On my walk home tonight I found my self thinking about Mitt Romney, as I do from time to time, and I found myself laughing. The laughter was a result of thinking about Willard standing next to president Obama in the debates next year. Were Republicans to nominate him those debates would be a rerun of Kerry/Bush, in that you have a president who the populace generally like and “want to have a beer with” next to a man so wooden that he makes Keanu Reeves look like Marlon Brando.
This thought was quickly followed by a far more frightening thought, what if they do nominate Bachmann? She was, in my mind, the clear winner of last nights first GOP debate, and the media seem to agree, she showed some charisma and is clearly well versed in the red meat policies that GOP primary voters eat up. Ergo she could win Iowa, she could even win New Hampshire. Romeny is not popular in New Hampshire even though he basically lives there these days, the 08 election showed us that, and Bachmann propelled from a win in Iowa could best him there as McCain did.
It may be laughable to think of Bachmann up against Obama in a debate but the optics could very well be favourable to her, she doesn’t have the awkward speaking manner of a Palin, nor is she wooden or boring like Pawlenty/Romney. She has motherhood on her side and the stern demeanor that comes with raising three hundred children. She is also not burdened by reality, she has what all successful GOP candidates have, the ability to pretend the world is the opposite of what it actually is. Add to this good handlers and advisers and you have the toxic mix that gave us Reagan and W.
I have always felt that the first woman elected in the US would be a conservative, much like in Britain. Conservatives are far more comfortable voting for a rabidly right wing woman, it plays into their dominatrix fantasies. The one thing going against Bachmann at this point is the GOP orthodoxy, they do generally vote for whoever is next in line, who would in this case be Romney, but perhaps Obama presents them with a murky dilemma which has a specific relief, electing someone out of far right field. I have no idea if she could actually beat Obama, or even if she could come close, but I think she may be the only one who could rally her base and reawaken that large swathe of conservative voters who would otherwise sit on their hands this time round.
I don’t know, this is all a very scary thought, but tonight I did find myself laughing at the idea of Willard standing against Obama, and instead found myself shuddering at the idea of a Bachmann candidacy, not only because she is so extreme and crazy but because she could be exactly what the GOP needs to come close to Obama.