Michele, Ma Belle

The first major Republican debate in New Hampshire did two things. One, it knocked any chance Tim Pawlenty had at becoming President out of the park. He looked, after a question about his calling Romney’s health care plan “Obamney Care”, like he had just wet his pants. If Pawlenty can’t stand up to Mitt Romney, he can’t stand up to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The second thing it did was propel Michele Bachmann into the top tier of candidates, which, for now, includes only Mitt Romney and apparently, Rick Perry.

Bachmann answered every question thrown at her in a seasoned, reasonable way including a stupid question about which one you like better: Elvis or Johnny Cash.

Then, speaking of stupid questions, last Sunday, Chris Wallace asked her if she was a flake because, she has said some, er, off the wall things, here and there. I’m not sure what Wallace thought she would say. (“Sure, I’m a Flake, what of it?”) Her reply started a little defensively, but she ended up answering it like she answers all questions put to her: she is a Congresswoman, a tax attorney, yadda, yadda. She also mentioned she raised five kids and helped raise 23 foster children, which would help her in dealing with Congress.

A lot of us on this side of the river were pretty put out with Wallace. Nobody in the Mainstream Media ever asked President Wonderful anything close to a hard question in 2008. Their questions to him: “Why are you such a dream boat?” “Tell me, when, not if, you get to be President, what will be the first grand and glorious thing you are going to do?”

No, Republicans have to get the proctologic exam along with presenting their curriculum vitae. This rule does not apply if you are named Jon Huntsman.

That’s the way it is, as Uncle Walter would say. It is also the reason she won’t win the Presidency.

Notice I did not say the nomination. She is the leader in the huge “Tea Party” movement which has its good and bad points. One of its bad points is that sometimes they support candidates which, to say the least, are flaky. One of their Senate candidates had to run a commercial proclaiming that she “was not a witch”.

My only problem with the “Tea Party” is that sometimes they don’t understand politics is about compromise and sometimes you have to take less than what you want to get anything you want.

Bachmann will be easy to parody. Already the “Funny or Die” website lists Bachmann’s “Five Biggest Factual Gaffes”. By the way, they haven’t mentioned our dear Vice President’s factual gaffe of claiming that FDR got on television in 1929 when the depression began despite the “fact” that FDR was not the President and there were no commercial TVs to get on.

Right now, Bachmann’s poll numbers versus the President are abysmal. The RealClear Politics average show Obama leading Bachmann 51% to 33%. To win, Bachmann has to win over the moderate voters and she has no history of having even appealed to anything other than Republicans.

Of course, in 1979, I was worried that President Carter would be re-elected despite his record and I worried over the Republican nominee. Everyone was going crazy over a 70 year old former actor who did not to know the name of the Prime Minister of France. That was Reagan and Bachmann could be another Reagan. I just don’t see it.