Michele Bachmann: Occupy Movement Wants Others to 'Pay For Their Stuff'

CNN has the full story, "Bachmann: Tea Party will ‘come home’ to my campaign."

But I like this part, starting just before 6:00 minutes:

The strength is not with Occupy Wall Street. If you go to the essence of what Occupy Wall Street stands for, it's having other people pay for their stuff.

Michele Bachmann Endures Increasing Sexist Attacks on Campaign Trail

I guess Evan McMorris-Santoro's oppressed-women radar perked up after noticing the start of last weekend's GOP candidate forum with Frank Luntz. Michele Bachmann couldn't even be gracious enough to pour water for her opponents without being smeared as a "water-carrier." And the comments at the post are what you'd expect from the demonic commie-progressives at TPM, "Michele Bachmann Carries Her Opponents’ Water…Literally"

Then there's the "lying bitch" attack on the Jimmy Fallon show, at The Frisky, "Michele Bachmann Demands Apology For “Lyin’ Ass Bitch” Incident On Jimmy Fallon." And New York Times, "NBC Expresses Regret to Bachmann Over Introduction on Fallon Show."

And now progressive media are going after Representative Bachmann's cosmetics? At Huffington Post, "Michele Bachmann Wears Tons of Makeup For CNN Debate," and London's Daily Mail, "Michele Bachmann brings out the war paint as she cakes on the make-up for GOP debate."

Bachmann was subject to unhinged misogyny in August when Newsweek published the "Queen of Rage" cover photo: "The Conservative Crazy Eyes Cliche & Other Stupid MSM Photo Tricks." This stuff is par or the course for conservative women. And had right-leaning outlets slammed First Lady Michelle Obama or Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the same fashion, all hell would have broken loose across the progresso-sphere.

Bachmann Decries 'Bailout Socialism'

At Los Angeles Times, "Michele Bachmann says Bush, GOP embraced 'bailout socialism'."

Reporting from Urbandale, Iowa— Michele Bachmann goes after not only Democrats but also fellow Republicans in her new book, accusing former President George W. Bush and her GOP colleagues in Congress of failing to stay true to conservative, free-market principles when they supported the $700-billion Wall Street bailout.

"The Bush administration … was embracing a kind of 'bailout socialism,' " wrote the Minnesota congresswoman, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination. "It was painful to find out John McCain too favored the TARP bailout. … Here was no ‘maverick’ moment. The same disappointing stance was taken by the Republican leadership in the House."

"I knew there was no way I could vote for it, because I couldn’t find authority for it in the Constitution,” Bachmann continued. “As a constitutional conservative, I put principle over party."

Bachmann Says CBS News E-Mail Shows Bias

Well, perhaps the MFM isn't blowing off Bachmann after all.

At New York Times, "A Finger Slips, and the Bachmann Camp Pounces":

It is not exactly a state secret that the news media tend to lavish more coverage on perceived front-runners in presidential campaigns.

But CBS News’s political director, John Dickerson, made the mistake of saying basically that in an e-mail and accidentally sending it to the campaign of Representative Michele Bachmann.

In a slip of the finger that quickly ignited a furor among Mrs. Bachmann’s supporters, Mr. Dickerson e-mailed his colleagues that he would prefer to “get someone else” other than the Minnesota congresswoman for an online show after the CBS News/National Journal debate on Saturday night. The e-mail said that Mrs. Bachmann was “not going to get many questions” in the debate and that “she’s nearly off the charts” — an apparent reference to her low standing in many polls.

The problem was that Mrs. Bachmann’s communications director was copied in on the e-mail, and Mr. Dickerson hit “reply to all.” Oops.

The incident highlighted the tricky calculus media organizations must engage in when deciding which candidates to pay attention to, and which not, as they factor in criteria like standing in the polls, fund-raising and more nebulous things like momentum.

Aides to Mrs. Bachmann, who is polling in the single digits, seized on the e-mail as evidence of liberal bias by CBS News and used the episode to rally its supporters against a favorite Republican foe: the mainstream media.

Is Bachmann whining? Althouse claimed she was acting like a progressive. Actually, it see it more like a gimme. She got an opening from the blasted e-mail and she took it. And it's buying her some consideration at the New York Times, of all places, not to mention the Los Angeles Times, "Michele Bachmann sees bias in stray email."

Michigan's Macomb County May Not Break for Obama in 2012

Following up on some of my general election analysis from last night, the Los Angeles Times reports on Macomb County, Michigan, and President Obama's reelection chances, "Swing county in Michigan isn't sold on batting for Obama."

Reporting from Sterling Heights, Mich.

Macomb County's mercurial "Reagan Democrats" have long served as a barometer of the national mood. Their abandonment of their own party to support Ronald Reagan helped usher in GOP rule nationally. Three decades later, Barack Obama pulled them back into the fold, sweeping the county by more than 8 points and winning Michigan by the largest margin for a Democrat since 1964.

The size of that win — particularly in a white, blue-collar swing county like Macomb — might have been enough to convince Republicans that Michigan wasn't worth the effort in 2012. But as Obama seeks a second term, the Democratic loyalty demonstrated three years ago appears tenuous.

Unemployment, which peaked at 14.1% in summer 2009, is still the third-highest in the nation at 11.1%. After declining for 19 months straight, it climbed a full point between April and August.

Though Obama helped rescue two Michigan-based auto companies — a move his advisors credited with saving 1 million jobs — his economic policies draw little praise from independent and Democratic-leaning voters in Macomb County.

Among two dozen interviewed recently, some said they felt sorry for the president because congressional Republicans have thwarted him at every turn. Some were disappointed that he had not been able to accomplish more in the area of job creation when he had a Democratic majority in Congress. And some, like Donald and Arlene Wittmer of Sterling Heights, have simply concluded that he is out of his depth.

"His first stimulus was ridiculous; he spent [$787 billion] and got nothing out of it," Donald Wittmer said. "Now he wants to do it again and still doesn't really have a plan."

"We're just sinking," he said. "We're losing ground."

Michigan is Romney territory, and the state's 16 electors will go a long way toward a GOP victory in the Electoral College.

But continue reading the Times' report here.

Presidential Debates Take Toll on GOP

Michele Bachmann gave a commanding performance at the Spartanburg debate, although she was off a bit in her comparison between China and the Great Society:

If that's a gaffe, it didn't get much coverage, perhaps because insiders have written off Bachmann's campaign. She's not pleased with the situation, of course, and she sounded off about the biased moderating by the debate panel. That said, I've already discounted the debates as largely overload and spectacle, similar to the thesis at this report from The Hill, "Debates take toll on Republican field." The most important debates are those for the general election. The primary debates are useful, but they seem like an inconvenience almost, with so many of them taking place. Of course, candidates like debates because they provide "earned media coverage," especially after a strong performance. Newt Gingrich is already something of the last man standing --- next to Mitt Romney at least --- and his masterly performance in South Carolina will be touted as confirming his new-found top-tier credentials.

But who wins? Do primary voters really benefit from all of this? Ideologues aren't pleased when their preferred candidates flub or when they're slighted by the MFM. (I wish Bachmann was still in the top tier, for instance, so there's my two cents.) And 0f course, it's not GOP activists who'll be deciding the election next year, and so that helps explain this sense that Mitt Romney will be the one. But the Romney juggernaut is dispiriting for hardcore conservatives. See Nice Deb, for example, "Is Conservatism Doomed In 2012?" I like Mitt Romney personally, but the campaign has shown again that he's simply putty when put up against hard choices. His finger is always to the wind, and despite the tough talk on Iran at the debate, would a President Romney waffle on international challenges because public opinion polls showed muted support for American action overseas? You betcha! Still, Romney appears seasoned on the trail, and he's honed a message of business competence domestically and support for American exceptionalism abroad. I like that. But his waffling is the Achilles Heel, and he's extremely vulnerable to the left's institutional character assassination machine. Nothing will be out of bounds. Romney's Mormonism? Campaign 2012 will make the left's attack on religion and Proposition 8 look like a picnic. RomneyCare? Well, it's going to be a factor, which neutralizes the potency of healthcare as a general election issue. I don't even know what other things he'll be hit with, but hit he'll be. I guess the consolation is that Romney's a fighter. He's tough and he'll stand up for his values. And of course, Obama's poll numbers are still down in the sewer, and we're still not expecting any robust GDP growth for some time. All of that makes it a tightly contested race, should it be Obama vs. Romney. And considering how reviled are the Democrats among conservatives, I imagine the right will close ranks around a Romney candidacy soon enough. It's going to be huge.

Michele Bachmann Dominates CBS News/National Journal Debate

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann gave a dominating performance in tonight's GOP debate in South Carolina. She displayed a mastery of details and a willingness to go after both President Obama and her GOP opponents, especially Congressman Ron Paul. Particularly impressive was Bachmann's forthright defense of the use of force in American foreign policy. She articulated a strong defense of America's conduct of the war on terror, even defending targeted killings under this administration. And she did not waver in stating her readiness to authorize enhanced interrogations for captured enemy combatants in the field.

Bachmann's performance was on par with Speaker Newt Gingrich's, the latter evincing his usual mastery of policy details. And Bachmann's grasp of policy nuances, for example in discussion of Pakistan, far surpassed that of Governor Rick Perry, who struggled to recover from his brain freeze from earlier this week. And Bachmann performed much better on Pakistan and the war in Afghanistan than did putative frontrunner Mitt Romney.

I'll update with video as it becomes available. Herman Cain appeared to struggle and Rick Santorum appeared competent but on the periphery of the debate. Jon Huntsman sounded like the diplomat he is, and is even further to the sidelines than Santorum.

Overall, Michele Bachmann's performance stood out as the breakout display that she needed to regain some traction in the race. A positive spin among media pundits could help Bachmann's campaign, which has appeared on the ropes since her intemperate Gardasil comments back in September.

Expect updates.

7:00pm PST: Live blogging at Maggie's Notebook and The Other McCain, "Greetings From Spartanburg! REPUBLICAN DEBATE ON CBS --- UPDATE: 'No Runs, No Hits, No Errors'."

7:40pm PST: At National Journal, "Perry's Rambling Remarks on China: China Should Change Its 'Virtues' -- VIDEO."

7:50pm PST: At HotAir Pundit:

The audio at the clip goes out at the end, which might be related to problems with the live feed. See Gateway Pundit, "Fail. CBS Airs Online GOP Debate – Loses Live Internet Feed."

8:30pm PST: At The Right Scoop, "Rick Perry cleverly jokes about gaffe from last debate."

And at Hot Air, "Video: Gingrich schools Pelley on “rule of law” on terrorists":

Bachmann's USS Yorktown Speech Lays Out Foreign Policy Doctrine

At MinnPost, "Bachmann Doctrine: Her foreign policy views":

WASHINGTON — When protesters interrupted her speech on the USS Yorktown in South Carolina Thursday, Michele Bachmann was in the middle of what her campaign had deemed a major address on the Minnesota congresswoman’s foreign policy positions.

Bachmann, like the other Republicans looking for their party’s presidential nomination, has been outlining bits and pieces of her foreign policy goals throughout the first five months of her campaign. But the race so far has been largely focused on economic issues, and the candidates have generally tiptoed around foreign policy up to now.

In her speech Bachmann essentially laid out a tried and true conservative foreign policy agenda, with the notable caveat that she’s looking to cut defense spending along the way. The speech was a way for her to ease into the foreign policy arena while keeping some of the focus on the issues she’s run on up to now.

Here are the basic topics Bachmann addressed (quotations come from the prepared text of her speech, from which she frequently deviated) and, if they’ve come at any of the recent Republican debates, what other candidates have said on the same issue.

There is, of course, more nuance to each candidate’s positions than what is presented here; consider this a primer for Saturday night’s foreign policy debate in South Carolina.

RTWT.

The text is here: "Keeping America Free, Safe and Sovereign: Michele Bachmann’s address aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown, November 10, 2011."

Also, at The Shark Tank, "Michele Bachmann Supports Enhanced Interrogation Techniques."

Michele Bachmann Slams Occupy Protesters as 'Ignorant and Disrespectful'

At CBS News, "Bachmann calls Occupy Wall Street protesters 'ignorant and disrespectful'."

"If they understood the heavy price that was paid for that 1st Amendment right, they'd be much more respectful. Because I was surrounded by heroes yesterday on the USS Yorktown who paid a big price for them, and they're just ignorant, that's all. They're ignorant and they were disrespectful, but someday hopefully they'll come to know the price that was paid for them."

Michele Bachmann is a generally cheerful woman. But you can see how deeply pissed she is at the videos. What's interesting to me is actually how many of those protesters stood up and heckled. That's a security issue. I wonder if they did a bag check before admitting guests to the event. Occupy Portland has activists throwing Molotovs, so who knows?

Also at Reuters, "South Carolina protesters disrupt Michele Bachmann speech."

Republicans Believe Romney Most Likely to Win Nomination

At Gallup (via Memeorandum):

Republicans are most likely to predict that Mitt Romney will be their party's 2012 presidential nominee. The 45% who believe Romney will win the nomination exceeds the combined 35% who think any other candidate will win, including 13% who say Herman Cain and 9% who say Rick Perry.

Keep reading.

Romney has a lot of weaknesses as a potential GOP frontrunner, compared to previous candidates for the nomination.

RELATED: At Atlas Shrugs, "We Must Not Choose Obama Lite: Courageous Foreign Policy Leadership Must Define GOP Nominee":

The struggle for the nomination is now. And I am so sick and tired of the enemedia and the subversive left destroying our most effective leaders on the right in their attempt to make them unelectable, all the while exalting vacuous vassals like Obama. They tried to do it to Reagan. They destroyed George W. Bush. They think they have done it to Sarah Palin, and now they are working on doing it to Herman Cain.

Not so fast, destroyers.

If they think they are going to pick our candidate this time (as they did with McCain in ‘08), they are in for a very rude surprise. Not. This. Time. We cannot let our domestic enemies define our leaders. We cannot let our domestic enemies destroy our most effective voices on the right. You must have seen by now that the more rational, the more effective, the more patriotic a Republican leader is, the more he or she is marginalized, ridiculed, destroyed.

This must stop, and we must stop it. The perspective and agenda that the chattering class, the media elites and their tools, are advancing will shatter in the face of reality.

Pamela highlights Michele Bachmann and expects her to improve in the polls. I'm not so sure, although I wish it were so.

More at Memeorandum.

Michele Bachmann Slams 'Stealth Attack' by Rick Perry Supporters

She really unloads at the interview. I was watching this afternoon. Bachmann is especially riled by folks trashing her tea party creds.

At CNN, "TRENDING: Bachmann accuses Perry camp of 'stealth' political attack" (via ioic).

The Romney-Cain Ticket

Reliapundit and I were talking about it last week: "COULTER ENDORSES ROMNEY-CAIN."

And now Coulter is putting that pitch into overdrive, on Sean Hannity's, for example. At Lonely Conservative, "Ann Coulter: How About a Romney/Cain Ticket?"

Frankly, I'm still pulling for Michele Bachmann, but time's running out, and money. At Time Magazine, "New Hampshire Staff Exodus Augurs End Times for Bachmann Campaign." Also, from Allah, "Iowa: Cain 37, Romney 27, Paul 12, Gingrich 8."

Folks know I respect Mitt Romney, and I do think a Romney-Cain ticket would be attractive. So, let's see how things play out. The consensus is that Romney's the one. See LAT, "Mitt Romney may win the GOP presidential nomination by default."

Michele Bachmann Predicts Republican Victory in California Presidential Vote

I'm still not convinced, but Obama's losing his base even in the Golden State, so we'll see.

At LAT: "Bachmann predicts a GOP win in California in 2012."

Michele Bachmann Slams HPV Vaccine Mandate at GOP Debate

She did fine in the debate: "Rick Perry's HPV mandate returns to haunt him."

It's the post-debate comments that weren't Bachmann's best moments. Ed Morrissey's got the main story, "Bachmann: Gardasil causes “mental retardation”." (Via Memeorandum.) And Los Angeles Times has a medical report, "GOP debates HPV vaccine, but medical community gives it OK."

I'll bet Bachmann recovers on this sooner than Perry. The mandate calls into question his bona fides as a small-government conservative. And the debate got heated today among right bloggers and on the Twittersphere.

AoSHQ has this: "Bachmann: I'm A-Goin' to Go Ahead and Push This Lunatic Vaccines=Autism Lie":

Michelle Bachmann is desperate. She's an ambitious, egotistical woman who started running for President just two short years after she first ran for Congress. In the past two months her support went from 13% and rising to 4% and falling.

So she needs something, doesn't she, and Rush Limbaugh warned her off her planned Social Security demagoguery.

So, instead, this bullshit.

And Dan Riehl's got this: "Perry Doesn't Look Ready to Lead America," and "So Much For NRO Being Conservative."

And Tabitha Hale on Twitter: "I think maybe I should abandon Twitter until primary season is over so I still have friends."

It's gonna get heavy like this on the right for a while. Folks are starting to really dig in behind their favorites.

Bachmann Campaign Shake-Up

Ed Rollins is out. (Good thing too.)

See Los Angeles Times, "Michele Bachmann's campaign sees major shake-up."

And from Chris Cillizza, at Washington Post, "Michele Bachmann’s rise and fall in the 2012 Republican primary":

In politics, things change fast.

Less than a month ago, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann sat atop the political world fresh off her win at the Ames Straw Poll.

Today, two new polls show Bachmann’s support badly eroding — a finding that when coupled with a Labor Day staff shakeup raise serious questions about her ability to recapture the momentum that shot her into the top tier over the summer.

In a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, Bachmann now stands at six percent in a hypothetical 2012 Republican primary ballot, well short of the 13 percent she took in a mid-July Post/ABC survey of registered voters

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll shows a similar decline with Bachmann now winning 8 percent — half of the 16 percent she received in July.

There appear to be a few reasons for Bachmann’s slippage.

Keep reading.

Rick Perry's surge came primarily at Michele Bachmann's expense. That said, Cillizza sounds a bit too bearish on Bachmann. She needs to stay focused on Iowa. Obviously her Ames victory got buried in the sensation of Rick Perry, but we've got a debate tomorrow and lots more retail politics before Iowa, where Bachmann remains the favorite daughter.

Video Rip-Off 'Who Likes White People?' Continues Viral Distribution Despite Debunking

I haven't posted on this yet. Robert Stacy McCain has some copyright issues he's been dealing with, over a video clip of Michele Bachmann he made weeks ago in Iowa. Some idiot progressive thief stole the video and edited to make it appear that Congresswoman Bachmann had made racist comments. Just tonight Robert reports that gay rights extremist Perez Hilton posted the clip, and this is after the smear's been widely debunked. See: "No Honor Among Thieves, No Curiosity Among Journalists: Perez Hilton Re-Pirates Video, CBS News Repeats Smear."

CBS News also picked the purloined video as the top viral video of the week. Read all about it The Other McCain.

Elvis Presley's Birthday

It wasn't yesterday.

Elvis was born January 8, 1935.

Michele Bachmann botched it. See: "Bachmann’s Elvis Tribute, Slightly Off." You're gonna have these (just ask Barack "57 states" Obama), but Bachmann can ill afford the little gaffes at this point in the race. Rick Perry's coming on strong.

Michele Bachmann: 'Ready For Prime Time'

An excellent essay at Althouse, comparing Michele Bachmann to Sarah Palin, "A Palin-Bachmann feud?":

By the way, Bachmann was great on "Meet the Press" today. She is excellent at not letting the interviewer control her. She interrupts appropriately and stands her ground. She has planned, neat responses to the stuff that they will use to try to mess her up — like her statements about gay people — and she resists pressure to restate or elaborate those responses. She is ready for prime time.

After Iowa, Republicans Face a New Landscape

At New York Times, "After Iowa, Republicans Face a New Landscape."

WATERLOO, Iowa — The leading Republican presidential candidates scrambled to take command of a new landscape on Sunday after Tim Pawlenty abruptly ended his campaign and a three-way race began taking shape to find a nominee who can emerge as the strongest challenger to President Obama.

While Gov. Rick Perry of Texas had hoped to turn the contest into a two-man duel with Mitt Romney, he starts by facing Representative Michele Bachmann, whose weekend victory in the Iowa straw poll reordered the top tier of candidates. On the second day of his announcement tour, Mr. Perry sent a subtle message: making his first Iowa appearance in her hometown, but not taking her on directly.

While Mrs. Bachmann, Mr. Perry and Mr. Romney each have emphasized cutting attacks on Mr. Obama, they now face the need to begin drawing distinctions with one another and set up what could be a long and hard-edged campaign for the party’s nomination.

More at that top link.

Plus, I suspect Los Angeles Times is straining a bit here, trying to spin a different angle: "Perry overshadows Bachmann's Iowa victory."

Tim Pawlenty Ends Presidential Campaign

I just clicked on The Other McCain and saw this: "Tim Pawlenty Quits!" While the news could probably use a couple of exclamation points!!, I'm not surprised. The GOP field is getting crowded with Rick Perry's entry into the race, and as we saw from the debate the other night, Pawlenty was hoping for the knock out blow against Michele Bachmann and he failed miserably. She held her own and made Pawlenty look a Republican Mario Cuomo. Bachmann went on to win Iowa and that had to be like a right upper-cut landing on Pawlenty's chin. He's down.

See also Legal Insurrection and New York Times (via Memeorandum).