The gop's bachmann problem

[babylonsister]

Michele Bachmann's Tea Party Agenda Will Disrupt the GOP

by Andrew Romano Info
Andrew Romano

The Minnesota congresswoman has never shied from controversy, but her latest efforts to represent Tea Party interests are disrupting Boehner's push for the Republicans to rule effectively—and threatening the party's unity. By Newsweek's Andrew Romano.


snip//

Consider how rank-and-file Republicans have reacted to Bachmann's recent displays of ambition. As soon as the congresswoman launched her conference-chair campaign, Eric Cantor and Mike Pence—the Indiana pol she would be succeeding in the position—endorsed her rival, Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling. Boehner put Hensarling on the GOP's transition team, and left Bachmann out. Sarah Palin declined to endorse Bachmann, with whom she campaigned over the summer. And Ryan circulated a letter to lawmakers and recently elected Republicans asking them to support Hensarling over his opponent. After awhile, Bachmann took the hint and bowed out.

The news that Bachmann was elbowing into the presidential spotlight was greeted much the same way: with sighing, scoffing, and the occasional burst of speculation about what she's "really up to." As one National Review commenter perceptively put it, she "know{s} that casual White House talk can help build up some momentum outside of her small, safe House district that she can use to build a Senate campaign. She wants a Senate seat in 2012 or 2014." Few people, in other words, consider her a credible challenger.

But while Bachmann is a genius at rallying the troops—and convincing them to give her their money—she's never displayed the slightest skill at (or interest in) turning her small-government rhetoric into a reality by, say, proposing or passing significant legislation.


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http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-22/michele-bachmanns-tea-party-sympathies-will-disrupt-gop-plans/?cid=hp:mainpromo1

[elias49]

1. Ah yes, she of the vacant stare.

I've never seen such an example of self-absorption.
The woman is nuts!

[themaguffin]

2. i can't wait for her to make one of her typical statements, which will

upstage the GOP official line and let even more people know how fucked up they are.

[babylonsister]

3. It's going to happen; politics can be so entertaining!

:D

[no_hypocrisy]

4. What I don't understand is how the "establishment" republican sect

can't control her by cutting off her money and funding a candidate more to their liking.

[asjr]

5. What puzzles me most is what caliber are the

people who vote for her.

[greymattermom]

6. her district?

Does she bring any of that big bad government money to her district?

[dflprincess]

10. Only the farm subsidies her family collects

though I think that might be relatives in Wisconsin who actually collect those.

[randr]

7. It won't be long before she finds people to "investigate" within her own party

if she hasn't already.

[EffieBlack]

8. Funny - if she looked like Karen Hughes, we'd never have heard of her

[The Wizard]

9. You are correct

Her support arises from the heated loins of depraved Republican men. As in the Palin case, they just want to look up her skirt.