Bachmann-Palin Overdrive

As summer heats up, so do the quasi-candidacies of Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Bachmann’s campaign is all but official; she plans an announcement in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa later this month. Palin is being coyer about her intentions, but is currently driving the lamestream media crazy, literally, having embarked on a cross-country bus tour with vaguely described objectives. These two gutsy, conservative women will have a lot to do with Republicans’ chances at the White House and Congressional control next year, whether or not they are successful in attaining the presidential nomination, or, in Palin’s case, even seeking it. The question is, how will they manage to stay out of each other’s way?

There are a lot of similarities between Bachmann and Palin—value systems, positions on the key issues, strength of character, and so on. Therefore it would seem difficult if not impossible for either of them to distance herself from the other, unless it was based on a personal issue. Both are also competitive, and it’s hard to see how they could play nice with each other in the rough-and-tumble of a campaign. So, if both enter the presidential sweepstakes, the lamestreamers will undoubtedly try to find a singular issue that rubs one of them the wrong way about the other. The best-case scenario for liberals, of course, is that Bachmann and Palin would drag each other down, allowing a Romney or other beatable Republican to sneak into the void.

Make no mistake—most Democrats fear either Palin or Bachmann more than the other Republicans in the presidential field. Don’t believe for a moment that the constant trashing of both Palin and Bachmann is anything but a bully expressing how scared he is through contempt. The left knows that of all the potential candidates, these two women are the most fearless in articulating their beliefs about where America is versus where it could and should be. And this fearlessness in plainly speaking the truth resonates with millions of Americans who know we are going in the wrong direction.

People around the country increasingly realize the dire straits we are in—morally, economically, and politically. They are less inclined to respond to mealy-mouthed platitudes that compromise principles, for example to increase the national debt ceiling to avoid a default, as if continuing to spend our way into oblivion doesn’t eventually cause the same result. When one is being told about a serious condition, the retort one normally gives is, “Give it to me straight, Doc.” Michelle Bachmann and Sarah Palin are two rare politicians who are willing to give it to us straight, as if we are equals, not subjects. Let’s hope that as this presidential campaign progresses, there is somehow room enough for each of them to blossom in her own way.