Why has the most principled, consistent conservative in the race been written off?

(LA notes: I have indirectly picked up signs from the Bachmann campaign that Bachmann will be coming on strong in tonight’s debate, possibly striking new and challenging conservative themes. I plan to watch the entire debate, which is at 9 p.m. on Fox News.)

Daniel S. writes:

Mark Steyn today challenges the conventional wisdom in Republican circles that it is a choice between Newt Gingrich or Mitt Romney. He writes in defense of support for Perry and more importantly Michele Bachmann, who he all but endorses:

I would like, politely, to dissent from my colleagues’ dismissal of Perry and Bachmann.

In the former case, a handful of poor debate performances should not disqualify a man from executive responsibility: Our age’s veneration for men with “nothing to do but think and talk” (in Churchill’s words, on the sort of chaps he didn’t want in his war cabinet) is one reason why the Western world is sliding off a cliff.

In the latter case, Congresswoman Bachmann has fought a principled, conservative campaign with only one significant misstep—her overreach on the Gardasil business. Again, that shouldn’t be a disqualification. Nor should having more chiefs of staff than she has foster children (I speak as a guy who believes citizen-legislators shouldn’t have chiefs of staff, anyway). To be sexist about it, President Bachmann at her best would be another Thatcher and at her worst another Merkel—and Chancellor Merkel currently presides over the least worst Western economy. What’s not to like? Go, Michele!

Steyn’s claim notwithstanding, Perry must be dismissed on both practical and political grounds. He is an unacceptable candidate, every bit as much so as Newt Gingrich. His position on Bachmann is a valid one though. She is the candidate with the strongest conservative credentials and should not be dismissed on the grounds that she made a few gaffes (an area in which she doesn’t hold a candle to Joe Biden or even Barack Obama).

Posted by Lawrence Auster at December 15, 2011 08:04 PM | Send