Belittling Bachmann
Posted 06/27/2011 07:03 PM ET
Election '12: CNN's John King dumbed down the GOP debate with his "deep dish or thin crust?" questions. Now, Fox News' Chris Wallace asks Michele Bachmann, "Are you a flake?" What she is is a heavyweight.
How should a presidential candidate handle a snide, moronic question completely removed from the issues of the day? If you're Rep. Bachmann, you let the facts expose the questioner's stupidity. "I'm not only a lawyer," she told Wallace on "Fox News Sunday." "I have a post-doctorate degree in federal tax law from William and Mary. I've worked in serious scholarship and worked in the United States federal tax court. My husband and I raised five kids. We've raised 23 foster children."
She went on: "We've applied ourselves to education reform. We started a charter school for at-risk kids. I've also been a state senator and a member of the United States Congress for five years. I've been very active in our business. As a job creator, I understand job creation, but also I've been leading actively the movement in Washington, D.C., with those who are affiliated with fiscal reform."
Bachmann has undeniably electrified an oftentimes disappointing GOP presidential contest with fiery, principled statements. So instead of treating her seriously, Mike Wallace's son asks the outrageous, out-of-left-field question, "Are you a flake?" Within a day he apologized.
There was nothing flaky about Bachmann being the very first in Congress to introduce a complete repeal of ObamaCare, going after what in the June 13 CNN debate she called "the symbol and the signature issue of President Obama during his entire tenure."
There was nothing flaky about her pledge that "I will not rest until I repeal ObamaCare. It's a promise. Take it to the bank, cash the check. I'll make sure that that happens."
Nor is there anything flaky about her pointing out the Congressional Budget Office's warning that ObamaCare is a job-killer. "What could the president be thinking," she said, "by passing a bill like this, knowing full well it will kill 800,000 jobs?"
Not flaky. Effective. And inspiring.
Winning the presidency as a member of the House of Representatives, as Bachmann is trying to do, is tough. It has happened once in American history, in unusual circumstances: James Garfield had the nomination foisted on him on the 36th ballot during a desperately divided 1880 Republican convention.
Jack Kemp, in many ways Ronald Reagan's obvious heir, tried running for president from the House in 1988, and failed. But a new media age continues to unfold, and the old rules may no longer apply.
Michele Bachmann, now even with Mitt Romney in Iowa, is showing she knows how to play the new game. Expect her to continue being a target.
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