Bachmann Headaches Left Her "Unable to Function"

[jefferson_dem]

Bachmann Headaches Left Her "Unable to Function"

A former staffer to Rep. Michele Bachmann tells ABC News he believes her migraine headaches "have been a persistent and vexing problem for years, often forcing the congresswoman to cancel meetings, shut her office, turn off the lights and lie down until they pass."

Said the insider: "You're probably talking once every two to four weeks... They would come on in a matter of minutes. She would be down on her couch with the lights off and unable to function."

Karl Rove to Fox News: "It's evidence of what happens when you jump up into the top ring of these polls, and the kind of scrutiny that you get. It's going to be important for her to get her doctors out there quickly to provide medical records and to provide the reassurance that people are going to want to have that this is not a serious issue."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2011/07/20/bachmann_headaches_left_her_unable_to_function.html

[louis-t]

1. Except when you get that "3 am call".

"Sorry, President Bachmann (urp!) can't be disturbed right now, she has a migraine."

[elocs]

2. Her medical records might not reassure anyone. They will be what they will be.

If the medical records are not good for her does she have doctors who are willing to lie for her?

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. She doesn't function well anyway.

I wouldn't wish migranes on anyone, but she gives me a headache just thinking about her.

[Raine1967]

4. I wish migraines on no one.

they are truly horrible. They are debilitating. And from personal experience, they can lead one to make poor judgements.

This is disconcerting. I know how I feel about Bachmann but this is really something to be concerned about. I don't want a commander in chief that just checks out every few weeks for a medical ailment.

[golfguru]

5. and she has the prefect excuse on those days

to reject hubbies sexual initiatives.

[tularetom]

11. I don't think sexual initiatives from him

Are anything she needs to worry about.

[karynnj]

6. Much as I don't like Bachmann, this looks like an attack by another candidate

who wants her out. Want to bet the former aide who dropped this ends up on the payroll of one of her competitors? My guess, the man God told to run (or maybe it's his mom) - Governor Perry. After all isn't that the way Governors of Texas run? It could also be her fellow MN candidate, Pawlenty, who really needs to win or do very very well in Iowa.

If she has had many hospitalizations, it would come out when medical records were required. In addition, if the migraines are frequent and she can't work through them, that would be seen in the campaign. Think back to how the Democratic candidates were covered in recent years - because we did follow that coverage. If a candidate canceled appearances and interviews as often as might be expected from the report from her former aid, it would become the story.

Independent of migraines, it does say that her former staff members are not loyal to her.

[golfguru]

24. I am guessing it is T Paw

He has the most to lose if she beats him badly in Iowa caucuses.

[karynnj]

28. True, both have a lot to gain, but T Paw has the most to lose if

he stays in single digits in Iowa. It also might be that as they are from the same state that Bachmann's headaches might be known to many.

[Lint Head]

7. It must be awful to have those headaches and BE A HEADACHE

all at the same time.

[golfguru]

8. Bachmann's migraines will be the perfect opening for Palin

to jump in to the race.

[karynnj]

9. I suspect that the Bachmann fans chose her as a more acceptable Sarah Palin

I suspect that they are looking for a a less damaged RW conservative. I suspect Rick Perry. What is clear is that they have had a number of imploding candidates (Palin, Gingrich, Gain, Trump) Another possibility is the candidate who needs to do well in Iowa, who pundits pushed and few bought - Pawlenty.

[golfguru]

17. If Perry is chosen, he will be Kerry redux

and Perry will lose in 2012.

[karynnj]

20. Kerry is the best his generation had as a leader and it is unfortunate that he lost

2004 was an impossible year to win - and Kerry actually came very close to doing so. In fact, if there had been adequate voting machines in Ohio, he would have become President.

It is beyond disgusting that you would compare Perry to Kerry - maybe just because they share the last 4 letters of their name.

[golfguru]

22. I am simply comparing the background of Kerry nomination

with a potential Perry nomination. Dean was the candidate who energized the base, but we chose Kerry because Dean was thought to be unelectable.

If Perry gets in, the only reason he could get the nomination because others such as Bachmann are thought of as unelectable by the republican voters in spite her lead in Iowa.

Where did you read in my post that Kerry was a bad candidate? He rates very highly in my book.

[karynnj]

27. That is simply not true

The fact is that Kerry won Iowa by convincing people face to face to vote for him. Until he won Iowa, there was NO ONE in the media supporting him arguing that he was the most electable. You can go back in the archives of newspapers and magazines, and you can find media advocates of Dean, Gephardt, Edwards and Clark, but in the fall of 2003, the only articles that I find of Kerry are those asking when he would drop out. This in spite of the Des Moines paper showing his Iowa numbers steadily rising. In fact, in 2003, there were still calls for Gore or Hillary to get in.

As to party support, it was Dean who had more super-delegates pre Iowa and he had by far the most money raised - raising $40 million in the last quarter of 2003. Most of the big Democratic fundraisers were not supporting Kerry.

Kerry won Iowa in an under the radar retail politics campaign. As to picking the most likely to win, I suspect that in fall 2003, that pushed up Dean's numbers as he was the front runner. I know that had I been polled, I likely would have said Dean at that point. The reason was that though Kerry impressed me more, I also really liked Dean and did not want any of the other candidates. My concern was that the two NE candidates would knock each other out - leading to a more conservative candidate.

Dean did energize a PART of the base, but - even in Iowa - Kerry won the Democratic base, not Dean. There were simply more people for Kerry than there were for Dean. Every candidate argues why they are the one most likely to be able to win. Dean argued that he was the only "executive" of those running - using his history of being governor for 12 years.

Even in Trippi's completely egocentric book, Trippi blames Dean not the message/new campaign style Trippi fashioned. The fact is that Trippi might have been both the reason Dean became the front runner - and the reason he imploded. My guess is that Trippi gives himself too much credit for the rise and fails to take any blame. Dean did energize the internet and a huge percent of the college students - getting about 25% in the polls with the remainder split between several candidates and "don't know". It may be that the fiery rhetoric created both this lead ... and a hard upper bound for his support. It is completely wrong to suggest that the Base consisted only of the groups that supported Dean.

(As to Dean not pursing the Trippi guided message as much as Trippi wanted - that is totally to Dean's credit. Look at the rhetoric of the Edwards 2008 campaign and you will see the same accusations of the others as controlled by lobbyists and corporations that were the February 2004 Dean campaign message. Dean was far better sticking to bashing Bush on Iraq. These charges did not work well in either year.)

From accounts written by people who were observing in Iowa, Dean's orange hatted volunteers often turned off some of the voters they needed to win over. From videos that still exists, Kerry was the one who had the more enthusiastic crowds in Iowa.

I suspect that one weekend could have sealed the Iowa results. Kerry had a scheduled appearance with some Youthbuild (the project Kerry has sponsored for decades for underprivileged teens), Someone in his campaign received a call from Rassmann, the man he saved in Vietnam offering to help the campaign. Realizing how significant this was, the staffer pushed the offer up - and the Kerry team quickly arranged for him to go to Iowa. This was the weekend before the caucuses. Kerry was just beginning to poll slightly higher than Dean and Gephardt, who were attacking each other.

What I saw in NJ - on cable news, was what could have been an excerpt from a 1940s Kapra movie, with Rassman emotionally thanking Kerry, and Kerry modestly saying it was something many would do and the two men hugging. (Not to mention at a time when people were terrorizes what could be better than this from a mental image POV) In contrast, the unfortunate Dean was seen pointing his finger and telling a 70 something heckler to sit down. I imagine that what I saw on national TV was amplified in Iowa. I would imagine that for anyone, who like me had found things to like in both of them, this could have made them strong Kerry supporters.

It was pretty much after the fact that the idea that Kerry won because he was the safe, conventional alternative. Part of what was used was the exit polling - where more people did respond that they thought he could win - which means that he succeeded in getting Iowans to believe in him. Here, you need to look at the constrained choice in the responses, where you had to choose just one reason.

[PassingFair]

30. Kerry won Iowa because the Vilsacks called in their chits.

No way was a true progressive gonna win in Iowa THAT year.

[karynnj]

32. Kerry was more liberal than Dean - and neither were "true Progressives" whatever that means.

Dean was a centrist Democrat even though Vermont is and was one of the most progressive states. The fact is Kerry's record is to the left of every candidate deemed viable that year. It is fair to say that liberal better defines Kerry than progressive. Part of the problem is that there does not seem to be a good working definition of progressive - which is why the many "scores" result in very different lists.

Not to mention, the Vilsacks both supported Hillary Clinton in 2008, only Cindy Vilsack supported Kerry. Clinton came in third.

Kerry got 38% of the caucus goers to Dean's 18%. If the Vilsacks' chits were worth 20%, it is very hard to understand how Hillary Clinton got only about 29% of the vote four years later.

[PassingFair]

34. Kerry is DLC...and "Progressive" does NOT mean "Liberal" in a political sense.

They used to claim that Joe Lieberman was "the most liberal" candidate, too.

Dean was our first modern "Progressive" candidate.

I hope we will soon have another.

The Vilsacks are DLC lieutenants.

[karynnj]

35. Dean was DLC as well - and so was Edwards

Kerry joined the New Democrats with people like Gary Hart. Unlike Edwards, his voting record always looked more like Kennedy's than like the DLCs. NO one EVER called Leiberman the most liberal - on economic issues he is one of the least liberal Democrats there is. The two issues where he is liberal are civil rights and the environment.

Not to mention Kerry was never considered "one of ours" by Al From - as evidenced by the fact that in listing the DLC candidates in 2006, he pointedly omitted Kerry, but included Bayh, Vilsack, and Warner - all of whom polled far below Kerry.

It is silly to call Dean, who governed as a centrist and who actually usually had a progressive opponent, a progressive and say that Kerry wasn't when there were no issues where they had big differences. Their positions on most things were very similar - and that was in the light of an election where differences are purposely highlighted. It was very clear who Ted Kennedy felt stood closer to his positions - though it may be that Kennedy too was a liberal.

I made the distinction between liberal and Progressive myself. I think that I might simply stop using the word progressive. I am a liberal - and liberal values are what I look for in candidates. However that is not the reason to stop referring to Progressives. The reason is that when trying to get a real definition of "progressive", all I found was murkiness. Some sites that measure "progressive" values were really measuring what I would call Libertarian views rather than anything that I would consider liberal or leftist. (Like being against regulations on guns and environmental toxins) What is clear is that while some progressive sites have lists that end up close to what a liberal list would be others don't.

Trying to understand one cited by someone attacking Kerry, I noticed that Sherrod Brown, who I would think of as almost the prototype of progressiveness had the same score as Kerry. (IMO Brown is a clear example of a populist, while Kerry on some issues isn't. So, I took the highest rated person that year, Feingold, and compiled a list of votes for the first half of the year where they differed (I intended to do the whole year, but it was tedious - and I saw the patterns).

Here is what I compiled, then organized then:

The comment you reference is for the uncompleted 111th Congress - and the site also lists Sherrod Brown, the Senator I most often thing of as progressive, as weak as well. That led me to question which bills they were scoring and which they labeled as "progressive.



As they ranked Feingold very high last year. I like Feingold and Kerry, so I decided to look at where they differed in the first half of last year (I started with the intent to look at all - but after a half year, it was tedious and patterns were clear. Here is the record of ALL votes. The list below contains every disagreement. I have rearranged them to lump votes on related issues together.

Confirmation of Geitner - Feingold, who voted for Condi Rice etc "because the President should have his choice" voted NO Here, Kerry is giving an Obama nominee the benefit of the doubt that Feingold gave Condi Rice, who was not honest in her SFRC hearing. That said, this is the one vote I agree with Feingold over Kerry on.

Votes that reflect that Feingold is more fiscally conservative:
4 Republican (and one by Feingold) stimulus amendments:
Coburn amendment to eliminate money for Hollywood - Feingold and many conservative Democrats voted for, Kerry against
Feingold amendment to increase accountability - again, Feingold was with Republicans and a few conservative Democrats.
Coburn amendment that was said to eliminate waste - Feingold voted with the Republicans.
Graham amendment on home foreclosures in TARP - Feingold voted with the Republicans
Grassley amendment - Feingold voted with the Republicans.
Budget Amendments
Coburn amendment for competitive bids - Feingold for, Kerry agaisnt
2 Colburn amendment on earmarks - Feingold for
motion to yable Vitter amendment to repeal automatic Congress pay raises - Kerry for, Feingold against
Reed amendment to use the remaining TARP fund for the benefit of consumers - Kerry - for, Feingold - against
Vitter amendment to use remaining TARP funds towards the deficit - Feingold -for

Feingold voted against: the omnibus appropriations act with the Republicans and against the
supplemental budget- the bill to invoke cloture and the bill itself (Senate and conference report)- Feingold - 4 noes

Feingold voted three times to weaken gun control
Ensign amendment that cut back DC gun laws - Feingold for, Kerry against
Coburn amendment to "keep people safe in National Parks" by allowing them to bring guns - Feingold for
Gregg amendment to require various forms print info on the national dept - Feingold for
Wicker amendment that let people take guns in checked baggage on Amtrack - Feingold for

Foreign policy votes - these incidentally surprise me because I have watched the SFRC for years. I suspect that Feingold voted for the AIPAC ones because he is up for re-election. They all failed incidentaly due to Kerry's leadership:
Inhofe amendment against the UN - Feingold for
Three counterproductive Kyl amendments against Iran/Egypt/Gaza/Hamas that Kerry and Lugar successfully defeated - here Feingold backed AIPAC and Kerry didn't.
To strike the provision funding IMF - Kerry and Lugar leading the fight against this, Feingold for

environment related bills - here I agreed 100% with Kerry
Omnibus Public Land Management bill 2009 cloture vote - Feingold was the ONLY Democrat to vote against it - but both than voted for the bill when cloture succeeded.
to waive the CBA on Whitehouse's amendment for a deficit neutral fund for clean energy - Kerry for
to prohibit reconcilation for cap and trade (Johanns bill) - Feingold for, Kerry and Boxer strongest against
Graham amendment - to protect middle class from an energy tax - Feingold for, Kerry against
Bond amendment - anti future climate change bill if it affects coal - Feingold for, Kerry against

Fairness Doctrine Here, I am with Kerry

Demint amendment to prevent the FCC from ever promulgating the fairness doctrine - Feingold FOR, Kerry, AGAINST
Thune amendment to prohibit funds to the FCC to repromulgate the fairness doctrine - Feingold for

earmarks - Feingold seems to have McCain's phobia of earmarks - though an out in the open ear mark very often funds good and needed projects Kerry's stand even under Bush for a legal line item veto where the set of strikeouts would require approval is a better way than not having earmarks.
Coburn anti earmarks amendment to public works bill - Feingold for
DeMint Amendment to implement "Obama's earmark reforms" - Feingold - for (along with Lieberman, Mccasgill, Bennet and Republicans)
Johnans, Vitter and DeMint motions to instruct the conferees - Kerry no, Feingold yes - it passed
Thune amendment - to require any repaid TARP funds to reduce the authorization limit - Feingold for
McCain amendment attacking an earmark - Feingold for
Feingold amendment to require no earkmarks for disaster bill - Kerry against

National security:
Mccain amendment to eliminate the Over-the-road Bus security act - Feingold for
DeMint amendment to require at least 700 miles of fence on SW border by Dec 2010 - Feingold for


Others that don't naturally fall into categories:

Kyl Amdt. No. 793 - I don't completely understand but it involves data collected to assess best medical - Feingold for and Kerry and most liberal Democrats against.

Joint Resolution S J 5 - Feingold voted with Bayh, Lincoln, Nelson, Dorgan, Shaheen and most of the Republicans FOR the bill while Kerry voted against it.

to waive the CBA on Carpo's amendment to increase the borrowing authority of the FDIC - Feingold - for ???

To strike the provision relating to the Loran-C signal, as recommended by the Administration. - Feingold for with Republicans

Conclusions
Kerry was a key ally to Obama in passing the budget and the supplemental budget. Failure to pass them would have doomed Obama's Presidency. Feingold was frankly not helpful.

I suspect that this site has a libertarian definition of "progressive". Being against gun control and against dealing with the problem of climate change are NOT progressive values. I also think that progressives should value having a diverse mass media - instead of the sea of RW radio and cable. On foreign policy, Kerry could be best described as an internationalist and someone committed to diplomacy.

I already knew Kerry's positions last year and, for the most part agreed. I had followed Feingold less closely - and it is his positions I have a problem with in many cases.

[PassingFair]

36. Was was was.

Kerry still IS.

Dean is the very definition of the modern Progressive candidate, despite
having been a member before the Iraq War.

He became the very definition of ANTI-dlc.

His organization, Democracy for America, was ANTI DLC.

Kerry, not so much.

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=131&subid=192&contentid=252769

[karynnj]

39. Kerry has not been a member since at least 2004 -

He never was a leader of the DLC and he never spoke to the DLC - except when invited as the nominee in 2004. You might have noticed that it was not Kerry, who was supported by the first Presidential candidate, Al Gore. You ignore that the DLC wing of the party sat on their hands in 2004. I guess you forget that just as Carville had little respect for Dean, his position was the same for Kerry. You also ignore that Kerry's voting record and his positions were not typical of the DLC. You might have noticed that he had Ted Kennedy on his side in 2004 and for 2008. You also forget that Kerry greatly supported the efforts Dean did as DNC head, in both money and words of praise.

The link means NOTHING. It is the DLC trying to claim the man who could soon be President. The fact that they did nothing to help him could be shown by the fact that he got NONE of their early endorsements and he got no money from the people linked to them in 2003 - in fact, they tried as hard as they could to kill his campaign.


The fact is that you seem to have simply taken a word that you like and a candidate you like and have conflated them.

[PassingFair]

40. Here is the company he keeps as a member of the NEW DEMOCRAT COALITION

Senate New Democrat Coalition members

The following Senators belong or belonged to the Senate New Democrat Coalition.<5><6><7>
Current senators

Dianne Feinstein (CA, by 2001)
Thomas R. Carper (DE, by 2001; co-chair from 2003)
Joe Lieberman (CT, founder)
Bill Nelson (FL, by 2001)
Mary Landrieu (LA, founder, co-chair from 2003)
John Kerry (MA, from 2000)<8>
Debbie Stabenow (MI, by 2001)
Kent Conrad (ND, from 2000)
Ben Nelson (NE, by 2001)
Tim Johnson (SD, from 2000)
Maria Cantwell (WA, by 2001)
Herb Kohl (WI, from 2000)


These people are NOT PROGRESSIVES.

None.
Of.
Them.

[karynnj]

41. He has not been associated with them for nearly a decade

and many in there now were NOT there in teh late 1980s when a very junior Kerry joined. The fact is that he is more powerful than anyone on that list - if he were a member he would be listed. They have had articles that listed people who are in it and articles of their activities - Kerry has not been there since at the latest - about 10 years ago.

Not to mention HIS VOTING RECORD does not look like theirs.

[PassingFair]

42. Here's the whole gang.

http://www.nndb.com/group/269/000093987/

[karynnj]

46. This is a bunch of garbage that ignores that the only way off the list

was to leave office.

As to:
DLC operatives actively worked to sabotage Howard Dean's candidacy for the US Presidency in 2004, claiming that the "far-left" Democrat was wrong to attack George W. Bush's tax cuts and national security policies.

It ignores that John Kerry was at least as outspoken on Bush's national security positions and he had a far more detailed alternative vision. Kerry knew more about nonstate terrorism and how it could be fought than anyone in Congress. He spent the 1990s pushing for the tools to deal with international money laundering that are now quietly used to follow the money. In addition, he had strong, long term convictions on diplomacy. As to the Bush tax cuts, Kerry criticized them daily during the preprimaries and the primaries and the general election. He voted against them and spoke on the floor several times.

The difference in their positions was that Kerry, in 2004, wanted to rollback just the top marginal rates that would have brought in a large amount of money. He did NOT want to roll back the lowering of the lower rates. His view was that the poor and middle class had seen their share of income decrease since the 1970s. Even in 2004, the middle class and below were not in such good shape that increasing their taxes would have been a healthy thing to do. Politically - saying as Dean did that ALL Bush tax cuts should be rolled back was a political killer. (Remember that Gore, as well as Bush ran on cutting taxes. The difference was that Gore wanted to shore up SS and then cut mostly the lower rates - giving everyone a tax cut.

[PassingFair]

43. A letter.

http://feinstein.senate.gov/releases01/education_reform.html

snip>In addition to Senator Feinstein, the New Democrat Coalition letter was signed by Senators Evan Bayh, John Breaux, Thomas Carper, Bob Graham, JOHN KERRY, Herb Kohl, Joe Lieberman, Blanche Lincoln; and Congressmen Ken Bentsen, Jim Davis, Susan Davis, Brad Carson, Cal Dooley, Ron Kind, Rick Larsen, Carolyn McCarthy, Jim Moran, Tim Roemer, Adam Schiff, Adam Smith, Ellen Tauscher.

[karynnj]

44. Exactly which of these do you disagree with?

To help find consensus, the New Democrats urged the President to:

1) significantly increase funding for reform;
2) better target those new dollars to the communities that are most in need;
3) maintain a federal focus on national priorities; and
4) find an alternative to vouchers to help poor children who are trapped in failing schools

These look good to me - especially the last one that is against vouchers. I can't imagine that the good Dr Dean or Senator Kennedy would object to any of these.

[PassingFair]

45. I disagree with your contention that Kerry isn't aligned with the "New Democrats"

He may obfuscate the connections, but he has
been DLC, New Dem all the way.

[karynnj]

47. Kerry seeks out consensus - whether as a diplomat or a Senator

Just like Dean, he was interested in some of the ideas that the New Democrats were putting out. Both "joined" - likely because they saw some benefit to the association. That does not mean either BECAME DLC - or that anyone does. If you look at Kerry's voting record, there was no glaring change - if you look at Dean's years as Governor, I don't think you see a shift to the right either.

The fact is in your subject here, you use the present tense. This is silly as you have found nothing that is remotely recent that names Kerry. In fact, if you look, several articles have long strings of names, but not Kerry's. As Kerry is among the 10 most powerful Senators, if he were there, you can BET his name would be prominent, because he would give them prominence.

[tallahasseedem]

10. As someone who suffers from migranes...

I can attest that these symptoms can be this bad. Tunnel vision, light sensitivity, not able to function, etc. Sorry to say but if she has them this bad, she shouldn't be anywhere near the Presidency.

[unblock]

12. as a frequent migraineur, i disagree.

well, i certainly think bachmann should be kept far, far away from the oval office; but migraines aren't the reason why.

personally, as severe as my migraines get, i can't imagine a circumstance in which i couldn't make a decision the country depended on even while in excruciating pain or while throwing up. i might not be able to give a speech before the public, but i could certainly take the "3am call".

i think the whole idea that presidents are, or even should be in perfect health 24/7 for 4 or year years is a childish fantasy. i'm quite certain that every president has had at least one episode of diarrhea that's at least as incapacitating as a migraine. they all cancel the occassional speech or otherwise change plans for health reasons. it's part of life, even for non-migraineurs.

[golfguru]

18. I agree...only fighter pilots need to be alert 24/7

A good president typically does lot of delegating and not
micromanaging.

[Sheepshank]

23. This flies in the face of so many posts I've been reading on DU

I think I know your intent so let me say up front that I agree with your statement. But the tone at DU lately....there is a substantial number of posters that make repeated statements where everything and anything politically negative is a direct result of Obama...as if he SHOULD be micro managing.

But I digress from the topic at hand.

[ncrainbowgrrl]

52. i'm right there with you, my fellow Migraineur.

:hug:

This is a genetic neurological disease we're talking about. Perhaps with her celebrity, education regarding Migraine awareness will be raised?

[otohara]

13. She'll Never Win, But To Disqualify Her

for migraines is ridiculous.

President Roosevelt and Kennedy managed to do their jobs with health issues.

The has the meds, she probably knows her triggers and she has great insurance.

[Kind of Blue]

16. Yes, those 2 Democratic presidents did their jobs

but in this day and age, with the candidate spouting hatred of gays, slavery as better for A-A kids, her husband allegedly practicing fraud on a group of the citizenry, I think it serves the public well to know what kind of meds she's on. Furthermore, saying that her migraines are caused by wearing high-heels with her great insurance and having a "clinical psychologist" husband, then not seemingly to do anything about the pain, I think it would be ridiculous not to investigate whether she ready or not.

Sheesh, I certainly don't want a Republican in office but I don't want to see one with even an iota of chance getting in, who hates me and my friends, and not afraid to shout it from the rafters where her batshit crazy ass belongs.

[CTyankee]

19. It doesn't sound like she did, tho. It sounds like she was hospitalized for these bouts

which leads me to believe she didn't or couldn't control their intensity.

This isn't a good thing when it is that frequent. If she COULD prevent them from happening more often, then why didn't she do so? If not, well, what does that augur for her term in office?

Either way, not good...

[Life Long Dem]

14. Wonder who is whispering?

The use of whisper campaigns to take out the UnChosen or inappropriate (read: not viable) candidates is a particular favorite of the Republican Party, taken to ugly extremes in South Carolina when the Bush campaign passed ugly rumors about John McCain’s adopted “black” daughter; note the use of the Southern Strategy in South Carolina, home of the festering pile of racism as favored WMD. Racism is but one tool of the patriarchy in order to maintain their power and status quo. Others are sexism, bigotry of all kinds, and any kind of “otherism” that will serve to divide and destroy an opponent or group that threatens the power elites. http://www.politicususa.com/en/michele-bachmann-incapacitated-valley-doll

[Fearless]

15. She would have to have been functioning to begin with to be non-functioning later.

:rofl:

[Old Troop]

21. I don't care what her politics are; mysogyny in the MSM rears its

ugly head again. Women get migraines and are unable to function, therefore we should be backing males for such an important job. Highlight her viewpoints, not her physical issues.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

25. Don't men get migraines, too?

I know several men who get them. Wondering whether getting migraines could be a disqualifying condition for a potential president is hardly sexist.

[PassingFair]

31. They usually call them "cluster headaches" when men get them.

They usually reserve the "migraine" diagnosis for
women.

We're hysterical, don't you know....

[Tx4obama]

26. This has nothing to do with gender, males get severe migraines also.

This is a HEATH issue, which should be seriously vetted.

[paparush]

29. My wife of 19 years suffers weekly, often daily migraines.

I wouldn't wish them on anyone. We're two years into her disability application. Been rejected twice. We've had to retain a lawyer. Sigh.

[greymattermom]

33. article about women and migraines

http://www.slate.com/id/2299640/

[Enrique]

37. the Karl Rove quote is ironic

since Karl Rove is probably behind this whole thing.

[polichick]

38. How long before they discredit her for menopause?

[marlakay]

48. Darn I was hoping to have it be her and obama

and let the games begin....she wouldn't win so it could all be fun.

[madinmaryland]

49. The Rove Speaketh, and everyone on DU listens.

:wtf:

[aaaaaa5a]

50. If her headaches knock her out of action for days or even weeks at a time then I'm sorry

but her health is a legit issue. Every time a woman is attacked politically, its not gender related. Some times there are real issues that must be addressed.

[roberto IS beto]

51. McCain was senile

And no one thought that was sexist.
Reagan had Altheimers before he was elected the 1st time, and no one thought that was sexist.
George Bush was born without a brain . . .

[Hand_With_Eyes]

53. 'Unable to function' is an improvement over her normal self