Bachmann: the candidate Palin was supposed to be (or rather the candidate Palin’s supporters falsely believe Palin to be)

Leftist columnist Ezra Klein at the online Washington Post has read last weekend’s Wall Street Journal interview of Michele Bachmann and he’s impressed:

Michele Bachmann’s interview with the Wall Street Journal is a precision-guided missile aimed at the heart of the Palin semi-campaign. Whatever you like about Palin, Bachmann will go double-or-nothing with you….

And whatever it is that a tea partyer might not like about Palin, Bachmann’s got that covered, too….

Klein concludes:

Bachmann is a better politician than Palin, a better policy wonk than Palin, and because she’s a better politician and a better policy wonk than Palin, she’s actually able to be a bit more extreme than Palin, as Palin rarely gets specific enough to do such precise ideological positioning. Put simply, Bachmann is the candidate Palin was supposed to be.

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Daniel S., who sent the Klein article, writes:

I really hope Bachmann runs because I have found my candidate.

Lynn H. writes:

For the record, I am a Michele Bachmann supporter. I have heard her speak in person twice and have seen her interviewed many times (e.g. CSPAN). She has an amazing grasp of figures and legislation. In a debate with Obama, she will absolutely destroy him. His knowledge of economic principles or legislation particulars doesn’t approach hers in the least. She will carve this turkey up and broil him.

LA replies:

“In a debate with Obama, she will absolutely destroy him.”

This is an unrealistic expectation. The format of presidential debates, which is more that of a joint press conference than an actual debate, does not allow for any candidate to destroy another.

Robert W. writes:

I am curious, given the criticism Palin gets for “not reading” newspapers (the Kouric interview) and generally being deemed an ignoramus, that no one mentions Michele Bachmann’s Masters degree in law from William and Mary. Professionally she was an attorney representing the IRS.

Her reading list is quite impressive. The liberal media tends to lump her together with Palin as a pretty, dumb conservative. But she has better intellectual credentials than most senators and congressmen. She also worked on a kibbutz. Now there’s something that will surely sink her.

Robert W. writes:

Michele Bachmann was a foster mother for 23 teenagers. Well that qualifies her for an orphaned nation.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at June 13, 2011 01:01 PM | Send