The Bachmann Delusion
Some presidential candidates who fail to get their party's nomination come out of the process elevated -- witness Mike Huckabee, who had no national presence prior to the 2008 election and thereafter became one of the most visible conservatives in the nation. Others end up shrinking in stature -- Fred Thompson (who I like very much) was supposed to be the conservative white knight four years ago; now he's a guy who pitches reverse mortgages on daytime TV ads. In both of those cases, a serious bid for the presidency recalibrated the candidate's career.
What is particularly strange about the 2012 cycle, however, is how many candidates seem to have gotten into this race primarily for reasons other than seeking the presidency. Herman Cain -- who seemed intent on creating a media career similar to Huckabee's -- regularly interrupted his campaign for stints on the paid lecture circuit or events to hawk his new book. Newt Gingrich was also peddling his wares in the form of books and movies (though, to be fair, Gingrich began running a more serious campaign as his poll numbers rose, while Cain never made the adjustment). Needless to say, Donald Trump's interest in the future of the nation also seems to wax and wane based on the broadcast schedule of "Celebrity Apprentice" and his book release dates.
The most bizarre version of this trend may be Michele Bachmann, who certainly took her candidacy seriously at the beginning. That calculation may have changed over time, however, according to her former campaign manager, Ed Rollins. Here's the relevant blurb from Politico:
She repeatedly passed up opportunities to ding Mitt Romney in the debates — a product, Rollins said, of preserving her options for sharing a ticket with him. “There was some talk early on between her and her husband that she could end up as the vice presidential nominee,” Rollins said.
This is, in a word, delusional. On what basis would Bachmann be chosen as the running mate? Bringing Romney the much-coveted vote of Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District? She has conservative bona fides to be sure, but so do many other potential running mates who don't share her reputation for volatility (a trait sure to be a disqualification with the antiseptic Romney team). Her gender? If Romney wants a woman on the ticket who has a shot at bringing some electoral real estate with her, New Mexico's Hispanic Governor Susana Martinez will be at the top of the list.
More troubling than the political miscalculation, however, is the dereliction of duty. Bachmann has repeatedly presented herself throughout this campaign as the principled, uncompromising representative of conservatism in the race. Now we learn that, in a cycle where conservatives have had deep-seated and sustained concerns about the Republican front-runner, she intentionally helped him avoid scrutiny from exactly the constituency she claims to represent.
If she had wanted to avoid personal attacks, fine. But giving Romney a pass on substance is a bridge too far. If Bachmann was intent on running for the number two spot, she should have ceased offering herself as a candidate for the number one spot. The conservative movement -- and the presidential race -- deserved better than someone who was willing to pull their punches for personal gain.
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Comments:
Mar '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Troy - are you this obnoxious towards Mr Obama?
You, Sir, have gone down in my estimation, and you didn't even run for President.
How come all the smart, selfless, Republicans didn't run?
Edited on December 30, 2011 at 8:28pmMay '10
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Troy Senik
The conservative movement -- and the presidential race -- deserved better than someone who was willing to pull their punches for personal gain.
Agreed.
Troy Senik
On what basis would Bachmann be chosen as the running mate? Bringing Romney the much-coveted vote of Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District?
This is short-sighted. A VP candidate does not balance the ticket by representing his or her own state. The balance comes from style and substance.
That balance can be regional, but the region is not limited to a particular state. A candidate from the Great Lakes area or Northeast could use more appeal to the South or Midwest, for example. It's about subculture, which stretches well beyond state boundaries (with the exception of Florida).
The balance can also be ideological. Voters tend to associate Romney with fiscal issues, Santorum with social issues, Giuliani with defense, etc.
That said, I'm not sure how much "balancing the ticket" really matters. There might be a "company you keep" effect, conscious or not. But I'd guess that the VP candidate can only tip the scales if a voter perceives two Presidential candidates as being roughly equal.
Newt and Romney?
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Troy, I have wondered about this time and again. She was ferocious in her attacks on Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul and utterly silent with regard to Mitt Romney. She acted as if she were a paid attack dog. Now we know. She was so unprincipled that she didn't even have to be paid.
Mar '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Am I in a bad mood today? -- that's the second Ricochet pundit to disappoint me. Or am I not getting the sarcasm?
Could it be that politicians take positions to advance their careers? I am shocked, shocked.
I'm sure that nice Mr Obama would not make such calculations (sarcasm alert).
Edited on December 30, 2011 at 8:35pmMar '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Michelle should've remembered that George H.W. Bush attacked Reagan ("Voodoo Economics") during the 1980 primaries. But things worked out well for him, career-wise, I think.
Mar '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Troy: You're not going to make any friends with this post, and you may alienate some folks who were willing to listen.
Michele Bachmann may have virtues as a Congresswomen in representing her constituents, and I support her constituents right to decide as they see fit. I am a federalist.
Nonetheless, in my judgment she was unfit from the beginning to be a Presidential contender. This remains the case, without regard to whether or not she also positioned herself to be a VP nominee, and without regard to whether or not some effete media outlet shunned her because she didn't conform to every talking point they crafted.
Against enemies, conservatives should be willing to defend their own. But: to defend, when and if justified, is not to hagiography or flatter.
Oct '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Did Ed Rollins not watch the same debates that I did? Did Troy Senik and Paul Rahe not watch the debates?
First of all, Mitt Romney somehow avoided attacks from all his competitors in a number of debates, and to single out Bachmann is odd. Second, Bachmann has gone after Romney for Romneycare, among other things.
Anyone remember Newt Romney? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezxg-wrKADI
Ed Rollins spent most of the summer attacking Sarah Palin, now he's attacking Michele Bachmann. That's just tacky.
Sep '10
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Her original campaign slogan was, in effect, "we don't have to settle for a moderate." Who was she talking about?
Dec '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Albert Arthur: ... Did Troy Senik and Paul Rahe not watch the debates?
...
Anyone remember Newt Romney? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezxg-wrKADI
· Dec 30 at 11:59am
Those were my first thoughts.
Oct '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Or if the clip I linked to above is too recent, how about this one from September?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP2Njxdhtyg
Ok, she doesn't say "Mitt Romney," but it's pretty obvious, when she points at Romney, that she's talking about, you know, Mitt Romney.
So who are you going to believe, Ed Rollins, or your lying eyes?
Oct '10
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
I have to say, basing anything on what Ed Rollins or any other former campaign staffer says about anyone, ever, seems unwise if any approximation to reality is desired.
Oct '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Mitt Romney, obviously... Look, I'm not a Bachmann supporter. I like her, but I don't think she could beat Obama. I'm going to be voting for Romney (though the NY primary isn't until April 24th or there abouts so it doesn't really matter anyway). But it's ridiculous to say that Bachmann never went after Romney. And if she's angling for VP or a cabinet position, so what? Isn't it normal for candidates that aren't nominated to have some relationship with the nominee? And if the nominee is elected president, many former candidates do work for the administration. George H.W.? Al Gore? Hillary Clinton? Joe Biden?
Mar '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
I agree with genferei about Ed Rollins. Let's hope we get a solid conservative like Michele for VP.
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
I think a few of you may be overreading the Rollins quote. He doesn't say that Bachmann never said a negative word about Romney. He says that she repeatedly passed up opportunities to go after him. I'll give you the relatively benign "Newt Romney" (itself cribbed from Jim Gilmore's "Rudy McRomney" in 2008), which was a late deviation from the pattern. But the reason that I (and, I suspect, Dr. Rahe) am inclined to believe Rollins is because Bachmann had a couple of bizarre turns in the debates where she actually interrupted the attacks on Romney and tried to change the subject. That's something a candidate just doesn't do unless they have an alternate agenda.
Look, I like Bachmann, but I've been disappointed by her candidacy. If she wanted to strike a blow for the True Conservatives, she shouldn't have pulled punches for anyone. If she wanted to angle to be Romney's running mate, she should've dropped out and endorsed him. But you can't do both at once.
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
David Williamson
Am I in a bad mood today? -- that's the second Ricochet pundit to disappoint me. Or am I not getting the sarcasm?
Could it be that politicians take positions to advance their careers? I am shocked, shocked.
I'm sure that nice Mr Obama would not make such calculations (sarcasm alert). · Dec 30 at 11:30am
Edited on Dec 30 at 11:35 am
The difference is that Michele Bachmann pretends that she is not in any way an opportunist. People have every right to expect better of her.
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Albert Arthur: Did Ed Rollins not watch the same debates that I did? Did Troy Senik and Paul Rahe not watch the debates?
First of all, Mitt Romney somehow avoided attacks from all his competitors in a number of debates, and to single out Bachmann is odd. Second, Bachmann has gone after Romney for Romneycare, among other things. · Dec 30 at 11:59am
In the debates I saw -- and I missed one entirely and the connection breaks down from time to time, causing me to miss some minutes -- Bachmann gave Perry, Gingrich, and Paul tongue-lashings (sometimes with justice, sometimes note). She did not lay a glove on Romney.
Apr '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
Maybe we have it all backwards. She might not have beat up on Romney because she plans on making Romney HER VP.
Sep '10
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
My only legitimate claim to fame on Ricochet is quite possibly shooting my mouth off more than any other sentient being -- in this galaxy or in any other -- during Ricochet LiveChats and I agree with Paul Rahe and Troy Senik (note to readers: I am not being paid for this comment, nor am I stumping for a Contributor spot) that Bachmann gave up many, many opportunities to go after Romney and instead acted like a piranha smelling live meat in the tank the way she went after everyone else in the race.
There was also open speculation (someone will have to read the transcripts -- I can't recall who) during the LiveChats that Bachmann was angling for a Romney VP spot. She's struck me for quite some time now as borderline delusional and far, far too self righteous to be taken seriously as someone of executive level temperament never mind executive level office. She doesn't come across at all as a team player and is so self referential as to descend into self parody.
May '10
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
As I've said before here, 1) I live a very few minutes by car from Bachmann's district, and 2) she won her state senate seat over one of my oldest friends of more than 45 years, a lovely lady who is also a classical, typical lefty who turns off my Facebook comments when she doesn't like the message.
I used to like Michele Bachmann. She was an attractive true conservative voice in Minnesota, a pretty bluish-sometimes purple state. I defended her from attacks all over the place by Minnesota friends.
But when she showed that her Washington ambitions were geared more toward celebrity than hard work as a House member, which became obvious by her running for and yelling at every camera around during the 2008 TARP 1 debate, I got squeamish. Then when she tried to displace solid conservative Jeb Hensarling (who unlike her, does his policy homework) at the Republican Study Committee, I was disgusted.
Finally, she got very ugly and essentially untruthful in stabbing Tim Pawlenty in the back during the Iowa straw poll, and I'd had it. Pawlenty helped her, campaigned for her, always treated her with respect.
She trashed him- fugeddabouther.
Edited on December 31, 2011 at 12:37amOct '11
Re: The Bachmann Delusion
I still think this is unfair criticism directed at Bachmann. As far as I recall, Huntsman hasn't been too aggressive with Romney. Should we accuse him of being a paid attack dog? (Well, I really dislike him, anyway, but I don't think it would be any more true.)