[HiTech RedNeck]

Bachmann has been reported as going off the deep end once or twice — IIRC it was about a do it yourself tax rebellion — and Sarah Palin has never gone to such an extent.

[hinckley buzzard]

Doesn't matter. Congresspersons don't get elected president. Governors and former governors do. Make Bachmann VP if you want.

[yup2394871293]

Bachmann has been reported as going off the deep end once or twice — IIRC it was about a do it yourself tax rebellion — and Sarah Palin has never gone to such an extent.

Both are learning as they go along. The main difference between Bachmann and Palin is that Bachmann doesn't have to try as hard to reach the audience she needs to reach: taxpayers who are concerned about the course the country is taking. That's because Bachmann's an officeholder and Palin is presently at best a pundit. Sooner or later though all of these figures realize that merely spouting conservative populist zingers for the benefit of the press and an apathetic public can only take them so far and could hurt them in the long run. They need other weapons to fight with. A pretense at "nuance" (Obama in 2008, Mitch Daniels in 2011) has its limits, too. Sooner or later, you have to convince a broad segment of voters and party bigwigs that you have a serious agenda and know what the f*** you're talking about. It also obviously helps if you're not such an obvious target that the MSM isn't out to destroy you from day one.

[yup2394871293]

Speaking about being a target of the MSM, I think the media thought Reagan was a long shot at best for too long. Same thing happened with Dubya. But GHW Bush (Dole, too) was lined up in the media's sights from the moment Reagan got reelected.

That said, I haven't followed Palin much (and all the other headlines might have something to do with that). Palin could make a comeback. But she needs to add to her playbook. From the perspective of conservatives though, it's better not to put all your eggs in one basket.