Michele Bachmann
Byrnzie
Posts: 21,037
Yet another Right-wing nut-job attempts to seize power in the U.S.
Does anyone here think that any of these dangerous individuals have a chance of taking office and causing havoc in the U.S and across the World?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ju ... a-party-us
Michele Bachmann: the Tea Party crusader electrifying the US right
Congresswoman will come under scrutiny about hardline politics. But will she be able to reach beyond her Tea Party base?
Paul Harris, Stillwater, Minnesota
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 18 June 2011
Mary Cecconi is the only Democrat to have beaten Michele Bachmann, the rising star of the Republican right, in a popular election. "It's my claim to fame!" she laughs.
Her victory came in a race in 1999 for a seat on the school board of Stillwater, Minnesota, a tiny, picturesque river town on the banks of the Mississippi. Bachmann – then known locally as a conservative education activist – had unexpectedly run as part of a slate of rightwing Republicans. The move politicised what had previously been a non-partisan affair. It failed. Cecconi, the incumbent, held her position.
It was a minuscule electoral footnote yet it saw the political birth of a woman who just 12 years later is running for president and electrifying the radical right wing of the party.
Bachmann, who announced her White House run last week, and then shone in the first major Republican debate, is eclipsing Sarah Palin as the new darling of the Tea Party. She is an evangelical whose husband runs a controversial Christian counselling service. She is a Minnesota congresswoman who has vowed to repeal healthcare reform and lambasts Barack Obama as a socialist. Like Palin, she makes political capital of her role as a mother to a large family: five children of her own and more than 20 foster kids. She is also a glamorous woman in a party that is frequently dominated by older white men.
Yet her remarkable story began with that Stillwater race and Cecconi, now head of a parental lobbying group for schools in Minnesota, is not the only person to remember it. Joan Beaver, a now retired Stillwater high school teacher, recalled the election as heralding a shift in the town away from smalltown moderate Republicanism towards more extreme rightwing thought. "The town changed," she said, noting that the shift occurred after the development of suburban housing estates and an influx of wealthy newcomers.
Bachmann was part of the influx. She was born in Iowa, although the family moved to Minnesota when she was young. After a divorce, her mother remarried and Bachmann spent her childhood in a family of working-class Democrats. The real change came during adolescence, when at 16 she became "born again". She went on to study law at the religious Oral Roberts University, which taught a biblical worldview alongside its legal classes.
By the time Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, arrived in Stillwater with their burgeoning family they were staunch members of the religious right. She home-schooled her own children, but by law had to enrol her foster children into local public schools. It was that experience – she saw the state curriculum as too liberal and politically correct – that led to her becoming involved in educational activism, and ultimately politics.
Still, to Beaver it seems strange to see the Bachmann she knew from Stillwater school politics striding across the American political stage with officially declared ambitions to capture the Oval Office and become the most powerful woman in the world. "She has more perseverance and staying power than anyone expected," Beaver said.
Many on the American left see Bachmann's presidential ambitions as little more than a joke: the punchline to a gag about how far right the Republican party has drifted. She is mocked and lampooned by those who expect her to fail. But not all of her opponents in Stillwater are joining in that ridicule.
Cecconi is certainly not. She recalls going to an education meeting only two days after beating Bachmann in 1999. Bachmann was supposed to be playing second fiddle to a speech by education campaigner Michael Chapman. But instead she had become the main attraction: "She was amazing. She held the room in her hand."
A year later Bachmann would run for – and win – a state senate seat. Shortly after that she would run for the US Congress in the sprawling district of which Stillwater is a part. She would emerge victorious from that, too. Now she is running for the White House. Cecconi has a warning for those mocking her: "She has got as far as she has by people underestimating her. I am not going to underestimate her."
Even Bachmann's admirers, however, sometimes confess that her passionate style of ultra-rightwing politics has its drawbacks. "It is very attractive to some folks, and she certainly does not hesitate to say what she thinks. But that can upset others," said Edwin Cain, a Stillwater-based lobbyist who has worked frequently with Bachmann.
Indeed, it is not hard to find Bachmann critics, even among Republican supporters in the town. Though she makes her home here – in a million-dollar house on an upmarket estate near the golf course – this is not automatically Bachmann territory. The town is prosperous and thrives on a tourist economy; Main Street is packed with bistros and bars and represents a slice of urban city life with a hint of liberal values. Preston Norris, who works in a bar, voted for Bachmann for Congress but will not do so for the presidency. "She has some views that are just too much for that office," he said bluntly.
It is not hard to see what those views are. Bachmann's criticism of homosexuality is open and brutal. She has led the charge against gay marriage, even at the cost of a once-close relationship with a lesbian stepsister. In 2004 Bachmann said of gay people: "It's a very sad life. It's part of Satan, I think, to say that this is gay. It's anything but gay."
She is on record as viewing homosexuality as a "disorder" or a "sexual dysfunction" and is a staunchly anti-abortion Christian conservative. She believes Obama is "the final leap to socialism" in America, and has accused him of wanting to set up youth indoctrination camps for teenagers.
She has called for investigations into fellow congressional politicians to see if they are "anti-American". She once claimed to know of a plan to give up half of Iraq to Iran. She is against raising America's debt ceiling for running up its deficit, and wants to repeal healthcare reform in its entirety.
She is a firm sceptic on the dangers of global warming. She once introduced a resolution seeking to prevent the dollar being replaced by a foreign currency, despite the fact that such a move is already illegal. She has called the Environmental Protection Agency a "job-killing" organisation.
Such extremism can lead to some very odd ideological bedfellows. Away from Stillwater, in the rural hinterland of Bachmann's vast congressional district, she is more popular. Here, in a landscape of deeply religious small towns and rolling farms, Bachmann's support is solid. In Buffalo, a small community beside a lake of the same name, one Bachmann supporter was delighted she was running. "I think it's great! She can win and I have found the president very disappointing," said one elderly woman who declined to give her name. Asked what was most disappointing about Obama, the woman said: "He has not been honest about being a Muslim."
Such beliefs are unusual, but not exactly unknown in these parts. Not far from Buffalo lies the town of Annandale, which acts as the base for a rightwing Christian ministry called You Can Run But You Cannot Hide. Led by the drummer of nu-metal band Junkyard Prophet, Bradlee Dean, the ministry has made its name by denying Obama's Christianity and also promoting slurs against gay people, accusing them of child abuse and even once suggesting they be executed.
Yet Bachmann herself has headlined a fundraising gala for Dean and his ministry. That sort of thing has so far passed under the radar of most American media, but seasoned Bachmann-watchers, such as Stillwater writer Karl Bremer, whose Ripple in Stillwater blog has chronicled Bachmann's career, believe that will not last for long now: "She has to soften her image. But her image is already on the table. She is in the big leagues now. It is not just a little congressional race."
Bremer believes Bachmann's politics and career are about to get the sort of scrutiny they have long deserved. Indeed, he has already chronicled much of it on his blog. "She has got plenty of skeletons in her closet," he said.
One of those skeletons could be her relationship with Frank Vennes, a man who served time in jail for cocaine distribution and money-laundering after being convicted in 1987. After his release, and apparently after finding God while in prison, Vennes became a friend of Bachmann and a big campaign donor for her elections. However, Vennes has recently been indicted on charges stemming from a Ponzi scheme and could end up behind bars again.
That is a juicy story. As are Bachmann's links to the mysterious "Bobby Charles Thompson", who disappeared after the collapse of his apparently fraudulent fundraising organisation, which had been portrayed as a navy veterans' group. Arrest warrants have now been issued for Thompson, whose real identity is not known. But what is known is that Thompson's group donated campaign funds to Bachmann.
Then there is the issue of the Bachmann family farm in Wisconsin. The large rural property has been the recipient of considerable government largesse in the form of agricultural subsidies, despite the fact that Bachmann is a vociferous critic of government handouts. Yet Bremer's blog has reported that the farm has reaped the Bachmanns about $154,000 of government cash since 2001. That is obviously not illegal but – given Bachmann's virulent dislike of state welfare – it could make for some interesting headlines.
Finally, there are bizarre incidents such as the one in 2005 when Bachmann accused two lesbians of trying to lock her in a lavatory and keep her prisoner. The women claimed they were just trying to talk to her about her anti-gay beliefs, but Bachmann went to the police. However, the authorities dismissed her claims. "Both women simply wanted to discuss certain issues further with Ms Bachmann," wrote the county attorney, who declined to press the matter.
To her supporters – and there are many of them – such incidents do not matter. They are either irrelevant or part of the media plot against her. "The media beat up on her. I don't know why," said Lee Bohlsen, chairwoman of the Republican party of Washington county, in which Stillwater lies. Bohlsen is an enthusiastic fan, praising Bachmann's attention to detail and warm personality. "I definitely think she can win. She is unwavering and she has a very strong character," she said.
Indeed, there is no doubting Bachmann's political talents. She ticks all the same boxes as Palin but has a more polished image, even more conservative credentials, and a family and religious outlook that makes Palin look positively liberal. She also has a prodigious, widely admired work ethic and a fierce sense of mission.
"She is absolutely hard-driving and passionate, but that does not make her unpleasant to work with," said Karen Effrem, a conservative education activist who has worked with her. "It makes her a dynamo. I'm pleased she is running."
Reconciling the liberal and conservative visions of Bachmann is impossible. Her detractors and supporters inhabit different worlds. But it has led to speculation that Bachmann might privately not believe all she says in public: that her ambition is simply to bask in the spotlight.
Perhaps, like Palin, she may have more of an eye on realising her value on the lucrative TV talk show circuit than on winning a political race.
Bremer is unsure of the theory and not keen to test it. "Does she believe what she says? Or is it just a road to success?" he said. "I don't know the answer to that – but I do think she should be stopped."
IN HER OWN WORDS
On the job market
If we took away the minimum wage – if conceivably it was gone – we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level.
On patriotic politics
I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America?
On global warming
Carbon dioxide is… not harmful… Yet we're being told that we have to reduce this natural substance, reduce the American standard of living, to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in Earth.
On mysterious pandemics
I find it interesting that… in the 1970s… swine flu broke out under another… Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence.
Does anyone here think that any of these dangerous individuals have a chance of taking office and causing havoc in the U.S and across the World?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ju ... a-party-us
Michele Bachmann: the Tea Party crusader electrifying the US right
Congresswoman will come under scrutiny about hardline politics. But will she be able to reach beyond her Tea Party base?
Paul Harris, Stillwater, Minnesota
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 18 June 2011
Mary Cecconi is the only Democrat to have beaten Michele Bachmann, the rising star of the Republican right, in a popular election. "It's my claim to fame!" she laughs.
Her victory came in a race in 1999 for a seat on the school board of Stillwater, Minnesota, a tiny, picturesque river town on the banks of the Mississippi. Bachmann – then known locally as a conservative education activist – had unexpectedly run as part of a slate of rightwing Republicans. The move politicised what had previously been a non-partisan affair. It failed. Cecconi, the incumbent, held her position.
It was a minuscule electoral footnote yet it saw the political birth of a woman who just 12 years later is running for president and electrifying the radical right wing of the party.
Bachmann, who announced her White House run last week, and then shone in the first major Republican debate, is eclipsing Sarah Palin as the new darling of the Tea Party. She is an evangelical whose husband runs a controversial Christian counselling service. She is a Minnesota congresswoman who has vowed to repeal healthcare reform and lambasts Barack Obama as a socialist. Like Palin, she makes political capital of her role as a mother to a large family: five children of her own and more than 20 foster kids. She is also a glamorous woman in a party that is frequently dominated by older white men.
Yet her remarkable story began with that Stillwater race and Cecconi, now head of a parental lobbying group for schools in Minnesota, is not the only person to remember it. Joan Beaver, a now retired Stillwater high school teacher, recalled the election as heralding a shift in the town away from smalltown moderate Republicanism towards more extreme rightwing thought. "The town changed," she said, noting that the shift occurred after the development of suburban housing estates and an influx of wealthy newcomers.
Bachmann was part of the influx. She was born in Iowa, although the family moved to Minnesota when she was young. After a divorce, her mother remarried and Bachmann spent her childhood in a family of working-class Democrats. The real change came during adolescence, when at 16 she became "born again". She went on to study law at the religious Oral Roberts University, which taught a biblical worldview alongside its legal classes.
By the time Bachmann and her husband, Marcus, arrived in Stillwater with their burgeoning family they were staunch members of the religious right. She home-schooled her own children, but by law had to enrol her foster children into local public schools. It was that experience – she saw the state curriculum as too liberal and politically correct – that led to her becoming involved in educational activism, and ultimately politics.
Still, to Beaver it seems strange to see the Bachmann she knew from Stillwater school politics striding across the American political stage with officially declared ambitions to capture the Oval Office and become the most powerful woman in the world. "She has more perseverance and staying power than anyone expected," Beaver said.
Many on the American left see Bachmann's presidential ambitions as little more than a joke: the punchline to a gag about how far right the Republican party has drifted. She is mocked and lampooned by those who expect her to fail. But not all of her opponents in Stillwater are joining in that ridicule.
Cecconi is certainly not. She recalls going to an education meeting only two days after beating Bachmann in 1999. Bachmann was supposed to be playing second fiddle to a speech by education campaigner Michael Chapman. But instead she had become the main attraction: "She was amazing. She held the room in her hand."
A year later Bachmann would run for – and win – a state senate seat. Shortly after that she would run for the US Congress in the sprawling district of which Stillwater is a part. She would emerge victorious from that, too. Now she is running for the White House. Cecconi has a warning for those mocking her: "She has got as far as she has by people underestimating her. I am not going to underestimate her."
Even Bachmann's admirers, however, sometimes confess that her passionate style of ultra-rightwing politics has its drawbacks. "It is very attractive to some folks, and she certainly does not hesitate to say what she thinks. But that can upset others," said Edwin Cain, a Stillwater-based lobbyist who has worked frequently with Bachmann.
Indeed, it is not hard to find Bachmann critics, even among Republican supporters in the town. Though she makes her home here – in a million-dollar house on an upmarket estate near the golf course – this is not automatically Bachmann territory. The town is prosperous and thrives on a tourist economy; Main Street is packed with bistros and bars and represents a slice of urban city life with a hint of liberal values. Preston Norris, who works in a bar, voted for Bachmann for Congress but will not do so for the presidency. "She has some views that are just too much for that office," he said bluntly.
It is not hard to see what those views are. Bachmann's criticism of homosexuality is open and brutal. She has led the charge against gay marriage, even at the cost of a once-close relationship with a lesbian stepsister. In 2004 Bachmann said of gay people: "It's a very sad life. It's part of Satan, I think, to say that this is gay. It's anything but gay."
She is on record as viewing homosexuality as a "disorder" or a "sexual dysfunction" and is a staunchly anti-abortion Christian conservative. She believes Obama is "the final leap to socialism" in America, and has accused him of wanting to set up youth indoctrination camps for teenagers.
She has called for investigations into fellow congressional politicians to see if they are "anti-American". She once claimed to know of a plan to give up half of Iraq to Iran. She is against raising America's debt ceiling for running up its deficit, and wants to repeal healthcare reform in its entirety.
She is a firm sceptic on the dangers of global warming. She once introduced a resolution seeking to prevent the dollar being replaced by a foreign currency, despite the fact that such a move is already illegal. She has called the Environmental Protection Agency a "job-killing" organisation.
Such extremism can lead to some very odd ideological bedfellows. Away from Stillwater, in the rural hinterland of Bachmann's vast congressional district, she is more popular. Here, in a landscape of deeply religious small towns and rolling farms, Bachmann's support is solid. In Buffalo, a small community beside a lake of the same name, one Bachmann supporter was delighted she was running. "I think it's great! She can win and I have found the president very disappointing," said one elderly woman who declined to give her name. Asked what was most disappointing about Obama, the woman said: "He has not been honest about being a Muslim."
Such beliefs are unusual, but not exactly unknown in these parts. Not far from Buffalo lies the town of Annandale, which acts as the base for a rightwing Christian ministry called You Can Run But You Cannot Hide. Led by the drummer of nu-metal band Junkyard Prophet, Bradlee Dean, the ministry has made its name by denying Obama's Christianity and also promoting slurs against gay people, accusing them of child abuse and even once suggesting they be executed.
Yet Bachmann herself has headlined a fundraising gala for Dean and his ministry. That sort of thing has so far passed under the radar of most American media, but seasoned Bachmann-watchers, such as Stillwater writer Karl Bremer, whose Ripple in Stillwater blog has chronicled Bachmann's career, believe that will not last for long now: "She has to soften her image. But her image is already on the table. She is in the big leagues now. It is not just a little congressional race."
Bremer believes Bachmann's politics and career are about to get the sort of scrutiny they have long deserved. Indeed, he has already chronicled much of it on his blog. "She has got plenty of skeletons in her closet," he said.
One of those skeletons could be her relationship with Frank Vennes, a man who served time in jail for cocaine distribution and money-laundering after being convicted in 1987. After his release, and apparently after finding God while in prison, Vennes became a friend of Bachmann and a big campaign donor for her elections. However, Vennes has recently been indicted on charges stemming from a Ponzi scheme and could end up behind bars again.
That is a juicy story. As are Bachmann's links to the mysterious "Bobby Charles Thompson", who disappeared after the collapse of his apparently fraudulent fundraising organisation, which had been portrayed as a navy veterans' group. Arrest warrants have now been issued for Thompson, whose real identity is not known. But what is known is that Thompson's group donated campaign funds to Bachmann.
Then there is the issue of the Bachmann family farm in Wisconsin. The large rural property has been the recipient of considerable government largesse in the form of agricultural subsidies, despite the fact that Bachmann is a vociferous critic of government handouts. Yet Bremer's blog has reported that the farm has reaped the Bachmanns about $154,000 of government cash since 2001. That is obviously not illegal but – given Bachmann's virulent dislike of state welfare – it could make for some interesting headlines.
Finally, there are bizarre incidents such as the one in 2005 when Bachmann accused two lesbians of trying to lock her in a lavatory and keep her prisoner. The women claimed they were just trying to talk to her about her anti-gay beliefs, but Bachmann went to the police. However, the authorities dismissed her claims. "Both women simply wanted to discuss certain issues further with Ms Bachmann," wrote the county attorney, who declined to press the matter.
To her supporters – and there are many of them – such incidents do not matter. They are either irrelevant or part of the media plot against her. "The media beat up on her. I don't know why," said Lee Bohlsen, chairwoman of the Republican party of Washington county, in which Stillwater lies. Bohlsen is an enthusiastic fan, praising Bachmann's attention to detail and warm personality. "I definitely think she can win. She is unwavering and she has a very strong character," she said.
Indeed, there is no doubting Bachmann's political talents. She ticks all the same boxes as Palin but has a more polished image, even more conservative credentials, and a family and religious outlook that makes Palin look positively liberal. She also has a prodigious, widely admired work ethic and a fierce sense of mission.
"She is absolutely hard-driving and passionate, but that does not make her unpleasant to work with," said Karen Effrem, a conservative education activist who has worked with her. "It makes her a dynamo. I'm pleased she is running."
Reconciling the liberal and conservative visions of Bachmann is impossible. Her detractors and supporters inhabit different worlds. But it has led to speculation that Bachmann might privately not believe all she says in public: that her ambition is simply to bask in the spotlight.
Perhaps, like Palin, she may have more of an eye on realising her value on the lucrative TV talk show circuit than on winning a political race.
Bremer is unsure of the theory and not keen to test it. "Does she believe what she says? Or is it just a road to success?" he said. "I don't know the answer to that – but I do think she should be stopped."
IN HER OWN WORDS
On the job market
If we took away the minimum wage – if conceivably it was gone – we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level.
On patriotic politics
I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America?
On global warming
Carbon dioxide is… not harmful… Yet we're being told that we have to reduce this natural substance, reduce the American standard of living, to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in Earth.
On mysterious pandemics
I find it interesting that… in the 1970s… swine flu broke out under another… Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
Care to elaborate?
Personally, I think that a born again fruitcake with absurd views on pretty much everything, is much worse than Obama.
I think the race for president will be a free for all, with all the people claiming to run and the support they have in their areas will off-set the vote for the pirates with the funding for their election campaign's , how much does nobama have in his campaign fund ?
Godfather.
As far as Bachmann is concerned, shes just another idiotic person who doesn't understand that just because she thinks the world revolves around one little piece of its population, it doesn't. Everyone is entitled to opinions, but just because we all have opinions, that doesn't mean our they are factual. Shes afraid of people who are different. She apparently wants to teach children intelligent design as well?? I wrote a 25 page paper on this issue and gave a 30 min speech on the subject
Why can't people stop all their bull shit beliefs that they KNOW are right and realize there are so many other cultures and beliefs. I guess close minded people really drive me nuts
Anyways Happy Fathers Day to all you Fathers out there
Really WTF :x :oops:
So let's also teach them that drinking bleach is healthy and that 2+2=5 and let them make their own choice.
What a turd brain that woman is.
Ron Paul 2012 :yawn:
Obama wins in 2012 55-45 in a blow out. The Republican nominee only wins The Biggest Clown award.
Godfather.
My thinking exactly. The GOP is so scattered right now they can't remember why they came to the show. A pathetic joke, really. Too bad because it all makes politics look rediculous.
And what about this- none of the politicians left or right are talking about how to deal with peak oil and the coming long-term energy crisis. No leaders are talking about walkable communities, revitalizing America's rail system, encouraging local economy, and few talk about phazing out coal and oil. Why does it seem like a rock and roll band and some of its fans are the only ones planting trees? What are politicians thinking about? Do they think the problems will just disappear?
Anybody read Lee Iacocca's Where Have All the Leaders Gone? Though not my usual reading cup of tea, I think he summed things up well.
to be honest, I think if the Republicans ran a Resurrected Jesus Christ, the only result would be more people leaving Christianity. Obama is certainly not the Ultra Left-Wing Culture Warrior that the progressives really wanted. But if you think the average American and even the slightly right of center are going to choose to vote for someone like Michelle Bachmann or even Mitt Romney over him... you're wrong.
she will talk so much she will make herself unelectable.
just like palin did.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Wash me in the blood of Rock & Roll
man.....that box of rocks looks duuuuuuuuuuuumb!!!
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
I find it funny that the left hates her so much. In my mind, they are scared to death of her. They feel much more comfortable with Romney, for obvious reasons, as he's closer to their point of view.
She is right on most economic issues. Take econ 101 if you don't understand how the minimum wage does cause unemployment. She really impressed me in the debate. I thought she'd be similar to Palin, look good but not be too eloquent. That is not the case. She is articulate and knows her stuff.
Her views on social issues won't matter in the end. I know I'm not alone in this, but I don't want the government involved in my life. She expressed that view during the debate and did so incredibly well. Regardless, this election will be won on the economy. She seems to be quite eloquent there and has clearly actually read on the subject, unlike our current President.
The beatings on her will only increase though the more formidable her candidacy becomes. The left knows an attractive, well-educated, well-spoken female /Republican candidate could take out Obama, stealing the female vote. And this woman presents the good of Palin, but with more of an upside. I honestly think she will end up as a Republican VP this go around. Mark my words. So far, I think I'd rather have her as President compared to someone like Romney. But, who knows what will happen down the line as I learn more about each.
Regardless of who wins the Republican nomination... if Obama doesn't get the unemployment rate below 8.5% (the rate he said it would never go above during his Presidential run), he will definitely lose. No question. In my opinion, Obama will lose the White House because unemployment won't fall to the threshold needed.
So, if you don't like Bachmann... be afraid, seriously, be very, very afraid. You may be looking at the next President of the U.S.
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href=" - In the Fire (demo)</a> by <a href="
palin was the darling of the gop in 2008, then she became the darling of the tea party and had a series of gaffes that make her unelectable. the same will happen in bachmann's case.
it is funny that you say that just because she is a woman she would steal women's votes.... i do not think it is that simple. i think women would look at her position on women's issues before they just arbitrarily vote for a woman who will defund planned parenthood and may be against a woman's right to choose. wait until her tea party values are exposed. she will get crushed if she gets the nomination because her extreme views do not gel with the majority of americans that she will need to win. to me it is that simple.
what will she do? all i have heard is her throwing stones and offering no real solutions...
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Well, if you're an Obama supporter, I think you should be afraid of her and all other Republican candidates. Just because, Obama - in my opinion, has less than a 50/50 shot right now because he's been a gargantuan failure. Do you remember that his campaign pledged unemployment would never rise above 8.5%? It's been above that for almost his entire Presidency. He's a horrid, horrid President. He'll be linked to Carter when this is all finished. Yes, and he'll even be considered worse than Bush in history texts..... UNLESS, he gets unemployment below 8% by election season.
You're right Palin was the darling of the GOP in 2008. I'm not a fan, but she had more experience running a government than our President does, she actually ran a government and, believe it or not, Alaska did quite well economically.
Like Obama, she was a different type of politician. She offered charisma. After the election, she became the darling of the tea party, and yes she definitely has made gaffes at times (as does our current President and VP). The difference, I'd say is how those gaffes were treated. I know I'm not alone in thinking she was picked and prodded ruthlessly by the media. I'm being sincere in saying I feel she got tossed into the fire. DId she make mistakes? Yes. Were those mistakes exaggerated more so than Obama's mistakes in the media? Absolutely. As this occurred, feminists did nothing but watch her burn. Now, did she exacerbate the issue by trying to stay in the lime light in recent years... I'd say yes. To be fair, she should have laid low and that's one reason I'm not a fan. Regardless, although an average voter may not "like" Palin... I think they thought certain activities of how she was treated and what the media did, like rooting through her emails, was sick and unfair. I think the average voter doesn't like it when the media tries to alter public perception, particularly when the public already has a distaste for something (in this case Palin).
So, back to Bachmann... I think she would steal women's votes from Obama (for one, because his Presidency has been the biggest disaster since Carter), but also because of how "palin" was treated. I don't think the media can treat Bachmann that way again without the public growing even more upset and without the media potentially getting backlash from feminists on unfair preferential treatment towards men. If feminists have an open mind and really are for women having equal chance to obtain certain positions, they will rise up if she's treated unfairly, regardless of whether she has a different take on the issue of abortion. (Also, news flash,... for your own info, not all women are pro-abortion. It's a 50/50 issue.)
I have heard more credible economic solutions offered by her (and other Republican candidates) in one debate than I have for three years under the Obama administration. She explained that she would lower the corporate tax rate (from the highest in the industrialized world at 35%) to something more competitive. Zero out capital gains and zero out the alternative minimum tax. She'd repeal Obamacare. No more bailouts. And it's clear she understands economics unlike our current President..
Read more here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304259304576375491103635726.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href=" - In the Fire (demo)</a> by <a href="
Anyone with brain cells would be afraid of someone that unhinged. This is a person who believes every silly internet rumor, every paranoid conspiracy theory, every crazy thing written on a blog.
Well no... she doesn't know her stuff but she sells her paranoid delusions very well. That's why she's so dangerous.
Well then she CERTAINLY isn't your candidate. She's one of those "let's let people vote on who gets rights and who doesn't" people. She's talked over and over about her culture wars. She's gone out of her way to wedge-issue groups. The Tea Baggers LOVE her but a person like that isn't going to sell to even the middle-of-the-road types.
Yeah.. that's what they sad four years ago. And then the PUMAs were desperate to vote against Obama. But I don't think many women would want a nut bar like that just because she's a woman.
And extremely huge, extremely poor underclass that works for pennies and lives in extreme poverty. A tiny middle class that somehow manages to eek by. A smaller ultra-rich class that owns everything and everyone.
IF that's the America you want to live in... sucks that you'll drag the rest of your country down with you.
to me "minimum wage" translates to "I WOULD PAY YOU LESS, BUT THAT WOULD BE AGAINST THE LAW.."
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Bachmann's a nutjob. Just like gimme said, she'll dig her own grave. the american electoral process is too long for the public NOT to figure that out.
in Canada, you can quite literally go on vacation and come back to a new PM without even knowing there was an election.
Fargo 2003
Winnipeg 2005
Winnipeg 2011
St. Paul 2014
I'm not sure where the notion that Democrats/liberals are afraid of Bachmann (same said of Palin) came from. Why wasn't the same thing said of McCain or now Romney. I guess it's because people who say that think that a female Republican will steal votes of female Democrats. Am I the only one insulted by that (and I'm a guy)? To think that liberal or leaning liberal women would give up their beliefs/values/preferences in a candidate because the challenger has a vagina is ridiculous and reflects someone who lives in an insulated world. Bachmann stand for nothing outside of the status quo. Penis or vagina, all the Republican candidates are essentially the same. Bachmann getting elected would say that a woman could be president. Is that what feminists are supposed to rally around? I think everyone knows by now that a woman can be president, and probably in the next 2 or 3 elections one will, but she wont be Republican.
You think Obama is a disaster because you're intake is solely from conservative media. I do give you some credit that a lot relies on employment, but not Obama's whole historical judgement. In a year the unemployment rate will be around 8% which will likely make the election a lock. You think Bachmann proposing tax cuts is new and exciting? Keep grasping on that notion, it's done wonders with the budget.
Your numbers are wrong on abortion, too. Women are 50% to 44% pro-choice to anti-abortion (maybe I'm nitpicking, though).
It has nothing to do with hate.
The woman's a dangerous idiot, and if she, or someone like her, ever gets elected President, then the whole world will be fucked.
ha ha ha I'm not arguing with you Byenzie you could very well be spot on the money but I gotta tell ya man
a bunch of people said the same thing about obama.
Godfather.
I think that too... Serious republicans are going to play this safe and use 2012 as a chance to get their name out there and build a campaigning network.
I love that narrow-minded line of thinking... it was said over and over about Palin too... It's not that anyone is afraid of her (in terms of winning at least), it's that she really is batshit crazy, and ignorant of facts. Her supporters saying people are afraid of her is as stupid as Obama's supporters saying that everyone who hates him does so because he's black.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
It's looking good for Obama with a large republican field, but 2012 is a ways off. But Obama had better hope employment is up and the economy is starting to recover, otherwise it will be a huge weak point for the GOP to exploit.
she has a that weaves around the more conservative suburbs of the metro and a little farther outstate. Not too surprising that she keeps winning...
Liberals do hate her, and they should...she epitomizes the exact picture of a republican...when a liberal closes his/her eyes and pictures everything that is wrong about the republican party, if her very picture doesn't come to their mind almost all of her stances on the issues will...
intelligent design...talks like a tea partier...seems a bit stupid...seems to hate gays and lesbians...basically everything that is wrong with the republican party in their minds...I happen to agree with them all here, she is way to emotionally hate filled to get my support...
It is terrifying when you are too stupid to know who is dumb
- Joe Rogan