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To criticize Bachmann in her present role as an announced candidate is by no means to be 'anti-Bachmann'. She has played a core role in the coalescence of the Tea Party. By many accounts, she has done yeoman work inside the House, educating and counseling the freshman conservative members. Against these highly positive factors must be set some objective realities, not necessarily in order of importance:

[1] She engaged Ed Rollins as her campaign manager, a per se sign that she did so without thoroughly vetting Rollins, who can best be described as a loopy legend in his own mind, with all kinds of baggage, BTW. Query, why couldn't she have done better?

[2] She has no money and lacks the star power to raise it any time soon.

[3} She is getting far too much positive attention from the mainslime media - a sure sign of un-electability for any conservative candidate. What do they see that has not been brought to light?

[4] She has no executive experience, zero, zip, nada. This matters, people.

[5] She is not Sarah Palin. In her wildest dreams, Bachmann cannot pull in the independents, the unions, the single moms, the military families, in Sarah Palin's numbers within those crucial groups. In order to save the country, winning the White House with narrow margins in the congress will not suffice. We must also win the House and the Senate with working conservative majorities. This will require a tsunami and only Sarah Palin has the demonstrated vision, power and the skill to win by tsunami. Vision and skill underscored and case closed.

She has no money and lacks the star power to raise it any time soon.

Another idiotic argument. Bachmann was one of the top fundraisers in the House:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-will-lead-gop-in-first-quarter-fundraising/2011/06/26/AGIkCYmH_story.html

Michele Bachmann: If money follows momentum — and it does — then the congresswoman from Minnesota will be sitting pretty when all the cash is counted. Bachmann had a standout debate performance this month in New Hampshire, and a Des Moines Register poll released over the weekend showed her in a statistical tie with Romney in Iowa. Bachmann is no stranger to raising big sums: She collected more than $13 million for her 2010 House campaign.

She is not Sarah Palin.

That is a good thing in many ways for Bachmann. She doesn't have the stigma as having quit office. She never has appeared in reality shows for money with Kate Gosselin and her eight kids. Her numbers with independents are better and unfavorables are far lower than Palin.

It's time to stop pretending Palin doesn't have just as high, if not higher, hurdles to overcome than Bachmann.