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Giving Up on Bachmann
Powerline ^ | 09/14/11 | Steven Hayward

Posted on 09/14/2011 6:05:05 AM PDT by freespirited

Up to now I’ve thought Michele Bachman was the most impressive performer in the GOP field, going toe-to-toe with the “big boys” in the field, out-arguing them on several occasions, and introducing serious constitutional arguments that the rest of the field (even Perry) are too timid to attempt. She’s right to go after Rick Perry on the issue of mandating the use of the Gardisil vaccine, along with the issue of “crony capitalism,” both of which get at the issue of a potential president’s sense of the reach and limits of state power. Perry is a mixed bag on this (as is Romney obviously) and he should be pressed hard to explain himself and refine his views.

But her embrace of the wacko idea that the vaccine is dangerous or causes autism, mental retardation, or other risks is simply irresponsible. Is Bachman, Glenn Reynolds quipped, trying to go after the Jenny McCarthy vote? (Glenn also links to Jonathan Adler’s quick take on this, which is the same as mine.)

Bachman passed along with complete credulity the claim of someone who she says came up to her after the debate attributing her child’s mental issues to the vaccine. I’ve heard a few people speculate darkly about whether such a person actually exists, or whether Bachman made it up or is trimming a bit from something she was told another time. You’d think our inquisitive news media would find this person and investigate, or that the person would now step forward (or that other people with similar claims would now step forward). Above all, this is a political mistake as well as a scientific one, as it has shifted the focus from Perry’s use of power to Bachmann’s scientific credibility—a lose-lose for everyone.

Which raises the last point. NBC Nightly News last night went to some trouble to attack Bachman’s views on the Gardisil vaccine. Fine; but why doesn’t NBC or the other major media perform the same service when anti-vaccine quackery comes from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. or Jenny McCarthy? No mystery here.


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012gopprimary; bachmann; bachmann2012; captaingardasil; gardisil; michelebachmann
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

“...The “vaccine” issue is a government control issue....”

I agree with you and disagree with you. It SHOULD be about government control, but she made it about other things. She made it about crony capitalism, which I agree is a first cousin of government control and is valid.

She also made it very emotional and about “innoculating innocent children” which turned it into a concentration camp lab experiment and just went way over the top with that.

And so she screwed it up IMO. Besides, Perry’s record on parental rights and government control over all is good, so there’s only so much rope to hang him with on this one issue. That’s why she went ballistic-emotional.


41 posted on 09/14/2011 6:38:43 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
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To: C. Edmund Wright
You forgot the adjective, "little". She included that in her repetitious phrase trying to demonize Perry.

She looked phony and one wonders why she's helping Romney. I lost all respect for her.

42 posted on 09/14/2011 6:38:59 AM PDT by Conservativegreatgrandma ( You cannot elevate Palin by tearing down Perry)
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To: xenob
Perry received donations from Merck. He had meetings with Merck. His former chief of staff was a lobbyist for Gardasil. His chief of staff at the time was the mother-in-law of the state rep who was the Texas chair of a group called Women in Government that Merck used to funnel money into states all over the country. Perry mandated the use of a Merck product through executive order.

Yep, nothing to see here! :)


43 posted on 09/14/2011 6:39:55 AM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm (It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged. -- G.K. Chesterton)
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To: Mozilla

Meaning, If Cain gets out and Bachmann is out and Palin is not in. I really don’t have a horse in the race to pull for.

You've stumbled upon the GOP's game plan. If they can marginalize the Tea Party candidates, or convince them not to run, their man sits in the Whitehouse; Obama has defeated himself. He will not win in 2012. The GOP prefers to have one of their own replace him. And if they can remove our horses from the race, they figure we'll get our collective "ass in line" and support their man. Many here on FR would do just that ... and chastise those who resist doing so. Mark my words, there will be a whole lot of "wasting your vote" and "handing a vote to Obama" tripe thrown around on this forum in the election to come.


44 posted on 09/14/2011 6:40:12 AM PDT by so_real ( "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
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To: xsmommy
Michele owns her own missteps here.

What politician doesn't misstep?

It is a fact that Perry used an executive order to pass this, bypassing the legislature.
It is a fact that Perry wishes he had done it differently.
It is a fact that the government was trying to have some involvement in people's private medical decisions.

It is also a fact that this was not a true mandate, because people could opt out. So Bachmann did misstep when she characterized this as a mandate.

Normally, a politician missteps and then carries on. But the media (and some Republicans) smell blood and are trying to take Bachmann down over an issue in which I think she was more right than wrong -- and I would say that Perry was more wrong than right. I'm not against Perry, I am merely unhappy that people are using this to justify their disapproval of Bachmann.

45 posted on 09/14/2011 6:40:12 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (The USSR spent itself into bankruptcy and collapsed -- and aren't we on the same path now?)
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To: Redleg Duke

What the heck is wrong with going after Perry over his executive orders? I think this is damned important and it’s giving me major pause over Perry.

I also think he looked like a deer in the headlights during her attack. Not impressive!


46 posted on 09/14/2011 6:40:34 AM PDT by miss marmelstein (Run, Sarah, Run! Please!)
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To: C. Edmund Wright
Perry’s record on parental rights and government control over all is good

The deviation from Perry's normal record only adds to the appearance of impropriety though.

47 posted on 09/14/2011 6:42:56 AM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm (It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged. -- G.K. Chesterton)
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To: freespirited
...why doesn’t NBC or the other major media perform the same service when anti-vaccine quackery comes from Robert F. Kennedy Jr....

Kennedy simply doesn't care what the media say about him---because he's dead.

48 posted on 09/14/2011 6:43:28 AM PDT by Rudder (The Main Stream Media is Our Enemy---get used to it.)
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To: freespirited

It was her “I’m not a witch. I’m you.” moment.


49 posted on 09/14/2011 6:44:50 AM PDT by ari-freedom (It's time for Obama to get a downgrade.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Of course everyone missteps, but you cannot hold michele blameless and blame others for it. Howard Dean climbed aboard the crazy train and brought about his own demise. Michele has had a series of missteps and this passionate and sort of overdone bit about the Gardasil has conservatives leery of her, and backing away at this point. I maintain that the Gardasil issue in the big picture is not going to gain traction with the voting public, but a candidate’s overreaction to something can stick with them. I have seen, on twitter and elsewhere, conservative pundits backing away from Michele, and I see that as a problem she caused. Maybe it was desperation, feeling the need to break out and take Perry on strenuously, but it may work out to have been a miscalculation.


50 posted on 09/14/2011 6:45:51 AM PDT by xsmommy
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

Its depressing to see that all of these people who weren’t supporting Bachmann before have decided to continue not supporting her.


51 posted on 09/14/2011 6:46:25 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: fabian
Oh, yeah, a man with an orange face and orange hair for prez. A guy who is one day a Republican and the next an Independent and sometimes a Libertarian. A New York guy who eats pizza with a knife and fork.

As a New Yorker, I enjoy many of Trump's antics and pronouncements. But he is not presidential material.

52 posted on 09/14/2011 6:47:12 AM PDT by miss marmelstein (Run, Sarah, Run! Please!)
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To: skeeter

+1

Sure did not take long for this primary to devolve into the usual GOP circular firing squad.


53 posted on 09/14/2011 6:48:21 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network ("Cut the Crap and Balance!" -- Governor Sarah Palin , Friday August 12 2011, Iowa State Fair)
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To: miss marmelstein

I agree with you. It is perfectly valid. The left will be far more pointed with their attacks, and he needs to be better prepared.


54 posted on 09/14/2011 6:48:55 AM PDT by Shelayne (He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly" Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! *Rev 22:20)
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To: freespirited
Bachmann began slipping in the polls when the debates began.

Not my first choice, but I would vote for her over Obama any day of the week.

55 posted on 09/14/2011 6:50:26 AM PDT by Rudder (The Main Stream Media is Our Enemy---get used to it.)
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To: xsmommy
Mark my words: the GOP and the media will winnow the field of canddiates one by one --

Bachmann
Cain
Santorum
Paul
Huntsman

Romney and Perry must be left as the only two choices. Anyone who is not a member of the Establishment must be pilloried whenever possible.

I expect Democrats to take Bachmann to task for the misstep she made.
I expect the media to take Bachmann to task for the misstep she made.

What I see are a lot of people who self-identify as Conservative who are trying to quash Bachmann's campaign.

Is that the best use of your time?

56 posted on 09/14/2011 6:50:43 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (The USSR spent itself into bankruptcy and collapsed -- and aren't we on the same path now?)
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To: skeeter

I’m afraid conservatives will just not accept a woman candidate. In this regard, they are way behind the times. From mandarins like Krauthammer to the most obscure conservative blogger, it is all out war on women candidates. Rush has spoken to this subject very well. He, too, is bewildered by it.


57 posted on 09/14/2011 6:50:55 AM PDT by miss marmelstein (Run, Sarah, Run! Please!)
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To: miss marmelstein

Trump is right.

Just as H. Ross Perot, before him.

We all laughed at Perot’s “giant sucking sound” at the time.

Nobody is laughing now...


58 posted on 09/14/2011 6:51:13 AM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network ("Cut the Crap and Balance!" -- Governor Sarah Palin , Friday August 12 2011, Iowa State Fair)
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To: ilovesarah2012

And how’s that been working out?


59 posted on 09/14/2011 6:51:36 AM PDT by Mr. Lucky
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To: perfect_rovian_storm

And don’t forget the Merck guy who’s on the board of the “SuperPAC” funding a significant part of Perry’s campaign. Coincidence, I’m sure.


60 posted on 09/14/2011 6:51:45 AM PDT by kevkrom (This space for rent.)
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