Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Next Tuesday, President Obama will deliver his 2011 State of the Union Address. Rep. Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and chairman of the House Budget Committee, has been selected to deliver his party’s “official” rebuttal. Not one to let a media opportunity slip by, Rep. Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota and founder of the Tea Party Caucus, has decided that she, too, will deliver her own post-State-of-the-Union-Address address. Her speech will “supplement” Ryan’s GOP rebuttal with a “Tea Party” perspective. It will be webcast on the Tea Party Express Web site and will follow Congressman Ryan’s speech. Anyone wondering why Bachmann is planning to do this?
According to The Note, an ABC News blog, a source close to Bachmann has hinted that the Congresswoman has presidential ambitions. In fact, she was in Des Moines yesterday speaking at a fundraiser for “Iowans for Tax Relief.” Bachmann certainly sounded like she was buttering up folks from the heartland of this nation when she said: “It isn’t all the office seekers coming through here that will decide whether America will go on being an exceptional nation. It will be Iowans that make that decision. You will be the ones to decide. That is why I am so excited. Because I feel like I know you. Because I was born here. I was raised here. These are my values. I feel we understand each other.”
So…the Congresswoman from Minnesota who said she wanted people in her state “armed and dangerous” may actually be considering a run for the presidency of the United States. I wonder who she’d choose as a running mate? Glenn Beck? Sean Hannity? Louis Gohmert?
Do you believe Michele Bachmann has serious presidential aspirations? Do you think she would be a viable Republican candidate in 2012?
Sources:
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A Bachmann Concerto (my previous post about Michele Bachmann)
HenMan,
Great suggestion about the ex-presidents deferring their name on a battleship. How about a hospital ship??
Marnie-
Great comment! It’s too bad we can’t contact Barry Goldwater and William F. Buckley,Jr. and ask, “Is this what you had in mind?”
If I were. say an Australian, I would be begging for a Bachmann Goober ticket. The entertainment value would be beyond price.
But I doubt that even Canada, who has to put up with us as a neighbor would think some of the Republican wanna bees even remotely amusing to have to deal with and depend on for responsible decision making.
Personally, I hope that most patriotic Republicans finally begin to realize the the Republican Party Masters are deliberately choosing the stupidest possible people as candidates, since they are perfect puppets who will willfully and joyfully cut their own voters off at the knees if the puppet masters tell them to.
I think Ms Bachmann need an invitation:
not any time soon. i think Eisenhower spoke once about the infrastructure cost of building new ships. i might try looking it up later.
Pete-
I completely agree. I would like to see a President or Ex-President say to the Pentagon, “Don’t build another aircraft carrier and name it after me. Instead, use the money to build 10 Psychiatric Hospitals and 10 Traumatic Brain Injury Hospitals to take care of all the Service men and women whose lives we have damaged since 2001 in two futile, pointless wars.” Do you think any of us will live to see that day?
The prediction markets put Bachmann’s 2012 nomination chances at 2.1%.
The momentum play this year may be Chris Christie.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/mitt-romney-wins-new-hampshire-gop-straw-poll.php Bachmann comes in fifth in New Hampshire straw poll today.
i like the cris matthews clip eniobob posted where one guy talks about cutting federal workers and “they aren’t productive” when his job title is “texas tea party organizer”.
the us has as many super carriers as the rest of the world has carriers of any type. that’s ten nimitz class and one earlier class enterprise and the new ford class about to be laid down. how many do we need? how many nuke missile subs do we need? we spend as much as on our military as the rest of the world put together. we have more multi million dollar aircraft then there are terrorists.
my rant for the day
it gets to me sometimes
Elaine M.
24/7 – gotta have something to fill the time. If it looks good it gets more viewers. If it acts foolish, it gets even the “Can you believe it?” crowd. Anything beyond Cable pretty much doesn’t reach their constituents except for the local newspaper.
I really, really, would like to know more about Ms. Bachmann’s district. It must be a very unusual place. Of course it’s right next to Joe McCarthy country. “Cabin fever” comes to mind.
rafflaw
Could be. I tend to think it may be more a blindfolded lurch (too energetic for a slouch) toward the Bethlehem of a completely Redstate country molded in the image of her religious and political beliefs.
Palin has been outed because she has actually been interviewed. The only interview I’ve seen of Bachmann was on Chris Matthews when she said she thought Congress should be questioned on their “Americanism” ’cause there sure were some there she had doubts about. I’ve probably missed some.
I don’t doubt she’s about the same in lack of knowledge, but I don’t discount either’s intelligence – just their lack of curiosity about anything other what advances their view of how things should be in the good ol’ USA.
The first interview by a real journalist, if there are any willing to take it on – and that she is willing to participate with – will give us more information. That’s the third leg of their method. Never do an interview outside of FOX “News” or some other right wing media forum. Hopefully the press won’t let her get away with it.
Buckeye,
You are right on Bachmann’s tactics, but she has to rely on that dodge because of her lack of intelligence and/or lack of knowledge.
I think a trip to the store to stock up on popcorn and beer for Bachmann’s rebuttal are in order.
She, like Sarah Palin, is self-aggrandizing. Neither of them are viable candidates. The elites of the GOP are beginning (finally) to openly rebel against Palin – I suspect Bachmann would suffer the same fate once on the national stage.
Gyges,
Thanks for the link to that NPR story.
Buckeye,
“And the press lets them get away with it for the most part.”
There you have it! That’s because so many members of the press aren’t informed and can’t confront people like Palin and Bachmann with the facts. All they care about is getting a good story.
rafflaw
I think it’s more than that. Like Ms. Palin she transfers the fault she is accused of onto her opponent.
“I’m not credible? The heck with that. Look at Obama – he’s really not credible.”
“I’m a perpetrator? No, no, I’,m the victim. How dare you persecute me. But, you won’t keep me down no matter what you do!”
And the press lets them get away with it for the most part. No wonder they aren’t interested in being in a debate or on an actual news show.
Buckeye,
Bachmann has to dodge the question because she relies on lies and stretches of the truth as Gyges suggested above.
Gyges
From the article:
“When MPR News asked Bachmann this week to discuss the many challenges to her credibility, the congresswoman dodged the question. Instead, she questioned the truthfulness of President Obama — saying he has misled the public about the federal stimulus and the health care law.”
Shall we call it “Palin Speak”? At least Ms. Bachmann is smart enough to use what works. One wonders about the ethos of her constituency.
eniobob
Charm.
From an NPR story about Mrs. Bachmann:
“But independent fact checkers find that the information she relies on is often exaggerated, misleading or wrong. PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning feature of the St. Petersburg Times that checks whether statements made by politicians are true, has repeatedly determined that Bachmann’s claim don’t ring true.
“We have checked her 13 times, and seven of her claims to be false and six have been found to be ridiculously false,” PolitiFact editor Bill Adair said.
Adair said no politician has been checked as often as Bachmann without saying at least something that’s true. ”
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/01/21/michele-bachmann-iowa-misstatements/?refid=0&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+MPR_NewsFeatures+%28News+&+Features+from+Minnesota+Public+Radio