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Bachmann's inexperience
The Economist ^ | July 13, 2011 | W.W.

Posted on 07/13/2011 4:57:47 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

A COUPLE weeks back, I argued that Michele Bachmann's lack of relevant experience makes it unlikely she'll win the Republican nomination. This elicited several thoughtful responses worth addressing, especially in light of Tim Pawlenty's recent digs at Ms Bachmann's lack of qualifications.

Jonathan Chait suspects that "the Bachmann skeptics think she'll implode largely because she reminds them of Palin, when in fact she has a professional staff and is far more in control than Palin". Ms Bachmann does not in fact remind me much of Sarah Palin. I agree that her cannon is not as loose as Ms Palin's, and that her operation is all-pro. I'm also of the opinion that Ms Bachmann is a quicker study than Ms Palin, and she does not seem to be motivated by anything like Ms Palin's vainly self-righteous sense of martyrdom. Nevertheless, she's in over her head and I think it shows.

I also don't think she'll "implode". I think the Republican Party has a long history of nominating familiar, abundantly experienced old hands. Ronald Reagan was a 69-year-old two-term governor of America's most populous state. George H.W. Bush was a two-term vice-president who had served as the director of the CIA, as a congressman from Texas, as an ambassador to the United Nations, and as head of the Republican National Committee. Bob Dole was a war hero who spent 27 years in the Senate, where he served twice as majority leader. George W. Bush was the popular two-term governor of Texas, a huge state whose economy " is roughly equivalent in size to the economies of Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines combined." His dad had been president. His brother was governor of Florida. John McCain was another war hero (the son and grandson of Navy admirals) who had served in the Senate for over two decades. Michele Bachmann is a former tax attorney who has served six years in the Minnesota state senate, and has represented Minnesota's 6th district in the House for four and a half years. One of these things is not like the others!

I think it's hard to gainsay Tim Pawlenty, a former governor of Ms Bachmann's home state, when he says of Ms Bachmann:

"With all due respect, she just doesn't have that kind of experience, and secondly her record in Congress...is again, great remarks and great speeches, but in terms of results and accomplishments, nonexistent."

Ms Bachmann is directly in Mr Pawlenty's way, and he'll keep hammering her inexperience. It won't help him much, but it will hurt her. For now, Mitt Romney's wise mostly to ignore Ms Bachmann, but if she wins Iowa and gets a big bounce coming into New Hampshire, I think he'll be more than happy to repeatedly compare resumes. My best guess is that just as soon as America's conservative voters start to really tune in to the race, and are confronted repeatedly with Ms Bachmann's startling lack of qualifications, her rose will go bloomless.

Daniel Larison says that Ms Bachmann has "the same intangible quality that made Huckabee into a significant challenger in 2007-08, and Bachmann is poised to build on what Huckabee achieved." I agree Ms Bachmann projects an air of conservative authenticity, but I don't think she's poised to build on Mr Huckabee's rather limited achievements. She lacks Mr Huckabee's decade-long record of executive experience. I may be forced to eat my sneaker, but I insist experience matters to conservative primary voters.

Mr Larison goes on to say that I am

"normally hyper-sensitive to the presence of what he would call Christian nationalism in American politics, but he seems to have completely missed that Bachmann can rely on evangelical identity politics and nationalist appeals to at least as great a degree as Palin and perhaps as much as George Bush before her."

I deny that I've missed Ms Bachmann's Christian-nationalist identity politics, which would be rather like missing the odour of a nearby hog farm. I think her pious, founder-flogging "constitutional conservatism" may well carry her to victory here in Iowa. But I don't think that's enough. I just don't believe that the tea-party movement has displaced the party of Bob Dole to such an extent that lifelong Republican stalwarts will alight from their Lincolns and Buicks, shuffle into the nation's middle-school gymnasia, and decide to take a flyer on St Cloud's greenhorn congresswoman.

Ross Douthat gets it right:

Romney remains a weak frontrunner, to be sure—weak enough that I was sure he was a dead man walking a year ago. But the candidate who beats him has to peel off some of his moderate-establishment support as well as mobilizing Tea Party voters, and such a candidate hasn’t yet emerged. It might—might—be Rick Perry, but it isn’t Michele Bachmann. I have no doubt that she can give him a serious scare, but it will be the kind of scare that Jesse Jackson gave Michael Dukakis in 1988, or Jerry Brown gave Bill Clinton in 1992—enough to earn her a nice convention speaking slot, but not the nomination. She might even get on the nominee's VP short-list, though I don't think she's got the credentials to get picked. In any case, I'm sure she'll kill at convention.


TOPICS: Iowa; Minnesota; Campaign News; U.S. Congress
KEYWORDS: 2012; bachmann; michelebachmann; minnesota; palin; pawlenty; police; regulators; romney; socialists; teachers; teaparty
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To: hellbender

i don’t know that I’d use President Lincoln as an example. 1. A civil war broke out right after he was elected. 2. He had ONE clerk who he paid out of his own pocket. Do you know how big the executive branch is now? 3. Governor Palin has been taking a stand against Mr. Obama since September 2008, until today.


21 posted on 07/13/2011 5:35:53 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (I'll raise $2million for Gov. Sarah Palin. What'll you do?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

On one hand she’s not Globalist Elite. There are no mysterious Saudis paying for her education. She’s a “normal person”. And that’s comforting to some. To me actually.
But her record is almost completely devoid of anything at all impressive. 4 and a half years as a US Rep, and 6 years as State Senator. Most US Reps probably have a better resume overall. She’s tea party, at least considered tea party, and for the half of the people who are tea party, she’s currently tops, especially since Palin isn’t running.

She’s saying the right stuff, the tea party stuff, she did a great job in the last debate. She’s pretty. She’s Palin #2 and Palin #1 is not yet running.

She could be ripped to shreds whenever the media wants. The media knows this, and is in no hurry to do this.

I’d vote for her without hesitation in November 2012. But we’d get creamed.


22 posted on 07/13/2011 5:44:26 PM PDT by truthfreedom (type your name)
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To: hellbender

What good is it to be “experienced” if you are experienced at all the things that have made American politics corrupt?


23 posted on 07/13/2011 5:47:55 PM PDT by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Most of the government consists of unelected bureaucrats who run things by themselves. The President only sets the agenda. He has a Cabinet to handle the various depts. He doesn't micromanage, and if he does, he creates a complete mess of things.

A Civil War was inevitable once LIncoln was elected because the country had been dodging the issue of slavery for decades, just as it has been dodging the issue of govt. expansion and spending in the last century or so. Under Lincoln's administration, a war was fought to victory. The War Dept. had hundreds of thousands of "employees."

24 posted on 07/13/2011 5:48:46 PM PDT by hellbender
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

<<<<<>>>>>I deny that I’ve missed Ms Bachmann’s Christian-nationalist identity politics, which would be rather like missing the odour of a nearby hog farm. I think her pious, founder-flogging “constitutional conservatism” may well carry her to victory here in Iowa.>>>>>>>>

Typical English/Economist disdain for the heart and soul of the Republican Party — the evangelicals. England is going down the tubes precisely because of its spineless godless secularism. It is overrun by radical Muslims because of its spineless godless secularism.

And yet he compares Bachmann’s patriotism and Christian faith to the odor of a hog farm?

What an idiot.


25 posted on 07/13/2011 5:49:00 PM PDT by heye2monn
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Bachmann has enough of a public record for us to be able to discern which direction she would lead the country, and that is HARD STARBOARD on every single issue of interest to conservatives. She also plays well to independents who are either completely fed up with ballooning federal spending or illegal immigration. That’s really all I need to know.

The only other serious contender who even compares on the issues is Sarah Palin. I guess you could argue Palin has executive experience, but that’s overblown IMO. The entire Alaska electorate is smaller than the population of several counties in Colorado. Being Governor of Alaska is about the same as being Mayor of Colorado Springs in terms of constituency. Bachmann’s congressional district has about the same number of people as Palin’s entire home state.

There’s also the issue of her quitting halfway through her first term. Palin’s my #2 choice behind Bachmann, but playing this issue up to try and pull support from Bachmann is not likely to do her much good. Obama will also not be able to use this as an issue in the general elections. Glass houses/stones.


26 posted on 07/13/2011 5:59:46 PM PDT by CowboyJay
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To: truthfreedom

One of the things that I like about Bachmann is that she is not afraid to speak her mind, she can give as good as she gets. I think she would not treat Obama with kid gloves, she would really let him have it as only a woman can.


27 posted on 07/13/2011 6:07:44 PM PDT by cradle of freedom (Long live the Republic !)
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To: ejdrapes

Yes, Bachmann and her husband own a business.

Let’s hear all about that business. Every last detail. I would like Bachmann to fill an hour of TV on that business.

That’s the problem.

Tax Attorney. Sounds great. Fighting for the little guy against the big, bad IRS. Oh, tough call, picked the wrong side there Michele.

At this point - 6 months before the first votes - people aren’t looking close at all “tax attorney” sounds good. “Owns a business” sounds good. But when you go through her resume, year by year, looking at exactly what Bachmann was doing, it just is really, really weak.

bachmann born 1956
hs 1974
college 1978
law 1988
irs 88-93
foster parent 93-00
school board race 1999 (did not win)
state sen 00-06
us rep 06-12

palin born 1964
hs 1982
miss wasilla 1984
college 1987
sportscaster 1988
married todd helped with commercial fishing biz 1988
wasilla city council 1992
mayor wasilla 1996
alaska oil and gas 2003
gov alaska 2006
vp 08


28 posted on 07/13/2011 6:15:05 PM PDT by truthfreedom (type your name)
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To: cradle of freedom

I like her, and yes, she wouldn’t act like McCain. But the resume is bad.


29 posted on 07/13/2011 6:19:50 PM PDT by truthfreedom
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Wasn’t it the experienced harvard types who gave us these 14.5 trillion dollar deficit? Do we really want more academics to continue to play social theory games with this contry?


30 posted on 07/13/2011 6:24:00 PM PDT by Texas Songwriter (Haw)
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To: CowboyJay

Obama had a better resume than Bachmann. Similar, yes, but Bachmann’s resume isn’t as good.

Governor is better than US Rep.
US Senator is better than US Rep.

Obama has “1st black editor of the Harvard Law Review”
And Law Instructor at the University of Chicago Law School.

Both were state senators.

Here is Palin vs Bachmann.

bachmann born 1956
hs 1974
college 1978
law 1988
irs 88-93
foster parent 93-00
school board race 1999 (did not win)
state sen 00-06
us rep 06-12

palin born 1964
hs 1982
miss wasilla 1984
college 1987
sportscaster 1988
married todd helped with commercial fishing biz 1988
wasilla city council 1992
mayor wasilla 1996
alaska oil and gas 2003
gov alaska 2006
vp 08


31 posted on 07/13/2011 6:24:00 PM PDT by truthfreedom
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To: Mmogamer
She can’t be any more inexperienced than 0.

She's a close second. That's why I can't support her.

32 posted on 07/13/2011 6:30:17 PM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: truthfreedom

Ah so you decide who’s resume is good or bad?


33 posted on 07/13/2011 6:32:54 PM PDT by ejdrapes (Can we keep our attacks focused on the real enemy: Obama)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I have more executive experience and foreign policy credentials than Mr. Obama. So do many others here and elsewhere. Do we want more OJT?

Interesting analysis.

Given the current primary field, I assume you would support Gov. Romney over Rep. Bachmann.

Or am I wrong?

34 posted on 07/13/2011 6:34:12 PM PDT by Palmetto Patriot (How much better off would we be if these bastards would just leave us alone?)
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To: Palmetto Patriot

Nope, some experience is actually disqualifying, like bringing RomneyCare, RomneyMarriage and gun-grabbing to a state, etc... IIRC, Gov. Pawlenty and Gov Perry have had some squish moments, too.


35 posted on 07/13/2011 6:37:33 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (I'll raise $2million for Gov. Sarah Palin. What'll you do?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Local government socialists view Bachmann as a threat to their rackets.


36 posted on 07/13/2011 6:38:42 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in a thunderous avalanche of rottenness smelled around the earth.)
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To: ejdrapes

Aren’t we all giving opinions about good vs bad resumes?

I like Bachmann, she’s pretty, and she’s saying the right tea party things.

The resume is weak. But hey, it offers hope to those people who did nothing at all “Presidential” or “Fast Track” for 25 years after high school.

When your best resume bullet for your first 25 years after high school is “I worked for the IRS” and you’re a Republican, you have a problem.

I can imagine the bio movie at the RNC. “And then, in 1986, she decided to follow her dream of taking money from people and went straight from law school to an LLM program and then worked for the IRS for 5 years.”


37 posted on 07/13/2011 6:41:20 PM PDT by truthfreedom
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
"I deny that I've missed Ms Bachmann's Christian-nationalist identity politics, which would be rather like missing the odour of a nearby hog farm."

That is some trashy speech, and there are many trashy people active in contemporary politics.


38 posted on 07/13/2011 6:44:16 PM PDT by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in a thunderous avalanche of rottenness smelled around the earth.)
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To: cradle of freedom

Last fall when Christine O’Donnell was getting beat up from the establishment types Rush Limbaugh blurted out in frustration one day ‘at least she’d vote the right way’. Sarah Palin’s strong support...does anyone really believe it’s due to what she did as governor of Alaska (and in previous jobs)? No. Her strong support comes from things she said/done since being picked for VP. It comes from ‘drill baby drill’ and ‘don’t retreat, reload’. People listen to her and say she has the balls to take on Obama. If she had never been governor of Alaska would this view of her change? I doubt it. I think the same can be said for Bachmann. Primary voters see her as someone who stands up for the values they believe in, someone who fights the good fight. Right now I think that trumps the “experience” card.


39 posted on 07/13/2011 6:46:26 PM PDT by ejdrapes (Can we keep our attacks focused on the real enemy: Obama)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Gov. Pawlenty and Gov Perry have had some squish moments, too.

I agree.

Absent Gov. Palin, could you support Rep. Bachmann?

40 posted on 07/13/2011 6:47:40 PM PDT by Palmetto Patriot (How much better off would we be if these bastards would just leave us alone?)
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