She's Michelle Bachmann. Why is she being taken seriously as a candiate?

[TerroristFistJab]

With   the constant  jarring public statements, zealot  social views, and  ignorant    beliefs   on  basic science and economics how is Bachmann   being  elevated above fringe candidate  status?



 I'll ignore her creepiness for a moment.  How is a  3 term   house member from Minny,  with  no legislative accomplishments,  and with no economic credentials  going to get the GOP presidential nomination? I cant see that happening.  


 Sure she's  leading in Iowa.  Romney has conceded it,  and she could win it by default.  But that's the only place where a candidate like her has a chance.  Iowa basically  has become  a purity test on the   GOP  side.   Its where candidates have to be as Christian as possible   until  voting day. Then they drop it and move on  the other 49 states.   Bachmann  stays in that world and never drops it.


NH is a open primary. she has no chance. she scares the pants off   Indys and Dems.  Her   antagonistic social views, lack of economic experience,  and  weird baggage    are too much for  Bachmann  to   attract   the average voter who just    wants a competent  and credible    leader   who can  deliver jobs and security.  Basically I'm  talking about a non Iowa caucus  voter.

[Holmes]

You answered your question in your first sentence.

[courts]

Idk, I think you explained it pretty well already OP. We could use more super cereal posters like you!

[sg0508]

Because she's what the base GOP likes, which in itself, describes everything wrong with the party.

[Lief 🗽]

People who think that Bachmann has no chance of becoming president are deluding themselves. She has at least a 1 out of 3 shot at being the Republican nominee, and even if she wouldn't be favored against Obama, all she needs is a September/October economic surprise (which is a distinct possibility with how fragile the world economy is) to give her a narrow victory.

[sg0508]

You all forget something called Momentum and in addition, the GOP Primary is traditionally a very quick process.  2000 was the last time outside of 1976 that things even got somewhat interesting.

If somehow she manages to win IA and then wins NH, it's over.  She wins the nomination and the GOP is done as the country laughs.

[courts]

People who think that Bachmann has no chance of becoming president are deluding themselves. She has at least a 1 out of 3 shot at being the Republican nominee, and even if she wouldn't be favored against Obama, all she needs is a September/October economic surprise (which is a distinct possibility with how fragile FUBAR the world economy is) to give her a narrow land slide victory.

[milhouse24]

i actually think she is hotter than Sarah Palin, physically speaking

[Yelnoc]

i actually think she is hotter than Sarah Palin, physically speaking

She's younger, IIRC.

[Mr. Morden]

i actually think she is hotter than Sarah Palin, physically speaking

She's younger, IIRC.

Bachmann is 8 years older than Palin, ftr.  (55 vs. 47)

[Kevin]

Because she's what the base GOP likes, which in itself, describes everything wrong with the party.

But she is the "conservative" candidate.

[Joe Biden 2020]

She spouts her mouth off kinda like Sally Kern does.  That's not good company, Michelle, just sayin'.

I agree with the consensus that she won't get anywhere.  Sarah Palin has a better shot than she does, and that's saying something.

[courts]

i actually think she is hotter than Sarah Palin, physically speaking

She's younger, IIRC.

Bachmann is 8 years older than Palin, ftr.  (55 vs. 47)

She's aging much better then...

[King]

I remember when Bachmann was just a small little wart on Minnesota's backside.  Occasionally we'd pick at it and BRTD would complain about how much it bothered, but we never took it seriously enough to have it checked out.  Now it's a tumor the size of Lake Huron and is spreading throughout the country so fast it's unclear whether it's too late for chemotherapy to fight it off or not.

[Joe Biden 2020]

I remember when Bachmann was just a small little wart on Minnesota's backside.  Occasionally we'd pick at it and BRTD would complain about how much it bothered, but we never took it seriously enough to have it checked out.  Now it's a tumor the size of Lake Huron and is spreading throughout the country so fast it's unclear whether it's too late for chemotherapy to fight it off or not.

We could have radiation kill it off, but that might kill off some of the good cells, too.

[Torie]

The polls.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Because she's what the base GOP likes, which in itself, describes everything wrong with the party.

^^^This.

[milhouse24]

Because in all likelihood, she will be the first woman to win the GOP Iowa Caucus.  Let's see the Feminists argue about that one.

[nhmagic]

Or, despite the hubris of members on this board, she simply is a serious candidate.  She has stood by the GOP base more than most other members of our party.  Though I find the zeal with which she pursues the gay marriage ban stuff atrocious (it really is not needed, though it makes for less of a negative electoral impact than liberals believe), I think I speak for most of the party when I say we agree with her on more of her positions than any of the other candidates.  Unlike the other candidates, she will contrast with Obama (bold colors, not pale pastels).  She will give the country a choice - something that in all honesty has not been given since Reagan.  Bush pretended he was a conservative in both his election and reelection campaign, only to spend the country away and hand it over to an even bigger spender who proceeded to continue the wars he denounced when Bush was in office.  Barack Obama's presidency became the very thing he accused a potential McCain presidency of becoming - President Bush's third term in office.

I find it refreshing that Michelle Bachmann hails from the more conservative wing of the party.  I think the country will appreciate her fight and drive.  I also believe that she, more than any other candidate, will turn everything Obama has promised and said around on him during the campaign and debates.

For instance, Obama said, "That's exactly right. And you know, a year from now I think people are going to see that we're starting to make some progress. But there's still going to be some pain out there. If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition."

And what does Bachmann do in her campaign announcement: "We're practical people. We know our country can work; we just want it to work again. It's a very powerful coalition that the left fears; and they should, because, make no mistake about it, Barack Obama will be a one-term president. In February 2009, President Obama was very confident that his economic policies would turn the country around within a year. He said, and I quote, 'A year from now, I think people are going to see that we're starting to make some progress. If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition.' Well, Mr. President, your policies haven't worked. Spending our way out of the recession hasn't worked. And so Mr. President, we take you at your word."

That's what we need in 12 to win.

[pbrower2a]

With   the constant  jarring public statements, zealot  social views, and  ignorant    beliefs   on  basic science and economics how is Bachmann   being  elevated above fringe candidate  status?

Because she has been getting away with it -- so far. She gets the media attention  in politics for much the same reason that a story that "Fire swept a vacant warehouse" makes its way onto a bad newscast. Predictable images and one screeching word attract the attention of people getting what would otherwise be a news item of little interest.

Follow the money. When one right-wing Republican who promises to enrich extant elites falters, in comes another new character.

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Take a look at the really creepy stuff going on and the creepy characters  behind it. Think about what our super-rich want in view of what they have gotten in some other countries -- complete dominion over economic and political life, with anyone showing any sign of dissent meeting a nasty end. Michelle Bachmann is blatant in expressing more of this than anyone else. She is as anti-intellectual as Sarah Palin; she stands for a veritable Inquisition against anyone whose "patriotism" (really, acquiescence in plutocracy); her economic values are extreme.

As significantly, look at the shadowy right-wing organizations (Citizens United, Americans for Prosperity, Club for Growth, the National Chamber of Commerce, American Crossroads, and to some extent the John Birch Society), and you see that those groups seek some legitimacy as a ruling clique. Someone so blatant as Michelle Bachmann can seem to make those groups look 'moderate' by contrast -- something like the KKK making the more 'establishment' White Citizens Councils look moderate in the pre-1965 South.

The right-wing Establishment wants America in lockstep, believing some myths compatible with its agenda of a corporate-dominated State in which Big Business gets cheap and  submissive labor, resource extraction and consumption becomes the measure of prosperity, captive markets become the norm,  people are materialistic brutes who can't make any but the crudest of moral judgments, and anyone who runs afoul of the system either flees, dies, or ends up in some torture chamber or 'educational labor camp'. She may be a crude stereotype of everything wrong in right-wing American politics

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Just watch Karl Rove; he is the real leader of the GOP Establishment. Just when you think that he is going objective and conceding defeat he is planning to strike in ways that nobody thinks of except himself and his associates. Do you remember how incompetent Michael Steele was and how his bumbling would help consolidate the authority of President Obama in late 2009 and early 2010? This, the purest Machiavellian to ever wield power beyond a city hall, knows the seams in our Constitutional system and has no qualms about exploiting those for his own power and the enrichment of his backers. Remember -- should Michelle Bachmann prove troublesome, then there is some fresh card in the deck., a card that is whatever Karl Rove finds most convenient at the time. If he needs a "12*" to get blackjack because he has a visible '9', and you have a pair of face cards other than aces, then he will come up with exactly that a '12'.
     

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Don't be so sure. New Hampshire Democrats might be wise to cleave to the Democratic Party, as New Hampshire has two shaky Republican Representatives even if the Presidency is a sure thing. Some will be so concerned that President Obama will face a strong challenge that they might vote for what they think is a sure loser in Michelle Bachmann. But even if she loses, she might be the shill for something as troublesome for America but more subtle.

* For those unfamiliar with cards games, no standard deck of cards has a "12".   

[pbrower2a]

Because in all likelihood, she will be the first woman to win the GOP Iowa Caucus.  Let's see the Feminists argue about that one.

She is about as much a representative of feminists as Clarence Thomas is a representative of black people in their political aspirations.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Because for the media, sensational stuff=more ratings. Look what got more attention between a congressman's boner and, say, the debt ceiling debate.

[nhmagic]

With   the constant  jarring public statements, zealot  social views, and  ignorant    beliefs   on  basic science and economics how is Bachmann   being  elevated above fringe candidate  status?

Constant jarring public statements: "We've got to punish our enemies and reward our friends" - Obama

Zealot social views: "I don't want them punished with a baby" - Obama, and of course the BAIPA debacle

Ignorant Beliefs on Basic Science: Any person who espouses global warming

Economics: All in the opinion of the left...

I'll ignore her creepiness for a moment.  How is a  3 term   house member from Minny,  with  no legislative accomplishments,  and with no economic credentials  going to get the GOP presidential nomination? I cant see that happening.

 

I'll ignore his creepiness for a moment.  How is a half term senator from Illinois, with no legislative accomplishments, with no economic credentials going to get the DEM presidential nomination? I can't see that happening...oh, wait, it did.

Sure she's  leading in Iowa.  Romney has conceded it,  and she could win it by default.  But that's the only place where a candidate like her has a chance.  Iowa basically  has become  a purity test on the   GOP  side.   Its where candidates have to be as Christian as possible   until  voting day. Then they drop it and move on  the other 49 states.   Bachmann  stays in that world and never drops it.

This is an open question.  If she were to scoop up NH from Romney, you could be completely wrong.

NH is a open primary. she has no chance. she scares the pants off   Indys and Dems.  Her   antagonistic social views, lack of economic experience,  and  weird baggage    are too much for  Bachmann  to   attract   the average voter who just    wants a competent  and credible    leader   who can  deliver jobs and security.  Basically I'm  talking about a non Iowa caucus  voter.

I don't think you've met NH voters before.  They vote on candidates for some pretty weird reasons, even based on local innuendo.  I don't see any hatred for Bachmann up here.  You liberals never learn.  You insult people and believe you are better than people.  It is 100% evident in your distaste for a significant portion of the American population.  I don't get it.  I have all sorts of liberal friends and love them to death.  They don't talk about the religious right like you (or other members on the board).

[TerroristFistJab]

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 politicalhumor.about.com/od/republicans/a/michele-bachmann-quotes.htm
 buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-ultimate-collection-of-stupid-michele-bachmann
 dumpbachmann.com/2005/05/favorite-bachmann-quotes.html


“If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the Census Bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations at the request of President Roosevelt, and that's how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps. I'm not saying that that's what the Administration is planning to do, but I am saying that private personal information that was given to the Census Bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up, in a violation of their constitutional rights, and put the Japanese in internment camps.''


"He said he wanted to go in for humanitarian purposes and overnight we are hearing that potentially 10 to 30,000 people could have been killed in the strike. Those are some of the reports."

"The NATO strikes killed 10,000 to 30,000 people?" an incredulous Wallace asked.

"A report that came out last night from the Tripoli ambassador said that potentially there could be 10,000 to 30,000," Bachmann insisted.


Gaffes from Obama, Palin, Biden, GW Bush, Dick Cheney,  etc  are largely based  on ignorance  of facts or just misstatements.  Bachmann's  public gaffes seemed to   rooted in an  alternative education or news from conspiracy websites that she has studied and  is now reciting as a government official.    I cannot take  the opinion of anyone seriously will  not  acknowledge  the simple fact    that she has an obscene   amount of gaffes for someone running for president.
 

 
Zealot social views: ''(Gay marriage) is probably the biggest issue that will impact our state and our nation in the last, at least, thirty years. I am not understating that.''  ''Normalization (of gayness) through desensitization. Very effective way to do this with a bunch of second graders, is take a picture of 'The Lion King' for instance, and a teacher might say, 'Do you know that the music for this movie was written by a gay man?' The message is: I'm better at what I do, because I'm gay.''

He signed a  pledge that banned divorce,  brought back DADT,  discriminated against women  in the military, and would create a  Constitutional amendment to ban  same sex marriage,  and contained pro-slavery language. thefamilyleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/themarriagevow.final_.7.7.111.pdf



Ignorant Beliefs on Basic Science: ''Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn't even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas.''

Economics:   "Literally, if we took away the minimum wage—if conceivably it was gone—we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level."

lets not have a quote fight on  Bachmann. It like playing Russian roulette with a loaded gun.

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 The keyword is Senator.  A state wide elected  official.   A 3 term House member, especially one that has not  chaired any committees,   will not be able   to compete against   accomplished Governors with executive and economic experience. This election is about jobs and economy.  Bachmann doesn't have anything to show on that, unlike Perry, Pawlenty,  Palin, and  Romney.

A straight House member has never gotten  their party's nomination and  it won't happen this time either.  

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The open primary process will make it  impossible for her to win NH. I never said NH hated her. Her views are too far to the  right even for some in her party. Why on earth would would her chances with Indy's   in any state be valuable?

 Her chances in  IW and nationwide will diminish once Perry steps in. A credible candidate with a economic resume and  good reputation   that can garner trust and respect from all the GOP contingencies ( religious , economic, defense) and independents. Not the  jokes and cringes that Bachmann receives.    The donors and big name surrogates that have sitting on sidelines waiting their anti Romney savior (who isn't named Bachmann) will finally jump it too.

....And now I'm suddenly a liberal.   I'm  all about cutting the debt  and low taxes. I   voted for a GOP governors  and senators.   But  I guess that's what the GOP has become nowadays. Anyone  who points out the obvious fact that Bachmann is a  joke  is  suddenly  is no longer pure. Great litmus test.  

Have I said any wrong about the people who vote Bachmann?  I'm Christan myself.  Drop the victimhood and deal with    the facts.    Obama is weak and this is a very winnable election.  But   their is a  part of the GOP keeps pushing joke candidates like Angle, Christine O'Donnell, Paladino. I think i've seen the end of  this movie   before.  

[nhmagic]

FistJab: Reagan was ostracized for all of the very same things you mentioned.  It confirms my belief that the establishment of the republican party will not allow us to nominate someone that is truly conservative and we will end up with another George Bush type of politician, who in turn will give us another socialist like Obama.  In addition, are you saying that you would support Palin if she got into the race.? You lumped her with presidents when comparing her to Bachmann.  I don't believe for a second you would support her or give her a chance.  In fact, if this were circa 2010 when we had these discussions.  You would be rolling through the same schtick about Palin.

It's not victimhood to point out the subtle word choices you use to insult the base of the party.  When you complain about Iowan voters and religious zealotry, you are using the instincts of the left.  Obama had more baggage than Michelle Bachmann ever did when he ran for president.  Let's not forget Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers.  Yet, to establishment republicans, he was imminently electable.  We can just shove that under the rug and forget that all of his insanity never existed.  I would be happy to support Perry, but I don't trust him because of the liberal stances he has taken on immigration in the past.  When will republicans and conservatives realize that the last thing Obama wants to run against is a conservative candidate who can combat him and give the people of this country a choice.  The Romneys and Huntsmans of the world are easily defeatable.