South Carolinian seem to be favorably impressed with Michele Bachmann.  They were somewhat put off by Romney, Pawlenty and Huntsman.   They felt they were too cold.  Conversely, Santorum, Cain, and Paul were too hot.  Conservatives just don’t think they can beat Obama.  Apparently Michele Bachmann is just right, for South Carolinians and they feel she can beat Obama.

That seems a bit premature.  The election isn’t for another year and several months.  There’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.  And lets not forget that Obama has been in office only 2 years and several months. 

It will be fun to watch.  Meanwhile, conservatives need to remember that moderates and Independents see Bachmann as very far right.  Huntsman and Romney (and Giuliani) are seen as more moderate Republicans.  What is going to trip up Republicans is the fact that those running in the primary have to pass the anti-Rino test.  Once they do that, they become too conservative for a general election.  Republicans need to rethink this catch-22 and perhaps put their eyes on the prize which of course, is the White House. 

How do conservatives overcome this dichotomy in reality?

37 Thoughts to “Is Michele Bachmann the new Goldilocks?”

  1. Starryflights

    Obama will kick Bachmann’s butt next year if she wins the Repug’s nomination. I sure hope she’s the nominee. Obama should lose if the economy doesn’t improve by next year, but leave it to the Repugs to nominate the one person he can defeat, bwahaha!

  2. Wonder what McCain would have done if he had been president?

  3. punchak

    Too bad McCain didn’t pluck Bachmann for VP! She seems a lot smarter than Palin. Besides, her voice doesn’t grate on one’s ears. I must say that I enjoy listening to her speak, and she looks good, but no way would I choose her to lead the country.

    5 kids and 23 foster kids does not a president make IMHO. But the foster stuff IS impressive.

  4. Censored bybvbl

    The Republicans will fail to choose the one candidate who stands a chance in the general election – Giuliani. They’ll go for the candidate who passes the rabid right litmus test instead. I’ll be laughing all the way to the lever!

  5. Lafayette

    @Censored bybvbl
    What lever? Don’t you have touch screens mid-county? 👿
    Rabid right litmus test-LOL(scary)

  6. Censored bybvbl

    Lafayette, yes, we finally have touch screens! Some peeps find them scary….it’s change.

  7. Cargosquid

    Hmmm……McCain was the nominee the last time. He was moderate. He was pro-amnesty. He was the darling of the press. He was the compromiser. He crossed the aisle. He was the anti-ideologue.

    And he failed miserably. In fact, he would have had LESS votes if he had not picked Palin. Where were all those vaunted independents. McCain was their dream candidate. He was the MAVERICK.

    Furthermore, if conservatives aren’t going to be elected, how do you explain conservative victories across the nation in the last election?

    As for the individual candidates…..too soon to tell….get the popcorn.

    It may be Romney. It may be a candidate that hasn’t declared yet.

  8. Big Dog

    http://www.slate.com/id/2298087/

    Now Bobbitt enters the Bachmann discussion?
    The shark has been jumped.

  9. Cargo, that is pure conjecture on your part. He lost moderates when he selected Palin, at least in Northern Virginia. Bet I hang out with more moderates than you do. 😉

    So you think if perhaps Palin had been the Republican candidate she might be in the White House now?

    Who do you think was going to vote for her? How many more moderates and liberals do you think would have raced to the polls to make sure Sarah Palin got elected?

    Keep on thinking that. Its the independents and moderates that push elections one way or the other…not the die hard party faithful of either right or left.

  10. Cargosquid

    (btw, for some reason, my “registration” is not being remembered. I have to keep logging in. Any ideas why?)

    Actually, we’ll never know if Palin could or could not have won as she did not go through the primaries and get more exposure. She was a late entry. If she had started from the beginning…perhaps. She would have been competing against Hillary at that time.

    My point is that your moderates and independents didn’t vote for the one moderate in the campaign. They voted for the liberal. When conservatives run for office….they win.

    President Obama’s campaign did have some advantages over any opponent. One – the mainstream press was completely in his corner. two- he was “historic.” He, effective, had the affirmative action effect going on. Three- we had just had 8 years of a GOP candidate and one that was being attacked by the press for everything. Bush Derangement Sydrome was in full swing.

    So…no. Palin was not a shoe in. It would have been a hard climb. She probably would have lost. BUT, she may have pulled in more votes than McCain, because McCain tried to get elected by disparaging the conservative base. You know, the one he’s pandering to now.

    1. re registration–the software remembers the email address associated with your log in name. Keep using the same email address. That should fix the problem. I turned the registration off. We don’t use it. Waste the band width.

      Cargo, during the last election cycle I actually heard pundits speculating that Palin would pick up the Clinton votes…re woman vote. I hope those people don’t quit their day jobs. Women aren’t THAT stupid.

    2. @cargo

      So…no. Palin was not a shoe in. It would have been a hard climb. She probably would have lost. BUT, she may have pulled in more votes than McCain, because McCain tried to get elected by disparaging the conservative base. You know, the one he’s pandering to now.

      yes, he is pandering to them. I agree. but…..you speculate that Palin might have pulled in more votes than McCain? From where? NOT the moderates and certainly not the liberals.

      You also need to remember that it was that same conservative base who started that nasty little rumor about the child he adopted from Bangladesh or Sri Lanka. Love child? Give me a break. South Carolina conservative politics at their best.

  11. Censored bybvbl

    Cargo, maybe McCain failed because the rabid right wouldn’t support a moderate as head of the ticket, and the Independents and moderates stayed away because he’d chosen a light weight, unfit to be Prez person as his VP. If he wasn’t as old as he was, maybe some folks wouldn’t have been as scared of having Palin in second place.

    Just remember that the electorate is about evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. And the Republican party is divided further among social conservatives, moderates, fiscal conservatives, Tea Partiers, etc. Nominate Bachmann! Please! Add minimum wage workers to the list of voters who will clamor to be Republicans.

  12. SlowpokeRodriguez

    Moon-howler :
    Wonder what McCain would have done if he had been president?

    Pissed everyone off.

  13. @Slowpoke

    Probably you are right.

  14. “Cargo, maybe McCain failed because the rabid right wouldn’t support a moderate as head of the ticket, and the Independents and moderates stayed away because he’d chosen a light weight, unfit to be Prez person as his VP.”

    See this argument doesn’t work. Those same moderates and independents voted for a light weight, unfit to be President as PRESIDENT. So, experience and talent were not requirements. What they voted for was vague promises from a “historic” candidate, so that they could feel better about themselves.

    McCain failed because he insulted the very voters that the needed. Because the GOP had open primaries, many non Republicans crossed over in the primaries to influence the choices.

    Also, if the Democrats are so unified, why is it that some of the greatest heat on the current President is coming from his left? And to get to his left, you have to be WAAAAAAYY left. You’ve got conservative Democrats, 2nd Amendment Democrats, Watermelon Democrats (green on the outside, communist on the inside) Socialists, Progressives, Communists, Anarchists, Open Border Aztlan fanatics, Pro-defense, Anti-defense, social libertarians,….

    I’d like to see Obama primaried. Who does the Left have that is any good? I notice that they’re not willing to step up.

    Also, the press assumed that women would vote for Palin because they were voting for Hillary because they have fallen for the Demcrat narrative of identity politics. Then again, I saw the same people horrified that any woman would vote for Palin. How could the vote for a pro-life moderate Governor? And I say moderate because she did NOTHING to make access to your right to an abortion more difficult. She just used her right to a choice. And because of that, she was vilified.

    I keep hearing that she’s far right. So, what positions make her far right other than criticizing Obama? Not that it matters that much since she’s not a candidate, but, I’m curious?

    1. Cargo, I really have to say, you just wrote the biggest batch of sweeping generalizations that I have ever read. I wouldn’t even know where to start. Put that finger back in your pocket. In the first place, can we talk about Republic elections without saying but the Democrats do thus and such? It is unimportant what they do other than your viseral proclaimed dislike of them.

      Someone liked McCain who is a Republican. I seem to remember a Republican convention with all these people who endorsed him. He wasn’t nominated because non Republicans voted for him. You simply have nothing other than BS to back up that statement. Obviously someone liked him. You don’t get the nomination of your party if you don’t have supporters.

      I am not even going to address the name calling democrats. Labels Labels Labels. I don’t mind if there is a reason to hang a label on someone…like the Virginia Democrats but that list of Democrats was just out there. WAY left of Obama? Any criticism within his own party is because he is functioning as a centrist president. If Obama is a liberal, what are the rest of us. You can go much further left than Obama. Good grief.

      As for assuming anything about Palin and Hillary in the same sentence….the Democrative narrative of identity politics? bwaaahahahahahaha Only a totally ignorant person would assume women who voted for Hillary would vote for Palin, just like that. In fact, I bet you could circle the globe and only come up with a handful. And if you found any, it would be people who had a frontal lobotomy since then or pushed the wrong button by mistake.

      I never saw any people horrified that any woman would vote for Palin. I saw lots of people who were horrified that any PERSON, regardless of gender would vote for Palin. Does that count? Gender has nothing to do with it.

      My right to abortion? Let me start off with clarifying–I am not trying to get an abortion. That ship has sailed. As for Palin seeking an abortion, I have never heard anyone criticize her for choosing to not have one after genetic testing. I doubt that you have either and if you have, maybe you need to start hanging out with a less judgemental crowd. However, Palin is not a moderate on abortion. She is anti choice. In fact, I don’t think people are moderates, conservative or liberal about abortion. People are either pro choice which means they uphold Roe v Wade in their won minds or they are anti choice and oppose the legality of all or most abortion.

      Palin is far right. Do you identify with her? Do her politics make you comfortable? Far right. Pssss…Bachmann is far right also. She just has a little more substance to her. She isn’t just a sound byte. She just doesn’t shriek and screech as badly.

  15. Censored bybvbl

    @Cargosquid

    Maybe some right-wingers thought that women would vote for Palin because she has a vagina. She’s actually too stupid to be mentioned as a viable alternative to Hillary Clinton (had she, Hillary, won the Dem. nomination). It’s condescending to compare them – regardless of political persuasion. Is Palin the brightest female candidate that the Republican party can offer? Is Bachmann? Can’t the party produce a candidate that isn’t an emotional hysteric? And, yes, like it or not, I can call another female an emotional hysteric. It’s one of those things that drive white men of a certain age crazy because they don’t like African-Americans using the N-word when they can’t and they don’t like women using words that they can’t.

    Obama can hardly be said to be as inexperienced as Palin. A Senator or Representative from Illinois, and the Chicago area in particular, is much more experienced than a quitter from an area with the population of Alaska. Heck, Corey Stewart probably has more experience than Palin in governing. Ha ha – and when he doesn’t get the nod for Virginia’s Senator, he’s likely to try higher office yet!

  16. Cargosquid

    “because the rabid right”

    Just noticed something. Apparently insults come casually to my opponents. Conservatives never have principled reasons. They’re just “rabid” or “bigoted” or “biased” or “anti-intellectual”.

    (that one actually does not mean unintelligent or anti-science or thought. It actually mean anti – intellectual, meaning disliking “intellectuals.” The “intellectual” involved is usually those that are self-styled, smarter than thou types that give the rest a bad name. Too many of the Journalist or Academic crowd fall into that description.)

    Why is it that its ok to casually impugn the principles and motivations of conservatives? Shall I start do such with liberals? Or progressives? Blanket statements are such an easy thing to produce.

    Stephen Hawking would not be described as an “intellectual.” Nor would Edison. However, progressives like to be thought of as “intellectuals” thus separating themselves from the “masses.”

  17. Cargosquid

    “Someone liked McCain who is a Republican. I seem to remember a Republican convention with all these people who endorsed him.”

    He won the primaries. He had the most delegates. They were open primaries and during the campaign, MoveOn and ANSWER and Code Pink and, yes, the DNC, called for democrats to vote in GOP primaries to affect them. Guess what….the GOP does it too. That’s how Hillary stayed in so long. That’s why many Democrat parties are now having closed primaries or conventions.

    Obama is getting criticism because of his crony capitalism and his lack of leadership. The really far left socialists, etc, don’t like that he campaigned on certain promises and now ignores them. If this is a centrist in your eyes…..then a full blown communist must be the progressive. He is a progressive statist of the old school. He believes in government control, he believes in crony capitalism.

    As for women voting for Palin because of her sex….that would be the mainstream media’s idea.

    I saw many an opinion piece decrying any women that voted for Palin, in fact, stating that she wasn’t a ‘real woman”. Same with criticism on her not having an abortion and keeping her child. I will grant you that that opinionater did get criticized by the left and the right.

    If Palin is not a moderate, why, as governor, did she not make it more restrictive. Nothing in her record points to restricting abortion. She is pro-life. But she did not impose her view per executive power.

    Her politics do make me comfortable. And she is eminently more qualified than that person now attempting to lead, well, organize….heck, after that last speech, I can’t tell what he’s trying to do except tick off everybody.

    Joe Biden is more qualified to be President. So far, I haven’t caught him lying to me. He seems to be an honest politician.

  18. Wolverine

    Always seems to amaze when the Libs pull out the ammo to take a swipe at Palin’s lack of experience because she was ONLY the governor of thinly populated Alaska. My, my, my, but Lib memories are short. Seems to me that, in 1994, there was a big, initial wave of Lib support, especially among the oh so with-it young Dem crowd, for a fellow named Howard Dean. Never heard anything then about the disqualifying inexperience of a candidate who was a governor from a small state. He lost the bid to John Kerry for other reasons.

    ALASKA VERMONT
    Pop. 643,478 (Rank 47th) Pop. 621,254 (Rank 49th)
    Area: 571,951 sq. miles (Rank 1st) Area: 9,250 sq. miles (Rank 43rd)
    Largest City: Largest City:
    Anchorage, Pop. 279,671. Burlington, Pop. 38,531
    Minorities: 33.3% Minorities: 4.7%
    Per Cap. Income: $29,382 Per Cap. Income: $27,036
    BA or higher: 26% BA or higher: 32.9%
    Oil Production: Rank #1. Oil Production: Not listed.
    Gross State Product: $46.3 billion Gross State Product: $27.5 billion
    Growth: 5.0% Growth: 3.2%

    Oh, yeah, Palin was just the governor of a big empty blob up in the Far North. Easy job — except for having to travel to many places in that huge state by bush pilot and having to deal with 33% minorities as well as the major oil companies. Vermont on the other hand……but we never heard a Liberal peep about Howard Dean being unqualified because he was the governor of a small state.

    As for the distinguished pre-White House career of the current POTUS? Right. Sent to the Illinois Senate by the Chicago Machine, voted mostly “present” on important bills, had a “rabbi” in the leadership who arranged to have his name placed on bills so it looked like he was a mover and shaker when he never presented or worked for those same bills. Got sent to the US Senate, which he used as a rest stop in preparation for a run for the White House. And, once the race approached, he turned into a “quitter.” Imagine that? Yeah. Go ahead. Try to impress me. The impression one gets from that last press conference is that this guy is in so far over his head that he is in desperate need of a lifejacket.

  19. Wolverine

    Oops — Make that Dean in 2004, not 1994.

  20. Emma

    @Starryflights What’s a “Repug”?

  21. Censored bybvbl

    Oh yeah, comparing Sarah Palin to Howard Dean really advances your case. In addition to being a physician, Dean served as state representative,lieutenant governor, and governor (second longest serving). Sarah Palin was mayor of Podunk and quit mid-term as governor after apparently sharing the Gov’s responsibility with her husband. There are quite a few sparsely populated states – I wonder how many of their governors quit mid-term.

  22. Emma

    I love the endearingly acidic superciliousness of the left.

  23. punchak

    @Cargosquid
    So you’re comfortable with Palin. Why?

    I feel she has not used her parental “power” with Bristol. This girl barely graduated from high school, and she certainly isn’t going to go to college. She appears with Hennity and, does he ask her what her future plans are (like going to college)? Of course not! She has written (?) a book; a 20 year old writing a biography? Really! Where’s mom?

    Gads, do I feel catty today!

    BTW – where IS Dude No. 1

  24. Cargosquid

    Why shouldn’t I be? Bristol is an adult. She can write books if she wants. What do you feel that Palin should do with that “parental power?”

    I like her politics and her attitude about America and Americans. Since she’s not a candidate, I’ve not been following her though.

    @Censored bybvbl
    How many governors were forced to defend themselves against hundreds of frivolous lawsuits on their own dime? Her political opponents harassed her with frivolous lawsuits and Alaskan law stated that she had to defend herself with her own money. It put them over $500K in the hole.

    And your problem with small towns are…..? She was able to go from mayor to Governor. That takes talent and skill. And she did it against the Republican machine.

    So Dean was a successful politician. Great. What has he actually done with it since then? It was still only Vermont, oh, sorry, the state of Podunk, if we’re going by size…..

  25. punchak

    @Cargosquid

    Bristol is an adult? I guess nowadays that’s true. I liked it better when 21 was considered “adulthood”.

    Can’t you just se Sarah Palin sitting in an international meeting representing YOU?

    I’ve lived in Alaska and I’ve seen Wasilla, a suburb of Anchorage.

  26. @Cargosquid

    1, Palin wasn’t governor long enough to do much of anything.
    2. Governors don’t enact abortion laws. Would she if she could have.
    3. There are far many issues other than abortion. She is not a moderate. Nothing she says indicates she is a moderate.

    As for opinion pieces, I don’t know where and what you read. I am talking about real people. Most people I know think what she did about her situation was between her and her husband. Do real people still count nowadays? People who are pro-choice are …pro-CHOICE. That means she got to make her own decision about reproduction.

    I simply don’t know what to say to you. If you want to think that Democrats chose McCain there is nothing I can say or do to convince you otherwise. There are lots of Republicans who don’t think like you think. That is all I can say.

    You will continue to be disappointed in every election would be my guess because your views are very far right, much more so than other people. I do not think a candidate who reflected your views could be elected.

    RNC knows this. They want to elect Republicans more than they want to have someone mirroring their exact beliefs.

  27. CArgo, has any Republican ever been elected that you liked? Just curious.

  28. Starryflights

    I thought this thread was about Bachmann?

    Anyway, Cargo, your theories may soon be tested if Bachmann becomes the nominee.

    1. @Starry, is this where I get to chime in with ‘when donkeys fly?’

  29. Cargosquid

    Reagan.

    Bush the second.

    I liked Bush better than the alternative. I did not agree with all of his policies or his lack of vetos. I liked his attitude about the war. While not perfect, he did his best.

    But it was his domestic policies and the lack of principle in the GOP that drove the conservatives into activism. I did not like the Patriot Act or the formation of the Dept. of Homeland Security. I don’t like the formation of the TSA and its abuse of the 4th Amendment.

    As for Bachmann, I haven’t paid attention to her closely. Its too early in the cycle. Lets get all the players in and then start narrowing down the field.

    I’m still curious. Is there a Democrat that you would like to see run against “the One?”

    1. Why whoever do you mean? re: ‘The One’

      How about if I refer to Bush the second as ‘Squint eyes?’ Didn’t think so.

      It doesn’t matter who or what I want. Political parties usually squelch upstarts. I wasn’t getting what I wanted in the first place. Why do you think that has changed? I am just not going to spend the next 4-8 years bitching about it. I lived through Bush. I only bitched, whined and gnashed teeth the first year. It was unproductive behavior. And I was one who actually liked Al Gore.

    2. Cargo, aren’t Bush and Reagan both too RINO for you? Both were big spenders. Reagan just had the communication skills to lull everyone into thinking he was reducint spending. The military doesn’t build up free of charge. My taxes also went up when he came into office. There were many fewer write-offs. And yes, that is back door raising taxes.

  30. Wolverine

    O.K., Censored, you don’t buy into the Alaska-Vermont size comparison. Let’s move it up a notch then. Tell me the small town of which Obama was ever the mayor. Tell me the state of which Obama was ever the governor? Tell me all about Obama’s management experience going into the 2008 campaign matched up against that of Palin. Strange how so many bought into the Obama thing about being eligible for Management Job #1 in this country and somehow Palin is just chopped liver.

  31. @Moon-howler
    I don’t care if you refer to Bush as “that a##hole.” Doesn’t bother me.

    As for Reagan’s spending….the military needed building up. And to get that….he had to sign off on Democratic spending. We were losing the Cold War when Reagan took office. He decided to win. At the time, Reagan was the only conservative out there, especially in comparison to many Republicans. Conservatives were rare.
    I don’t believe that Reagan would support the DHS nor the Health Care bill. I don’t think that he would support the over-reach of the EPA.

    I’ve already talked about Bush’s spending. Think he liked government solutions too much. I consider him a centrist. He wasn’t a small gov’t conservative. His “compassionate conservatism” was an insulting phrase.

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