14 June 2011

Bachmann Impresses in First Debate

Leader of the TEA Party caucus announces candidacy... 
then proceeds to show 'em what she's made of


Besides the fact that Romney escaped the evening unscathed (candidates were agreeable, introducing themselves and only attacking Obama) the evening's other winner clearly seems to have been Michele Bachmann...

The Minnesota Congresswoman definitely made the most of the opportunity, announcing that she's filed to run and will soon make a formal announcement. In debate, Bachmann came across very well -sharp and extremely well-informed on the issues- tearing into the Obammunist regime while charming the audience with an empathetic, folksy charisma and clear, concise arguments:

  • "As President of the United States, I will not rest until ObamaCare is repealed... you can take it to the bank and cash the check."
  • "What could the President be thinking, passing a bill like this (ObamaCare)... knowing full well it will kill 800,000 jobs...?"
  • Unlike how the media has tried to wrongly portray the TEA party... the TEA Party is really made up of dissaffected Democrats, independents, people who have never been political a day in their life, libertarians, Republicans, it's a wide swath of America coming together- I think that's why the Left fears it so much. They're people who simply want to take the country back, they want it to work again...
  • We're going to win, make no mistake about it. So I want to announce tonight... Barack Obama is a one-term president
  • This election will be about economics: it will be about 'how will we create jobs' - 'how will we turn the economy around'- 'how will we have a pro-growth economy'. That's a great story for Republicans to tell: President Obama can't tell that story, his report card has a big, fat failing grade on it. But Republicans have an awesome story to tell-
  • I've voted against raising the debt-ceiling in the past, and unless there are serious cuts, I can't.... but I'd like to speak of someone far more eloquent than I- someone who said "Just dealing with the issue of raising the debt ceiling is a failure of leadership". That person was then-Senator Barack Obama: he refused to raise the debt ceiling because he said President Bush had 'failed at leadership'.

 And I just see now that Eric Erickson at RedState was put back in his chair by Bachmann's performance... 

The surprise last night was Michelle Bachmann. 

If there was a winner of the anti-Romney coalition, Michelle Bachmann not only won, but won by a wide margin. Suddenly, for many, the flirtation toward Herman Cain and others will go in Bachmann’s direction. 

Bachmann’s stellar performance also contrasted with Tim Pawlenty who could have sealed the deal, or taken substantial steps toward sealing the deal, of being the anti-Romney candidate.


Michele Bachmann's been languishing at around 5% in the primary race so far, so with this under her belt and the campaign official it will be interesting to see the next poll... and then if Perry and/or Palin are getting in. Erickson thinks -as do I- that now we'll see Rick Perry come in, as anti-Romney factions join together and back him... did I hear somebody say
'Perry-Bachmann 2012'...?

The CNN debate can be viewed in-full -here-