a reputation as a bomb thrower.
Obozo didn’t even have any of that and he got elected.
Representative Bachmann now characterized as a “bomb thrower” — is this a new version of “domestic terrorist”?
You had me at “bomb thrower”
“She can raise a ton of money and has national name recognition, but has no legislative record “
But she does have a legislative record, doesnt she? She’s been in congress long enough to show a vote pattern, hasnt she? I question that premise from the article, that she doesnt have a legislative record.
If her only “negatives” are that she has hired a campaign operative who worked for COD and that she has not authored any legislation that was passed, then she should be at the top of the list of potential GOP contenders. Huck, Mitt, Newt, Palin, etc. should be envious of such a short “negatives” list.
Gang of 14? How about the Tea Party Gang?
Not having authored a bill. Is that really a bad thing? I mean, I’d rather have a person vote against or for the right bills that have been authored by other.
Palin/Bachman 2012 - UNBEATABLE TICKET
>> 2016 I’d go for the Double R: Rubio - Ryan <<
Apart from the fact that 2016 isn’t a POTUS-election year, I think you’re way off base:
In spite of the fact that Rubio and Ryan have absolutely sterling qualities in terms of their policy stances, their obvious high IQ’s and their overall “presentability,” neither man has demonstrable executive experience.
Therefore, just like Bachmann, De Mint, Pence and other “congress only” critters, they don’t qualify in my book. Give me a successful governor or successful corporate CEO, and then I may be with you.
IMO, she has hardly any negatives.
If this guy would pay attention to what Bachmann has been saying recently, he would understand that her strength is in her recognition of principle over persona.
I like Bachmann for this reason, and that she is one of those very rare, honest politicians.
I think it is the inverse—if you liked what Sarah Palin did to the MSM, you will love what Bachmann does to them.
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