Why Michele Bachmann is no Sarah Palin
Newsweek/Daily Beast
all but stole the show at the .
The only woman on the New Hampshire stage deftly utilized the CNN spotlight Monday night to announce that she , setting off a flood of breaking-news alerts in the event鈥檚 opening moments. But she accomplished far more than that.
The Minnesota congresswoman got the first audience roar of the night, promising that Barack Obama would be a one-term president.
She offered a passionate and inclusive defense of the Tea Party, saying that unlike the distorted picture painted by the media, the movement includes 鈥渄isaffected Democrats,鈥� 鈥渋ndependents,鈥� 鈥渓ibertarians鈥� and 鈥減eople who have never been political a day in their lives.鈥� That, she declares, 鈥渋s why the left fears it so much.鈥�
She even positioned herself as a truth-teller, saying she 鈥渇ought against my own party鈥� behind closed doors by opposing the Bush administration鈥檚 much-reviled TARP bailout plan.
Not bad for a rookie who kept smiling as she reeled off her best lines.
In fact, Bachmann equivocated only once, when she couldn鈥檛 choose between Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. Go figure.
Bachmann is relatively new to the national stage, but as anyone who has watched her in action understands, she knows how to play this game.
Many people think of Bachmann and Sarah Palin as cut from the same cloth, but beyond their obvious similarities as outspoken conservative women, they are distinctly different. Bachmann, a decade older at 55, had a career as a tax lawyer and is well versed in the finer points of legislation. She is not only a third-term House member but spent a half-dozen years before that in the Minnesota Senate.
鈥淚 will not rest until Obamacare is repealed鈥t鈥檚 a promise, take it to the bank, cash the check.鈥�
And as she reminded the audience at St. Anselm College several times, once in touting her pro-life stance, she has five children and is the 鈥減roud foster parent of 23 great children.鈥�
Bachmann is no stranger to Washington television studios; rather than denounce the lamestream media, she engages, and is well practiced in the art of the cable interview, even on such contentious forums as Hardball.
Bachmann also doesn鈥檛 have to explain, as Palin does, why she walked away from her biggest job in the middle of her term.
Like Palin, Bachmann generates headlines for saying flamboyant things, such as once suggesting that members of Congress be investigated for anti-American tendencies. But she did none of that Monday night.
Among the seven contenders, the focus was on Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty as the most likely nominees on the stage. Newt Gingrich seemed more of a sideshow because his , and Herman Cain seemed less of a novelty than during the first debate, carried on Fox. Bachmann was the fresh face.
She may take garden-variety conservative positions at times, but Bachmann sells them with crowd-pleasing language. She pivoted from a question about job-training programs to vow 鈥渢he mother of all repeal bills鈥� against liberal overspending, targeting the 鈥渏ob-killing鈥� Environmental Protection Agency in particular.
And there was this: 鈥淚 will not rest until Obamacare is repealed鈥t鈥檚 a promise, take it to the bank, cash the check.鈥�
The congresswoman also positioned herself as a player, noting she introduced one of the first bills to invalidate Obama鈥檚 health-care law. She introduced another measure to kill the 鈥渙ver-the-top鈥� Dodd-Frank banking regulation law. Of course, both laws still stand, but Bachmann, the only one on the stage currently employed, made herself seem like a player, not an observer. In opposing U.S. intervention in Libya鈥攚hich puts her at odds with the GOP鈥檚 McCain wing鈥擝achmann said she sits on the House intelligence committee and still doesn鈥檛 know 鈥渨ho the rebel forces are.鈥�
She was at her most passionate on abortion, defending the 鈥渟anctity of human life.鈥� But her toughest moment came when a questioner asked how she would balance her opposition to gay marriage with her advocacy of states鈥� rights.
Bachmann ducked at first, saying she believes in the 10th Amendment and also believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. When pressed, she said that as president she would not campaign to overturn state laws she didn鈥檛 like. But she softened her hard-line image by noting that she was raised by a single mother after her parents鈥� divorce.
Bachmann鈥檚 advantage during the two-hour session is that as an unofficial candidate until now she鈥檚 had very little scrutiny. She hasn鈥檛 had to explain difficult votes or apparent contradictions between her rhetoric and her record. That will change before long.
The conventional wisdom is that as a social conservative who was born in the state, Bachmann could well win the Iowa caucuses鈥攖hough she is likely to falter after that. But the enormous media attention she would attract in the process could make her a wild card, and her gender and sharp tongue virtually guarantee she will stand out in a sea of blandness.
We don鈥檛 yet know how Michele Bachmann will fare under the grinding pressure of a national campaign. But if her maiden debate was any indication, she shouldn鈥檛 be underestimated.
Howard Kurtz is The Daily Beast and Newsweek's Washington bureau chief, and writes the blog. He also hosts CNN's weekly media program Reliable Sources on Sundays at 11 a.m. ET. The longtime media reporter and columnist for The Washington Post, Kurtz is the author of five books.
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