Ames, Iowa – National Review Online was on Rep. Michele Bachmann’s campaign bus moments after the Minnesota Republican swept the straw poll. Her family was surprisingly calm. Her children and spry mother, Jean, were all smiles, watching Fox News on the small television near the front. Splayed on couches, they laughed as the network cut to a live feed of the bus door, playfully alerting one staffer that his rear was in the shot. Representative Bachmann, for her part, was thrilled, and for a few minutes, stepped to the back to take a few phone calls. One of the first came from Mitt Romney, who offered his congratulations.
As a crowd gathered outside, the Bachmann children took out their cell phones and snapped pictures of each other with their grandmother, in pairs and threes, to remember the moment. After a few minutes, campaign manager Ed Rollins greeted the crew, holding brief court in the cramped, carpeted aisle. He was pleasant, gracious to the family members for their work, but also subdued, almost quiet. He, like Marcus Bachmann in the back, was pleased with the outcome but also comforted by dusk. A very long day had ended well and now, finally, they could rest, if but for a few minutes. Indeed, the sight of Marcus Bachmann relaxing, watching his children savor the moment, will stick with me. His wife had more interviews, more events, more everything to come. She had just won a major political victory. But even in the big leagues, it’s the small moments, the light laughter of his college-age girls and eldest son, that make him beam.