Speaking of joke candidacies, Michelle Bachmann killed in the Iowa night rally last night, by all accounts, and may have a chance to win the caucuses there next year:
Extremely conservative social activists tend to dominate the Iowa caucuses — radical televangelist Pat Robertson came in second in 1988, well ahead of Reagan’s sitting vice president — and may very well make Bachmann viable, at least in the first nominating contest.
I had another thought about Bachmann the other day: what if Palin decides not to run and throws the full force of her Twitter/Facebook/TLC empire behind Bachmann?
cathyx
It’s so odd. I know a few people who live in Iowa and they are quite sane. Who are these Bachmann loving people?
Basilisc
Wonderful news. Will be fun watching the wingers jump over the cliff, & watching the Corner crowd collapse in a swoon of starbursts.
dmsilev
I’m becoming increasingly convinced that the modern Republican Party is some long-running psychological experiment to explore the question of just how stupid a candidate has to be before they get laughed off the stage.
Right now, the limit appears to be Alan Keyes. I’d rate Bachman at about 850 miliKeyes.
dms
The Sheriff's A Ni-
No way, this is Sarah’s moment to hog the cameras! Hers and hers alone. Todd will run over Bachmann’s kneecaps with a snowmobile if neccessary.
suzanne
One of my clients commented to me, in all seriousness, how Michele Bachmann was “the only one of them all with the courage to stand up to Obama”. Previously, I had thought this guy was pretty intelligent.
I need the job, so I said nothing.
I’m such a whore.
gbear
I bet Tim Pawlenty wants to claw her eyes out.
BGinCHI
Maybe she’ll choose Barbour as her running mate and they can call themselves “Cheese and Cracker.”
stuckinred
She’s not stupid she’s playing to stupid.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@suzanne: I was working with one of our cashiers on-site when I overheard him talking with a customer. Customer broke out the birther talking points, at which point the cashier countered with his own star chamber beliefs. It was a confluence of conspiracy.
Of course, I didn’t say anything either. I’m paid to get their computers running, not start up arguments on long-held beliefs.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
And for my last trick, you know – you know – someone somewhere is gonna pop up at a town hall debate asking about the birth certificate. Or some hack moderator will.
Break out the popcorn, I want to see the reaction on all the allegedly moderates’ face when it happens.
dr. bloor
@cathyx:
Sane people don’t go out in subzero weather to spend several hours in a school cafeteria/church basement/pick your venue to back sane candidates. Caucuses are for True Believers, which pretty much defines Palin’s and Bachmann’s bases.
All for naught, anyways. If Bachmann runs the table in Iowa, the corporatist media will spin themselves into a lather discounting the importance of the win. They have their marching orders.
Henry
Wouldn’t that be a Great ticket for the GOP. Say, Bachman and Huckabee! Not that it would do us much better but Joe Biden alone could win against that!
w3ski
cathyx
@suzanne: At least you didn’t agree with him.
Judas Escargot (aka "your liberal-interventionist pal, who's fun to be with")
Batman vs. Superman. Godzilla vs. Mothra. Bachmann vs Palin.
Maybe the GOP gets to be the ‘PUMA Party’ this primary season.
West of the Cascades
Bachmann with Palin’s backing would be glorious.
cathyx: the Bachmann-loving Iowans are called “Republican caucus voters.” The same ones who voted out three of the Supreme Court judges there because they had the temerity to interpret the state constitution’s equal rights clause to mean that teh gays should have equal rights. There are apparently a lot of them …
rikyrah
I think it would be hilarious.
absolutely hilarious.
August J. Pollak
Bachmann gaining momentum might be the only thing that makes Palin actually run. Given what a media and attention addict Palin is, would she really allow Bachmann to usurp her as the Queen of the Tea Party? Yes, I know Palin wants to be where the money is, but media wise it’s silly– she doesn’t want to be Karl Rove, no matter how much she’s paid.
And also, honestly– if Bachmann becomes the nominee and- god forbid- president, exactly how or why would anyone care about Palin anymore? Palin stock goes down, literally, with every increase in Bachmann’s popularity. They’re the Coke and Pepsi of the Tea Party.
Butler
I think the opposite is just as likely. Bachmann strikes me as what they used to call a “stalking horse” for Palin. Bachmann fires up the Tea Party in Iowa, Palin keeps off the map for a while, and then Bachmann graciously bows out just in time for the bigger star Palin to step in and absorb her support. In return for her efforts Bachmann gets a bunch of press and fund raising support.
ChrisNYC
I don’t think Palin can be a kingmaker anymore. She loses votes for every one she brings, since the AZ shooting. Also, she would bring the same voters that Bachmann could win on her own — they have to vote for someone and Bachmann is as close as it gets.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Bachmann is running at the behest of the party. They need a controllable candidate to hook the TPers and then drop out, fall in line, and deliver the TPers to the “serious” nominee. Bachmann can probably do that and the party has huge leverage over her, since she’s elected. DeMint has big ambitions so he won’t run that suicide mission. Bachmann probably doesn’t care because really she doesn’t want to be Pres. She wants to stay in the House for 87 years and give wacky speeches.
negative 1
It’s getting to the point where I really feel like just saying the heck with it — let one of the crazies win the presidency as long as a rethug is going to. I am really naive enough to think that there is a point at which people will notice the cognitive dissonance. And if not, eh, at least it will be fun to marvel at the train wreck before my family and I starve to death.
Davis X. Machina
The only time I actually suffered any harm breaking up fights in school — and I’m big, so they call me a lot — was in breaking up a fight between two 9th grade girls.
Broken glasses, torn sweater, scratches.
I think someone should warn the media posse detailed to go to Iowa.
harlana
@Henry:
What a revolting combination of individuals. Which means republicans will probably go with it.
I don’t believe traditional republicans exist and haven’t for some time. Otherwise they would be speaking out against the idiocies uttered by both of these assclowns.
Roger Moore
@dr. bloor:
This. The biggest problem with caucuses is that they’re a lot more effort than primaries, so they attract fewer, more committed voters. That means a relative handful of crazies can take over the process, and usually do.
David in NY
@dmsilev:
I believe we could prove this as a necessary corollary to John Rogers’ “Craxification Factor”, also Keyes-based.
negative 1
@ChrisNYC: Yeah, I agree – even if it isn’t a coordinated effort there is always someone like this. At risk of seeing false parallels, there is an equivalent to this on both sides. Eventually the corporations give their media marching orders, and the “serious” candidates who can win are chosen. It happened with Dean. Bachmann will be fun for a couple of states, but she’ll say something too big on the crazy richter scale, and then the media will call her “unelectable” and tell her supporters that Mittens or someone else will be just as good. That person will then get the benefit of Bachmann’s momentum.
suzanne
Maybe it’s just my perception, but I think Snowbilly Snooki’s star is fading, for real this time. I see and hear much less about her than I used to. Same with Paris Hilton. Maybe there’s a special circle of Hell where failed celebrities go. The two of them deserve each other.
MikeJ
@dmsilev: I like to see numbers in political predictions. Normally 850 milliKeyes would give her 22.95% of the vote. Or would it give her 31.05? If she’s 85% as nutty as Keyes she should pick up more votes. So yeah, the second one.
I would argue with her being less insane than Keyes, but it’s probably hard to quantify.
Kristine
@stuckinred:
I’ve been wondering about this because otherwise I can’t figure out how she passed her bar exam.
The Dangerman
Re: Bachmann/Palin
Am I the first to note that Boobs are best when they come in pairs?
cathyx
The choice between Palin and Bachmann is like this game my daughter has called “You Gotta Be Kidding”
You get asked a question like:
Would you rather eat a hair sandwich or,
would you rather eat an earwax omelet?
Either option is quite unpalatable.
MattF
It’s just so weird. I look at an image of Bachmann and every pixel radiates that ‘oooo… craaaazy’ vibe. It’s hard to imagine anyone doesn’t see that. On the other hand, there were, in fact, people who voted for Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 primaries. Strange world.
Bob Loblaw
@Roger Moore:
You’re basically begging for a Hillary supporter to come in and cause trouble right now.
ChrisNYC
@negative 1: I think the parallels are real. Edwards did it pretty well in 08, though he waited too long to choose between O and HRC.
And I think it’s not all bad. Edwards did, I think, want to use his endorsement power to extract concessions from the eventual nominee — whatever, get poor-people-helping policies to get more airtime, get himself appointed to some high profile position where he could push his issues, etc. Maybe that’s why he stayed in even though he (and, from the way I understand it, the entire political press corps) knew that the Rielle Hunter thing would sink him.
MikeJ
@suzanne:
I think you’re being unfair to Paris Hilton.
If she’s shallow (and I don’t deny she probably is), it’s because she’s young and doesn’t know better, attractive enough that people wish to please her, and rich enough to just buy anything she wants.
Snowflake Snookie didn’t have any of that going for her. Ok, some conservative men seemed to think she was hot. But there’s “hot for a politician” and “hot for a swimsuit model.” She’s somewhat pretty, but not *that* pretty.
Hilton may actually grow as a person. In fact, the less you see of her probably means she’s started wearing underwear to get out of SUVs, and that’s a sign of personal growth for her.
I don’t see that Palin has grown any more self aware.
Pongo
I think Bachmann has been mostly ignored by the media scrutiny apparatus because she’s never been perceived as a contender–the way Palin apparently was. That will stop if she starts gaining traction and there are a fair number of crazy skeletons in her closet, including her ‘pray away the gay’ hubby and their couples activity of spying on gay parades in St. Paul (for some inexplicable reason they felt the need to use stealth tactics–at a public parade–and hide behind the bushes to take pictures of attendees and parade participants, all caught on video by incredulous St. Paulian’s). She’s worse than plain crazy, she’s weird. I think people have a higher tolerance for true insanity than for outright freakishness.
BruceFromOhio
@suzanne:
To this day I still cannot peruse the HuffPo/Poltics page. At any given time, on any given day, there are three posts dedicated to this whackadoodle, and sometimes as many as five, simultaneously.
That star can’t fade (or go supernova) fast enough.
ETA: Maybe there’s a special circle of Hell where failed celebrities go. There is! It’s called QVC, and it’s channel 17 on my cable system.
Joey Maloney
@suzanne:
I would pay real money to see some kind of reality show that put those two in close, constant contact. Maybe a cross between “Undercover Boss” and “The Simple Life” where the two of them are low-level campaign workers for some second-tier national candidate. Palin converts Hilton to Birferism, and Hilton gets Palin to participate in a series of 3-ways with various C-list entertainers and other campaign hangers-on.
piratedan
as anti-intellectual as these folks are, they scare me silly. As evidenced with the last few elections, there appears to be a limitless well of idiocy from which to draw upon in the US and if we can’t motivate anyone out there with firing synapses to get off their asses and vote, then I fear that we’ll be doomed to suffer these fools in power. There’s a lot of time left for the Rethugs to pull a new shiny out as a distraction and its not as if these guys simply can’t make up shit if there’s nothing handily available.
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known As Kryptik
@piratedan:
Ditto. Like I said a couple topics back, Idiocy is a prerequisite for the GOP these days and it sure as hell hasn’t kept them from winning too many elections in the past decade or so. Especially the last one.
Underestimate them, and the country’s Hippie Hate, at your own risk.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@stuckinred: I don’t know. I think the line between stupid and crazy is hard to draw here. I don’t watch much political TV anymore, and one of the few times I’ve seen her unscripted was when Tweety Mathews goaded her into endorsing a House un-American Activities Committee. She seemed as intensely unaware of the fact that she was being mocked as she was of the history he was citing (and if you’re out-thunk by Tweety….?). Also, too, that thing about the great Revolutionary War battle of Concorde, New Hampshire. I don’t like to make too much of off-the-cuff slips, but in light of the whole, I’d say she’s the real deal of stupid. I understand tax law is a tough field to get certified in, but I imagine a good memory and a hard slog could have gotten her though? IANAL.
Skip Intro
Proof of the existence of God and of Her sense of humor.
maya
Bachmentum? In her case wouldn’t it be a Swelling Micheling?
Bob Loblaw
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It’s true. And as Dan Quayle said, it’s such a waste to lose one’s mind.
By the way, I just looked at her wikipedia page. Bachmann’s 55 years old. WTF.
gnomedad
@MikeJ:
She’s trapped behind the winger event horizon — there’s no path forward that leads to less craziness or more self-awareness.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@August J. Pollak: I agree; Palin’s delusional ego could not abide the wild eyed wonder stealing her thunder.
@Davis X. Machina: It would be epic, the mother of all catfights.
@Kristine: I know lots of people who passed that are just as stupid, and not all of them are true believers. I think she is just.that.dumb. Not quite as dumb as The Great Northern Grifter(TM) to be sure, but then that’s a distinction as fine as which is dumber: a box of rocks or a bag of hammers? An essay could be written.
shortstop
Did you sleep through high school?
Palin’s emotional development never got past age 16.
Davis X. Machina
40% of America is going to look at Obama, and whoever’s standing next to Obama, and go ‘I want the other one’, even if the other one is a pallet of cinder blocks, or a lady who dresses parrots. (Alba Ballard, b’vracha).
Elections are won on the margins, and the GOP need another 10%. Bachmann doesn’t get you there. Palin doesn’t get you there. It has to be Some Guy in a Suit. Just has to.
Bruce S
Bachmann is one of those people who always looks like she’s staring off into some special place that only she can see – “crazy eyes.” She’s giving a bad name to people who come across like they’re off the medication. Most of them are harmless and have no ill intent. I’d call her the re-incarnation of Phyllis Schlafly, except that old harridan is still with us.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Assuming Palin is not as deluded as Bachmann in attempting a serious run, I don’t think she’ll risk offending any paying customers by endorsing or slamming anyone. She’ll offer up six months of marshmellow-jello word-salad about “our great candidates who want to you know save this great country from the wrong one-way street she’s being shoved down and I hope they all remember Ronald Reagan’s, Ronaldus Mandibillus’s 11th Amendment that thou shall not speak of another Republican”
kindness
Bachmann/Palin ’12? or better yet Palin/Bachmann ’12. Every liberals dream opponent.
gbear
@ChrisNYC:
Trouble is, once they hook in the crazies, the crazies won’t settle for the ‘serious’ candidate. That’s why we’ve got so many batshit crazy governors and congressmen right now. The crazy candidates can win republican primairies and then lie their way through the general election, greatly supported by the corporate media.
Hoefully after what’s happened in the last year it will be harder for crazy candidates to get through the general elections unexamined, but they’re still going to have a tsunami of millionaire cash to work with.
MaryRC
That’s the first time I had ever heard of her. When she started making a national name for herself, I couldn’t believe at first that it was the same woman or that someone so absurd could rise to become a member of Congress. She may escape the consequences of the ridiculous things she says, but those photos of her crouching behind bushes will be priceless to an opponent. She seems to think no-one can see her.
kindness
Obviously there’s a lot of very conservative money behind the scenes. I wonder, these plutocrats/kleptocrats/oligarghs/Gaultians…do they fund the extremely orthodox religious conservatives in order to try and send everything back to their guilded age of pre 20’s? Do they think they are buying robot voters & media meme to push their underlying economic domination and control? Or am I just thinking they are deeper than they really are?
I mean, it always comes down to money, right?
Davis X. Machina
@gbear: The billion-dollar question — in a presidential general election, will spurned teahadis stay home and not vote? Dole suffered from non-voting evangelicals to some extent in ’96, but he wasn’t running against That Colored Man.
eemom
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
This. No fucking way is Palin going to be a cheerleader for Bachmann — she has got to hate her guts. Dunno if y’all noticed, but women like this don’t share very well.
Davis X. Machina
To elect almost anyone we’re talking about you’d need a set-up like what delivered their new governor “Mr. 38%” LePage to Maine — a third and fourth party that splits the Democratic and independent vote — for anything like President Bachmann to happen.
If I were the GOP, I’d create two third party candidates — a super-liberal independent, and a traditional, non-government white moderate independent — a Nader 2.0, and a non-partisan Wes Clark type — and get them on every ballot humanly possible. It’s probably too late for that now, though, though money = time.
Roger Moore
@Bob Loblaw:
I don’t think angry PUMAs need any excuse to try to break in and disrupt things. If they haven’t tried to derail the thread yet, it’s because they’re not paying attention to it, not because nobody has given them an excuse.
Hewer of Wood, Drawer of Water
@MikeJ: She ain’t pretty she just looks that way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUT4sS0lsss
jwb
@ChrisNYC: I think you are wrong about Bachmann and Palin—it’s Palin who is the grifter and in the pocket of the Powers that Be. That’s why really she poses no more of a systemic risk to the country than any of the other goopers who might win the nomination. Bachmann, however, is different. She’s a true believer, and is interested in and motivated by power (rather than fame or money). She would be extremely dangerous if she actually found a way to get elected.
ppcli
@eemom: Concerning Bachmann vs. Palin, The Republicans are always repeating that private enterprise always does things better. This is a case where I think they may be right. Have Vince McMahon put together a WWE pay-per-view. Steel Cage Match, baby!
Well, I’d watch it.
ppcli
@Hewer of Wood, Drawer of Water: Love that clip. Special bonus: the late, great Stan Szelest on piano.
Chad N Freude
I think Bachmann and Palin together would make an unbeatable team.
amk
palin/bachmann – wtf/wth
Davis X. Machina
Jonathan Bernstein’s take on Bachmann: No real factor, not even in tipping the nomination to someone else. She’s the leader of the Tea Party Caucus, 45 of whose 50 members voted against her on the first continuing resolution.
No political power-base, which means you can win Iowa, but not much else. I especially recommend his “Palin, and Playing by the Rules”. Politicians matter a lot in the process of choosing presidential nominees.
Incoherent Dennis SGMM
As an old guy and as someone who, until recently, believed that the ship of state would always right itself, I wouldn’t discount Bachmann’s or Palin’s chances out of hand – let alone Bachmann-Palin overdrive. This is the same nation that re-elected a crazy, stupid-appearing, fact-averse president because he was someone with whom they’d drink a beer. Mix crazy, stupid-appearing, fact-averse, with someone they’d like to fuck and all bets are off.
AkaDad
As a Liberal, I’m scared to death of strong, conservative women like Bachmann. Is she wins the nomination for President, Obama is doomed.
jwb
@MikeJ: I don’t think we are talking about core wingnutness here. I think it’s primarily an inverse measure of the appeal outside the core. On the other hand, there should be some loss of the core that comes with the ability to appeal outside of the core so the actual formula would have to contend with determining the alienation rate for the two voting populations (wingnutters and others) with respect to the crazifaction measure.
shortstop
@AkaDad: you made me snort happily.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@AkaDad: LOL.
Villago Delenda Est
@AkaDad:
Obama is doomed regardless. He has no popularity at all with 85% of the country. Latinos can’t stand him. Most Blacks can’t stand him. The only reliable voting block for him is the Islamo-Kenyan-Marxists.
AKA his homeboyz.
Omnes Omnibus
@AkaDad: You should have mentioned your lifelong membership in the Democrat Party.
Hewer of Wood, Drawer of Water
@ppcli: it’s amazing how many people he influenced with so little recognition
AkaDad
@shortstop:
Mission accomplished!
The phone rang right after I submitted the comment, so I didn’t get a chance to edit the typo.
ppcli
@AkaDad: I couldn’t agree more. I sure hope no Republican planners are reading these comments, because if they realize how scared of a Bachmann candidacy we all are, it’s game over.
nevsky42
@Davis X. Machina:
This comment just made me wonder who’s been giving money to Donald Trump…
ChrisNYC
@jwb: I don’t see Bachmann as a true believer. She’s a grifter too. Remember when she said she wanted to do HUAC II? Hasn’t really pushed that through. She hasn’t done anything, that I can see. I think that whole party is basically grifters at this point. They run for personal advancement. Remember the big red wave in the midterms? Those firebrands sure have not made any difference yet. Do we even have a House of Reps anymore? Remember the big oooh scary Issa hearings? Where are they? The big budget fight? Nada.
Also, Bachmann’s a girl, which is a real hobble on the red side. They don’t let girls do any real stuff.
I think any of em would be dangerous if elected. The saving grace is that none of them actually want responsibility. It’s a lot easier to be a crazy back bencher than to be (or even run for) President.
The Sheriff's A Ni-
@Incoherent Dennis SGMM:
Seriously, as better off the nation would have been with Gore and Kerry at the helm, putting both of them against Bush in an election was like putting the Pistons and Nets against the Clippers. None of them were really all that appealing.
Which, as crazy as it may sound, is why I wish Hillary had run in 2004 instead of waiting another four years.
Villago Delenda Est
@ChrisNYC:
More money in it also. See the perpetually “exploring” Newt Gingrich, the best example of why a bomb throwing back bencher as leader will get you in more trouble than you need.
Bob Loblaw
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
Given all you know now about the events of 2005-2009, why on earth are Democrats still pining for a win in an election that was far better lost in the grand scheme of things?
ChrisNYC
@Villago Delenda Est: Yeah. I think Romney is the counter example. Horrible as his policy preferences are, he seems actually interested in policy, see e.g. MA healthcare. I think he is their only remaining actual “public servant” and they HATE him for it!
Incoherent Dennis SGMM
@The Sheriff’s A Ni-:
Ya’ got me there. Gore’s decision to turn his back on Bill Clinton set up a dishwater candidacy. I never did quite figure out what Kerry stood for. Eight years of Hillary and then eight years of Obama might have left us in better shape.
The “what ifs?” are all the more seductive to me because of how badly things suck right now.
Barb (formerly Gex)
@stuckinred: Nope. Bachmann is the real deal. Check the eyes. She’s a true believer, while I think Palin is more of a grifter.
Barb (formerly Gex)
@shortstop: What if the plan is Bachmann in 2012 when they don’t think they can win, followed by Palin in 2016, when in comparison to Bachmann’s campaign, she appears presidential to idiot voters.
Bruce S
Barb @ 1:46- “Check the eyes. She’s a true believer, while I think Palin is more of a grifter.”
Absolutely – as someone noted above, Palin’s base are “paying customers” while Bachmann is a staunch and sincere advocate for crazy people. (Which I would suggest is some sort of twisted testament to our democracy, were it not for snakes like Dick Armey and the Koch brothers throwing dollars at these lunatics to form a “populist” front for them.)
Frank
I see several people suggesting Palin as somebody’s VP choice… I don’t see that happening. She was second banana once and I can’t imagine she’d be willing to ride shotgun again. Either her talons are on the wheel or she’s not in the car at all. I believe Bachmann is unelectable unless we all sit on our hands again in large numbers, a la the 2010 midterms. Let’s not do that again! Get out the vote. Recharge the youth vote! I haven’t heard much about younger voters or seen much effort by the left to maintain the youth momentum built in ’08. Dems can’t count solely on the pro-union vote or the Latino or black vote or the GLTB vote — we need that proverbial big tent!
debit
Does anyone else remember the uncomfortable, creepy way she slobbered over Bush?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_uiudt_Kiw
Dennis SGMM
@Barb (formerly Gex):
Oh, hell yes! And, she will absolutely, positively have the votes of the twenty-something percent of Americans who have the same look in their eyes. In an era where the Citizens United decision has yet to work its magic on a presidential election it’s quite possible for a media avalanche to make Bachmann a contender – especially if the people who really call the shots for the GOP decide that she’s a useful idiot and couple her with some Cheneyesque figure who will actually run things.
Chet
@ChrisNYC: And, as a bonus, having the crazies move the Overton window means whatever “serious” candidate the party eventually nominates can’t help seeming sane and reasonable by comparison to moderate voters.
Bruce S
“I haven’t heard much about younger voters or seen much effort by the left to maintain the youth momentum built in ‘08.”
That’s, unfortunately, because OFA completely folded as an organizing effort that could counter the Tea Partiers, et. al. in favor of a “Clap Louder!” agenda that has turned off most of the first-timers as well as seasoned activists who became involved in ’07-’08. Terrible missed opportunity to build a broad movement that we will all pay for.
Obama as candidate used to use the “Make me do it!” anecdote of FDR’s challenge to A.Phillip Randolph around desegregation of the defense jobs in the prelude to WWII – Randolph built the original “March on Washington” civil rights campaign and FDR did what he knew was the right thing under political pressure from his left. I guess I was a fool to think that David Plouffe, David Axelrod, et. al. gave a shit about that piece of “The Promise” once they took the White House. But they’ll have a hell of a time re-charging that energy in ’12…and we’ve already suffered the consequences by losing Congress to a bunch of crazy people who – to their credit, as much as it hurts me to say that – took center stage in the media and “public discourse” with their message of resentment and incoherent anger.
quaint irene
I thought that was called ‘Dancing With The Stars.’
priscianus jr
@stuckinred:
Bruce S
“couple (Bachmann) with some Cheneyesque figure who will actually run things.”
This might be Gingrich’s path to the White House…as Eminence Grise behind someone who is a complete idiot but has that “have-a-glass-of-Charles-Shaw-chardonnay-with” midwestern suburbanite appeal.
Tell me that’s a crazy thought…pleeeze!
Ignatius J. Reilly
@stuckinred:
@priscianus jr:
priscianus jr, sorry to say I respectfully disagree.
Too often, many of us on the left side of the dial have a bad and short-sighted habit of looking down our noses, and conflating ignorant with stupid when it comes to Republican politicians. Bachmann is definitely the former, and definitely not the latter. IMO. Your mileage may vary.
priscianus jr
@Kristine:
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
bachmann/palin palin/bachmann?
the pot and the kettle running against the blackness of obama, all in dogwhistles tuned to sound like a cathedral pipe organ?
fuck free charlie manson and give him a show on cnn, we could use a man with his vision in times like these.
priscianus jr
@Bruce S:
Murphoney
Bachmann will end up as an attempt to buoy Gingrich’s ticket:
NEWT & NUTTER ’12!
nancydarling
@Henry: Huckabee will never be on the GOP ticket in either position. He has some serious bones rattling around his closet and everyone in Arkansas knows it. Actually it was national news in 2008, but didn’t stay in the public consciousness for long. He granted clemency to Maurice Clemmons who went on to kill 4 cops in Washington. He urged and got early parole for Wayne Dumond who had been convicted of raping a distant relative of Bill Clinton. I think he did it because he thought it would be a poke in the eye to Clinton—Huckabee is that mean and vindictive. Dumond went on to kill again (he had gotten off for a killing in Lawton, OK years before by turning states evidence in a claw-hammer beating death with two other guys)possibly twice after his Huckabee enabled early parole and died in prison. Then there is the matter of Huckabee’s son who, when a Boy Scout camp counselor, tortured and killed a stray dog in front of his younger charges. I don’t know if this was the same son who was arrested 3 or 4 years ago trying to board a plane in Little Rock with a pistol in his carry-on.
I don’t understand why this guy is seriously considered by anyone unless his supporters are as morally bankrupt as he is. He puts on this folksy persona of a man of God. He’s a shape-shifter—darkness lurks there.
Kristine
As an aside, does anyone else have problems posting comments from Firefox? I’ve had 2-3 comments simply vanish, and one wind up in moderation even though it contained only a single link.
I don’t want to go back to Safari–too slow.
Bruce S
priscianus jr – March 27, 2011 | 3:10 pm
@Bruce S:
Tell me that’s a crazy thought…pleeeze!
Not crazy, but doubtful.
Yeah, I was over-caffeinated when I wrote that.
Bex
@Bruce S: Gingrich in the White House? I just upchucked my two buck chuck.
Cranky Observer
> Trouble is, once they hook in the crazies,
> the crazies won’t settle for the ‘serious’
> candidate.
This is a key point that IMHO is under appreciated. There isn’t a strong insider core to the Republican Party at the moment, and while Fox is solidly Republican it also loves to create controversy to boost ratings (and because controversy generates more controversy, which generates…). If a real hard-right populist candidate gets rolling (Palin, Bachmann, even Huckster) it may not be within the power of mainstream Republicans to stop them – no matter how many billionaires and Sunday talking heads they bring to the fight.
Cranky
Frank
You may be right, Cranky O. (is it possible to have a cranky O?), but I would hope that the American voting public would turn out in sufficient numbers to flush such a candidate in the national election. Of course, I am not utterly certain that the American electorate is, indeed, that wise.
Captain C
@nevsky42:
My first guess would be The Donald, himself.
Spaceman Spiff
GOBABYGOBABYGOBAY-BEE!!!!111111111!!!! See you in the General election first Tuseday November 2012…against Barry Hussein Obama, wow that’s going to be a slaughter to rival LBJ vs. AuH2O in 1964! GOGOGOGO MICHELLE MA BELLE!!!!!!! And, of course when you lose (which you will, hideously), always do what you and every other GOPer does: blame it on us losers who just don’t understand…
Yutsano
@Spaceman Spiff: I prefer to win with a little dignity. Fer Dawg’s sake get a hold of yerself.
Jay in Oregon
And did she eat her kill on-stage? Inquiring minds want to know. It’s been said a Republican politician could eat a baby during a press conference and still pull 27% of the vote…