Michelle Bachmann Cannot Win Because She's Not Sarah Palin.
Let me start by saying this: you're bound to get a more substantial argument and better facts to back this up from sites that focus on politics. Me? I'm a guy that dabbles in it from a layman's POV. And really, it's the laymen (and women) that the politicians, pundits and media bobble-heads are constantly trying to trick...er, I mean understand in this grand experiment known as The Political Process.
But when I see stories like this, I have to ask myself, Why is Bachmann's base abandoning her? She's not that far from Palin from an ideological perspective, and the Tea Party adores Palin. Why isn't Bachmann getting the same love?
I mean, seriously, she was a better known quantity than Perry, Huntsman and Cain. She's more popular in her party than Gingrich, Romney and Santorum. Then two things popped into my head.
First, was the memory of another conservative Republican who said all the right things, yet could never seem to gain any real traction (read: votes) whenever he ran in elections that mattered: Alan Keyes. Looking back at it, it seems very weird that Christine O'Donnell got the Circle the Wagons treatment from conservatives desperate to overlook her blatant nuttiness when Keyes, who was nowhere near as crazy in public, had to practically beg for endorsements. Apparently, Bachmann's in the same class: good enough for a soundbite and a guest appearance on TV or radio, but damn if they get anywhere near actual power.
The second is connected, and may explain why Bachmann is getting the same support, something I believe The Rude Pundit (and others) have said about Sarah Palin: that conservative women admired Palin as a peer (a moral values mother juggling home life with a career) and conservative men wanted to bang her. Let's be honest here: women liking Bachmann has never been a story; and while it's normally a positive thing, the pundits aren't drooling over her like they did Palin.
Now if we take this as true -that Bachmann is looked at as too extreme for the general election and she's not that appealing to her base (whether politically or superficially)- then this may begin to explain why elements of the Tea Party have turned on her (and why some parts of her campaign have abandoned her).
But when I see stories like this, I have to ask myself, Why is Bachmann's base abandoning her? She's not that far from Palin from an ideological perspective, and the Tea Party adores Palin. Why isn't Bachmann getting the same love?
I mean, seriously, she was a better known quantity than Perry, Huntsman and Cain. She's more popular in her party than Gingrich, Romney and Santorum. Then two things popped into my head.
First, was the memory of another conservative Republican who said all the right things, yet could never seem to gain any real traction (read: votes) whenever he ran in elections that mattered: Alan Keyes. Looking back at it, it seems very weird that Christine O'Donnell got the Circle the Wagons treatment from conservatives desperate to overlook her blatant nuttiness when Keyes, who was nowhere near as crazy in public, had to practically beg for endorsements. Apparently, Bachmann's in the same class: good enough for a soundbite and a guest appearance on TV or radio, but damn if they get anywhere near actual power.
The second is connected, and may explain why Bachmann is getting the same support, something I believe The Rude Pundit (and others) have said about Sarah Palin: that conservative women admired Palin as a peer (a moral values mother juggling home life with a career) and conservative men wanted to bang her. Let's be honest here: women liking Bachmann has never been a story; and while it's normally a positive thing, the pundits aren't drooling over her like they did Palin.
Now if we take this as true -that Bachmann is looked at as too extreme for the general election and she's not that appealing to her base (whether politically or superficially)- then this may begin to explain why elements of the Tea Party have turned on her (and why some parts of her campaign have abandoned her).
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