Look who's back

[Mizzougrad96]

If Bachmann and Palin are both in the race, this could be the most entertaining primaries ever.

It was funny. On Kimmel last night they showed a campaign ad for Palin and at the end it said, "Paid for by Barack Obama..."

 

[Dick Whitman]

Isn't Bachmann pretty much a useless Rep? I guess I shouldn't say useless. Perhaps she does right by her constituents, though that would be interesting since she's so anti-spending (I've always thought it would be tough to be a GOP representative, since the aims of the two groups seem so diametrically opposed).

From everything I've read, her fellow Republicans do not take her seriously at all. They don't join her committees. She introduces no bills that anyone takes seriously. She is an intellectual lightweight. And on and on.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I think Bachmann sees herself as a smarter version of Palin and she wants what Palin has, and she thinks running will get her speaking engagements, book deals and a cushy gig at Fox News. I don't think she's actually after the presidency.

I think that's been the case with a lot of candidates over the years. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Pat Buchanan...

 

[Dick Whitman]

I think Bachmann sees herself as a smarter version of Palin and she wants what Palin has, and she thinks running will get her speaking engagements, book deals and a cushy gig at Fox News. I don't think she's actually after the presidency.

I think that's been the case with a lot of candidates over the years. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Pat Buchanan...

I think you're right. I asked a few months ago here what Bachmann's end game is, as she definitely desires a high profile. I think you hit it on the head. There is an enormous market for an attractive, fire-breathing, socially conservative woman.

My favorite Bachmann moment will always be her talking into the wrong camera in her State of the Union response.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I think she lost a lot of support from her party with the whole State of the Union thing. The republicans had their own congressman (Ryan, I believe) who was already speaking on behalf of the party and she still thought she should speak on behalf of the Tea Party.

I think that hurt her a lot. The fact that she's still running shows me just how much she's craving the national spotlight.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Bachmann's "red hot love affair with the Constitution," as I think Dahlia Litwick called it, is perhaps the most annoying thing about her. The way she has set herself up as some sort of Constitutional scholar - and Glenn Beck and most of the Tea Party are guilty of this, as well - is like nails on a chalkboard.

This isn't a political thing. I would drive through a raging blizzard to have a half-hour of Antonin Scalia's time to talk about his Constitutional theory. Because he backs it with intellectual heft. I would drive through a lesser blizzard to speak with Clarence Thomas on the topic, because his originalism is even more pure than Scalia's. I couldn't get on board with it, because I think it would bring on chaos, but I would love to talk to him about it.

For Bachmann to parade around as some sort of equal to them is insulting. And this isn't about her not being a lawyer. The most fascinating, probing, skeptical-in-all-the-right-ways Constitutional scholar I have ever had the pleasure to speak with and learn from did not have a law degree. In fact, I think that worked to his favor.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2011/01/17/110117crat_atlarge_lepore

 

[93Devil]

Palin and TEA are the best thing the Dems could have ever wished for.

Imagine Japan attacking us during the Civil War. You cannot fight when you are split apart.

Unless the GOP has everything in order, they don't have a chance.

 

[secretariat]

I would drive through a lesser blizzard to speak with Clarence Thomas on the topic, because his originalism is even more pure than Scalia's. I couldn't get on board with it, because I think it would bring on chaos, but I would love to talk to him about it.

Clarence Thomas would sit there with a confused look on his face, answer no questions, ask no questions and then have a clerk write an assenting opinion on your conversation.

 

[Armchair_QB]

The cynic in me thinks the hardline GOP base that despises Palin wants her to run and eventually force the Tea Party to split and form its own far-right wingnut party.

Doing this would then give the GOP the chance to keep its own base intact and possibly appeal to more conservative Dems who are turned off by the Shiite wing of the current GOP occupied by Palin's crowd and may not particularly care for the far left of their own party.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I would drive through a lesser blizzard to speak with Clarence Thomas on the topic, because his originalism is even more pure than Scalia's. I couldn't get on board with it, because I think it would bring on chaos, but I would love to talk to him about it.

Clarence Thomas would sit there with a confused look on his face, answer no questions, ask no questions and then have a clerk write an assenting opinion on your conversation.

I know he doesn't ask questions from the bench. But he certainly has a very consistent Constitutional theory. Basically, he thinks precedent is worthless. Scalia won't even go that far. I'd be curious to know how Thomas thinks his decisions would play out in the real world.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I just can't help but wonder what impact things would have on next year's election if gas prices are pushing $5 a gallon or higher and the economy stays crappy or God forbid, gets worse.

As it stands now, Obama will win. I'm not willing to say he'll win in a rout, but I think he'll win. If things are still really bad next year, I still think he'll win, but it will be closer than people think. That's why I don't want Palin on the other side. I don't want a situation where if things get worse and there's a big anti-Obama backlash that the only other option is Palin.

If it's Pawlenty or Romney, then I'm fine with that.

Since I don't really expect that to happen, I'm ready to focus on 2016 unless there's a late entry to this election.

 

[Bob Cook]

Ed Rogers has an interesting theory on what the GOP should do:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/huntsman-bachmann-in-2012/2011/05/26/AGIs3HCH_story.html?hpid=z3

Huntsman is definitely an interesting choice should he decide to run. The biggest feat Bachmann can possibly achieve is to be the Palin-esque running mate who corrals the Tea Party vote.

Sounds great on paper, but no way in hell it happens. The Tea Party's strength, if you will, with its base is never compromising. Bachmann can kiss her Tea Party ass goodbye if she runs as a second banana with a guy who used to work for Obama. And Huntsman's presumed status as an intellectual is counterbalanced by having a screaming yahoo one heartbeat away from the presidency. It's the worst of both worlds, really.

 

[LongTimeListener]

The cynic in me thinks the hardline GOP base that despises Palin wants her to run and eventually force the Tea Party to split and form its own far-right wingnut party.

Doing this would then give the GOP the chance to keep its own base intact and possibly appeal to more conservative Dems who are turned off by the Shiite wing of the current GOP occupied by Palin's crowd and may not particularly care for the far left of their own party.

That's an interesting theory. I know I'd take a long look at a GOP that didn't have the Tea Party influence.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Ed Rogers has an interesting theory on what the GOP should do:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/huntsman-bachmann-in-2012/2011/05/26/AGIs3HCH_story.html?hpid=z3

Huntsman is definitely an interesting choice should he decide to run. The biggest feat Bachmann can possibly achieve is to be the Palin-esque running mate who corrals the Tea Party vote.

That makes way too much sense to work.

 

[Machine Head]

Michele the Money Bomb!

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who said Thursday she is planning a presidential campaign announcement in Iowa next month, raised more than $250,000 over the past two days in an online fundraising "money bomb."

I find this very interesting. The base is there for her. She connects with them:

Of the $1.7 million she raised in the first three months of the year for her congressional committee, $1.2 million came from small-dollar donations. Nearly 80 percent of her itemized contributions came from outside Minnesota.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/122700024.html

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Michele the Money Bomb!

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who said Thursday she is planning a presidential campaign announcement in Iowa next month, raised more than $250,000 over the past two days in an online fundraising "money bomb."

I find this very interesting. The base is there for her. She connects with them:

Of the $1.7 million she raised in the first three months of the year for her congressional committee, $1.2 million came from small-dollar donations. Nearly 80 percent of her itemized contributions came from outside Minnesota.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/122700024.html

Didn't Mittens get $10 mil in a day?

 

[Machine Head]

Michele the Money Bomb!

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who said Thursday she is planning a presidential campaign announcement in Iowa next month, raised more than $250,000 over the past two days in an online fundraising "money bomb."

I find this very interesting. The base is there for her. She connects with them:

Of the $1.7 million she raised in the first three months of the year for her congressional committee, $1.2 million came from small-dollar donations. Nearly 80 percent of her itemized contributions came from outside Minnesota.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/122700024.html

Didn't Mittens get $10 mil in a day?

Nice to see you read the link.

You are missing the point.

 

[CarltonBanks]

There are a number of GOP candidates that could defeat Obama in 2012. Palin and Bachman are not among them. There comes a point when a candidate should realize he/she is hurting their side...Bachman and Palin will realize this eventually. I just hope it happens sooner, rather than later, so we can see a legit candidate. Obama cannot run on a pipe dream of hope and change anymore...he has an actual record he will be forced to defend. And this will be his undoing.

Of course, the "Love Obama regardless of what he does or what mistakes he has made" crowd will vote for him anyway, but they will be cancelled out by the "I will not vote for a black man" crowd. Unless Herman Cain somehow ends up with the nomination...then all bets are off.

 

[Dick Whitman]

There are a number of GOP candidates that could defeat Obama in 2012. Palin and Bachman are not among them. There comes a point when a candidate should realize he/she is hurting their side...Bachman and Palin will realize this eventually. I just hope it happens sooner, rather than later, so we can see a legit candidate. Obama cannot run on a pipe dream of hope and change anymore...he has an actual record he will be forced to defend. And this will be his undoing.

Not necessarily. Many parts of the ACA are quite popular. The hanging question we've discussed here - whether the mandate penalties are large enough to have an impact - will not be answered until after 2014. He was redeemed on foreign policy with the Bin Laden killing (obviously that will be a distant memory by Election Day).

It will come down to the state of the economy a year from now. It really will.