Bachmann's "Bigotry"?

In recent weeks, we've studied the tendencies and inclinations of members of different religious groups and how they are expected to react to the upcoming presidential election. Michele Bachmann is obviously appealing to an evangelical voter base, where as candidates like Mitt Romney are trying to both win marginal not-so-radical Christians and those independents who are defecting from the Democratic Party. As we've been studying Jewish political opinions and Muslim political preferences, I've started associating Michele Bachmann's lack of a appeal not only as one that does not appeal to those who are not extremely religious, but as a phenomenon that will prevent her from reaching all kinds of minorities, including the religious ones we've discussed.

President Obama did a very good job of improving voter turnout in the 2008 election among ethnic minorities, as well as picking up many civil rights believers and social liberals who are fighting for issues like gay rights, pro-choice, and welfare reform. This time around, it seems like GOP candidates are having trouble appealing to those minorities who are fighting for rights, such as the gay population, as well as those who support the gay cause. While Bachmann might pull defectors by advertising her support for improving America's values and respectability, I don't think she will be able to convince those who are at odds with religion as a whole, and especially with Bachmann's views, which include denial of the right to gay marriage and the idea that a woman should be subservient to her husband (an idea that probably does not sit well with a number of independent women). I think it will be very hard for Bachmann to swing voters over to her camp because of the radical nature of her ideas, and the idea that she is, as Kathy Griffin put it, "a bigot". As long as respectable gay rights advocates and their supporters in the media are broadcasting messages like these, it will be very hard for Michele Bachmann to reach outside of her already strong fan base. However, if she is able to win the full support of Evangelicals and other strongly religious groups over Rick Perry, that group may be all she needs to get ahead in the Primaries. In my opinion, that's not very likely considering Perry's good record with appealing to minorities and being relatively moderate as governor of Texas, but it will be interesting to see what happens.