Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is now the “it” candidate in the race for President. In the last presidential debate, she looked poised and polished and made big news by stating that she had filed papers to officially launch her presidential campaign. Yesterday, she took the next step and formally announced her campaign for President in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.
With her impressive debate performance and enhanced media attention, Bachmann is now running second in the latest Iowa poll, only one point behind Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts. Romney is the candidate of the country club Republicans or the establishment wing of the party. This RINO (Republican in Name Only) is a flip flopper par excellence and the father of socialized medicine. He would be the worst potential GOP candidate to challenge Barack Obama because he could not make effective arguments against the worst excess of the Obama administration.
On the other hand, Bachmann is the perfect candidate for she has a solid conservative voting record. She is also the Chairwoman of the Tea Party caucus in Congress and is close to the activists who are now driving the Republican Party.
A Romney nomination would create serious problems for the Republican Party and may lead to a third party candidacy or a weakened turnout in the next election. Republicans need a massive get out the vote effort to overtake the incumbent, who will have the liberal media, Hollywood, the unions and the special interest groups fully in his corner. He will also have possibly $1 billion in campaign money to harass the GOP candidate.
President Obama will not campaign on his credentials or accomplishments in office because he doe not have any. Instead, it will be a typical Democratic Party campaign of character assassination.
Bachmann has already experienced the slings and arrows from the mainstream news media. She has been a frequent victim of Chris Matthews’ viciousness on MSNBC. Over the weekend, she was called a “flake” by the supposedly objective Chris Wallace of Fox News. It is hard to imagine Wallace calling Obama or any prominent Democrat a “flake.”
After her announcement today in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, the Washington Times published a “gotcha” piece accusing Bachmann of confusing the movie actor John Wayne with notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy. When asked on Fox News why she was announcing in her hometown, Bachmann said, “Well, what I want them to know is just like John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa, that’s the kind of spirit I have too.” Of course, Bachmann did not confuse a serial killer, who was born in her hometown, with America’s favorite movie actor. While John Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa, his parents met in Waterloo, so the actor had a strong connection to Bachmann’s hometown. The piece was irresponsible journalism, trying again to paint Bachmann as dumb or careless.
A liberal media caricature of Bachmann will not stick with voters, since the Congresswoman has impressive credentials. She is an attorney with a Master’s degree in tax law. After serving six years in the Minnesota State Senate, Bachmann is now in her third term as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
As a member of Congress, Bachmann has been a steadfast conservative voting against the Wall Street bailouts, supporting increased domestic oil exploration, and exposing global warming as a hoax. While fighting against the President’s takeover of the healthcare industry, Bachmann has introduced legislation to repeal the odious bill. On almost every issue, from fighting to give Americans the right to purchase light bulbs of their choice to exposing ACORN’s connection to the U.S. Census, Bachmann has been a tenacious conservative willing to stand up to the Democrats and the liberal media.
In the face of blistering media bias, Bachmann has handled herself with class and style. She has calmly noted her diverse background in public service and her experience as a tax attorney. Most impressively, along with her husband Marcus, Bachmann is the parent of five children and the foster parent of 23 girls. It is hard to remember a presidential candidate in recent history who can match these credentials.
Bachmann has zoomed to the top of the Republican presidential field because there is a thirst for a real conservative candidate to take the fight to Romney. Sarah Palin will probably not run and Texas Governor Rick Perry has not formally entered the race. Until there are other conservative hopefuls, Michele Bachmann is the best hope that the conservative wing of the GOP has to stop another slaughter next November.
If the Republican Party nominates a moderate like Romney, the GOP will undoubtedly lose the next election. A brief review of previous elections will verify that carnage occurs when the GOP “moves to the center.” For example, moderate nominees Gerald Ford, George H. W. Bush, Bob Dole and John McCain all lost to questionable Democratic candidates. In contrast, whenever the GOP nominates a candidate who runs as a conservative, such as Nixon, Reagan and George W. Bush, the party wins.
With such a clear track record, it seems obvious that in this election, the GOP should nominate a real conservative, not a stale imitation. The party could do a lot worse than Michele Bachmann. In this election, the GOP needs to paint a clear contrast to President Obama. Michele Bachmann is a polar opposite ideologically form Barack Obama and that is a good thing.
Michele Bachmann is the perfect foil to the incumbent pushing a socialist agenda from the White House. She might also be the perfect candidate to make history in the upcoming election and become the first woman elected as President of the United States.
Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.
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