Last night in South Carolina, Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann talked movingly about a miscarriage she and her husband suffered:
“After our second child was born, we became pregnant with a third baby,” Bachmann said at the town hall at Winthrop University on Wednesday night. “And it was an unexpected baby, but of course we were delighted to have this child. And the child was coming along, and we ended up losing that child. And it was devastating for both of us, as you can imagine if any of you have lost a child.”
Bachmann said the miscarriage led to her and her husband’s decision to take in 23 foster children on top of a family that grew to include five biological children. But, she said, it also prompted them to reconsider their professional lives and goals.
“At that moment we didn’t think of ourselves as overly career minded or overly materialistic,” she said, also speaking for her husband. “When we lost that child, it changed us. And it changed us forever.”
Commentators are already guessing how the story plays in the primary horse-race. I would calm down about that. It is early still, and it is a candidate telling her story, and by doing so, reminding people that sometimes political positions do not come from polling or strategizing but real-life, painful experience and conviction. There is more than one candidate in the GOP primary who can speak to that — men, too!
As I noted on my Facebook post about this last night:
Sorry, Michele, but miscarriages do not count toward being considered a woman by liberals. Unless you abort a baby, you will always be treated as the enemy. Since you're 55, that is highly unlikely to happen, so you may as well go home now because the liberal media will always hate you. Buh-bye.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhat I haven't (and will never figure out) is the "kinder, gentler, better libs" want to help out the poor, the oppressed, the victims, the helpless--yet here you have a woman whose family accepted 23 (that is twenty-three)children in need, into their home--and she is vilified by the left. That the MSM joins and often leads this nasty chorus is disgusting and dangerous. One cannot "reach across the aisle" or "compromise" with people of such a low moral order. (Of course the left/libs want to help folk only by using other peoples money, and having the government do the "helping".)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOh you poor tired turtle. Bachmann is hated by libs because she's the WRONG kind of woman.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOne needs to understand what is going on with Bachmann.
1. The left feels it can hang the "Mission Accomplished" benner over the destruction of Sarah Palin. They have made her arguably unelectable. Even YOU think so.
2. The leftist meme on Palin has been "Palin is stupid." All commentary either states or echoes this.
3. This meme cannot be used for Bachmann because she has an advance degree from a respectable university. Palin is a graduate with a BA from Podunk University. They cannot attack Backmann for the reason that she is credentialed as THEY are. This also protects her degree from Regent University which otherwise would lead to criticism for having a degree from "Pat Robertson's diploma mill."
4. So they have adopted the Minnesota meme that "Bachmann is CRAZY." A recent variation on this was the recent Salon article describing her as a "Kamikaze for Christ."
5. The actual facts DO NOT MATTER. She has become more popular since the Republican debate, as the publlic -- which largely does not know her -- has liked what they see. Therefore, the goal is to stigmatize her BEFORE people get to know her, the was Palim was slammed (and could not respond thanks to McCain's fatuousness) before she got her footing on the national stage. They want to establis this meme -- that Bachmann is crazy -- so that voters can dismiss her out of hand without getting to know the real person.
This will only get worse as the election gets closer. They went easy on Bachmann after the debate because they thought that she occupied the same political space as Palin. Consequently, if successful,she was thought to be a barrier to Palin. Now that Palin has failed to act and apparently is not going to run, they are free to destroy Bachmann.
Only Huntsman will be free of these attacks, as the media -- as in 2008 -- tries to select the Republican nominee.
Look at the field:
* Romney is a familian figure from 2008 and already mortally wounded by "Obamneycare," a shorthand description that sinks Romney with one word. The ideaa that Pawlenty was weak in declining to attack Romney during the debate. Just the mention of "Obamneycare" was fatal to Romney; there was no reason for Pawlenty to make himself look hostile. He had already slid the knife deeply into Romney on "Fox News Sunday."
* Pawlenty is a great candidate, but nobody knows it, and he lacks the personal qualities to make an impression. As was said of Senator "Scoop" Jackson, it he gave a fireside chat, the fire would go to sleep, rightly or wrongly.
* Gingrich's importance only registers when he looks in a mirror. Time has passes him by.
* Cain cannot win as a newphyte, but he is in position to be a vice-president candidate.
Consider, this would be a way to take the race card out of the election, even if it did not attract significant black support. Bachmann-Cain sounds pretty good to me. Imagine Cain debating that walking train wreck, Joe Biden.
* Ron Paul -- the crazy old uncle in the attic. Does anyone think that he could EVER get the nomination?
* Huntsman -- his only constituency is the media. Could you pick him out of a line-up?
* Santorum -- a good man and the likely nominee if the other candidates -- and those considering a run -- are killled in a plane crash, and Sarah Palin gets eaten by a bear.
Bachmann is Sarah Palin with an advanced degree. The left MUST and willl try to destroy her.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseUnfortunately, Bachmann has been too generous with handing the JournoList media gaffe bats to beat her over the head with. She needs to channel Ken Jennings (all-time Jeopardy winner) every time she opens her mouth or else every JLM interview will be nothing but questions pushing the meme, "You're a gaffe factory, aren't you? How are you going to get over the fact you're a gaffe factory and liberal media groups say you're a stupid bimbo and a gaffe factory? Are you going to make a gaffe now and do you mean to constantly distract from your message by making gaffes?"
Obama or Slow Joe could come out and say that Puerto Rico would be located between adjacent states Kansas and Maine if it became a state and the media would praise them for their inclusiveness compared to the racist, greedy, racist, isolationist, racist Republicans. (Who are also racists.) Meanwhile, Bachmann could recite pi to 1000 places and they'd tut-tut like Alex Trebeck and says, "Ooooh, that's incorrect. The last 5 digits aren't 29483, but 29583. You are clearly too stupid a Jesus flake to be allowed in the public arena. Begone!"
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Bachmann is Sarah Palin with an advanced degree." A distinction without relevance, and I myself have an advanced degree.
Since when do conservatives allow leftist commentary define our candidates? Isn't that defeat through needless empowerment?
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Bachmann is Sarah Palin with an advanced degree."
No. I say: Bachmann is Sarah Palin minus the executive experience, retail abilities, sharp communication skills, unprecedented vetting, and the "it" factor.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Bachmann is Sarah Palin with an advanced degree."
Michele Bachmann is Sarah Palin with none of the executive experience.
Great resume for the White House, a mom, legislator and tax attorney.
The current occupant is a dad, a legislator, and lawyer.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAn interesting piece of trivia from the life of a congresswoman. Now, why people like the author seem to think Michele Bachmann is particularly relevant to 2012, I can't understand. 2012 hasn't begun yet. When Palin's announcement day arrives, all of this Romney-TPaw-Bachmann-Huntsmann nonsense will be proven to have been a waste of time. You can even be a Palin-hater, and still understand: if she runs, she'll win; and of course she's running or she wouldn't be touring America in a campaign bus and attending film premieres in Iowa. So enjoy your summer everyone and wait for the phenomenon to arrive, probably around Labour Day.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseBachmann's life story is admirable. She will gain traction in the GOP primary. But that won't stop the Left from attacking her. Case in point, look at Palin and Clarence Thomas. Those two have admirable life stories, but the Left loves to slam them.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseCrazy Eyes was a national joke before she started running. Don't pretend this was an orchestrated media takedown. She was a focal point during her bizzaro Tea Party response to the state of the union (no pun intended), when she opposed the census due to black helicopter theories, when she called Obama unAmerican, and when she gave room to birther sentiment.
Even in the state that elected Jesse Ventura as governor, she had to spend more than any other house rep to defend her seat in the last go around. That's how crazy Crazy Eyes is. That you people can't see this is almost too rich to describe.
Get used to losing national elections. You've alienated the young, the educated, minorities, upper income professionals, people who live in cities and most women. This is why the media loves to hone in on your crazier candidates. It's not an agenda, it's just that a majority of MSM viewers genuinely enjoy watching your unhinged representatives wax crazy. As you turn off more normal people with your wacky theories and magical thinking ("boo, science is bad! gay marriage is evil! teachers are awful! tax cuts for the rich are important during times like these!") you'll wind up with more freaky freaky front runners like Crazy Eyes. We like watching her for the entertainment value. The MSM knows this. They deliver. As usual, there's no conspiracy theory here and the world is not out to get you. But if you and Crazy Eyes thought differently, then you wouldn't be so fun to watch.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnyone else notice that liberals love to think themselves as being creative (and can't stop yammering about it), but can't come up with an adjective to express their seething rage and misogyny toward conservative women than "crazy"? Liberals say "crazy" more than Obama says "corporate jets." If you clowns were the least bit creative, you'd bust out a thesaurus to find a 2nd adjective. But you aren't. You're just filled with hate for women who don't perform their liberal duty and have more abortions.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNot only that, have you noticed how it's always conservative women, or even not liberal women, who are called crazy?
Keep it up dems. At some point, people will notice and it will be curtains for you.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbusePalin is conservative and ignorant, but she's not crazy. She understands that her ignorance prevents her from having a chance at the oval office, but it also makes her a great candidate for reality TV, bus tours, Fox News, and ghost written books for the hoi polloi. This actually makes her pretty smart in my opinion. And very, very sane.
Thatcher is conservative and smart - and not ignorant at all - and I don't think anyone would say she's crazy.
I could probably come up with scores of conservative, strong, smart, female examples here. And I guess I could also point to liberal women who exemplified progressive ideals without resorting to getting an abortion (Pelosi, Hillary Clinton; are there actually any that had an abortion?).
But the fact of the matter is that crazy and Bachman go together like peas and carrots. Here's why:
1. She actually does have crazy eyes. This is an objective fact. Even when they're not focused in the right spot, they're still wide-eyed-crazy. She gives Charles Manson a run for the money in the crazy eyes department.
2. Encouraging citizens to avoid the census because you fear a future Stasi type dystopia is crazy.
3. Calling the sitting president un-American is crazy.
4. Demonstrating sympathy for birthers is crazy, because that's just crazy. Palin isn't crazy. That's why she didn't go there.
5. Having a ginormous family like it's 1874 and you have a lot of land to take care of is kind of noble when you consider her background, but it's also kind of crazy. But by all means, keep beating the "I have 23 kids drum." That'll go over really, really well with the Amish and Menonites. A very lucrative demo!
See, Crazy Eyes has earned it. And calling a conservative woman crazy isn't a default position for liberals. We don't all act a certain way, just like not all immigrants, welfare recipients, and gay people act a certain way. The world is a richer place when you allow for nuance and refrain from applying broad generalizations. And Crazy Eyes works. Her eyes are actually more crazy than she is.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseOn another thread Moe goes on and on about how anyone who doesn't live in a big city is uneducated, unsophisticated, etc.
In other words, he's your typical liberal who has such a low sense of self esteem that his only chance in life to feel superior is to come on to conservative sites and tear down anyone who comes across his path.
Sad really, but then, he's a liberal, what more can you expect.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"Bachmann is Sarah Palin with an advanced degree."
I have no problem with Sarah Palin getting the nomination. I have been for her since I saw her speak during the 2008 campaign (after standing in line for four hours!). But I am talking about the dynamics of the attacks against Palin and Bachmann. I am just saying that Bachmann's masters in tax degree insulates her, to some extent, from the usual attacks of the left that conservatives are stupid people and "not like us."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAs a lawyer, I can say that her tax degree places her intelligence and education beyond that of most people in politics. This does not qualify her to be president. The fact that Obama has a Harvard law degree obviously does not make him -- a true cipher -- qualified to be President. Palin is Reagan in skirts. Read her moving letter about the birth of Trig. It has the human flavor of the best of Reagan's radio scripts that he wrote. It is hard to imagine that a politician wrote this letter, which is a mother's "cry of the heart" and non-manipulative. It shows no hint of being written for publication (and the media quickly ignored it when they realized how good and sincere and moving it is). It is written from the viewpoint of God -- that Trig was not handicapped by Down's Syndrome; that his condition gives all of us the chance to show our humanity by how we treat him. I found it on The Los Angeles Times web site about 10 days ago. Naturallly cable -- even Fox -- ignored it and concentrated on the examination of her other e-mails.