Religion in the Race

Emmanuel Parisse of the Agence France-Presse published an article concerning the religious leanings of the GOP candidates as showcased in a debate on November 19th. The candidates were asked how religion affected them personally and each one shared a story of how their lives had been influenced by a religious moment. Bachmann referred to her conversion to Christianity and used that to add to the central conversation of the debate, family values. Bachmann's consistent support of conservative social ideology was encouraged and allowed to blossom throughout this debate. She reiterated her beliefs on keeping marriage between a man and a woman and gave a convincing image of a woman devoting her political platform to Christian values (a phrase which has become somewhat interchangeable with "family values" in the political realm).

The massive amount of support Bachmann initially got during her campaign came from those who believed in re-instituting Christian values into American government. AFP quotes one strong supporter:

"I would have to say that basically it's nice to know that the contenders are very God based." Thom Moore, 34, told AFP. "Our country is faced with a situation where we're losing our Christian background. It's simply nice to know that they'll put it in there after having such a jerk as president. I'm not a happy person about Obama." 

Watching the U.S. suffer a horrible recession has given both conservatives and hopeful liberals a scapegoat for our failures as a country, and many voters are facing increased turmoil in their personal lives that they want to see corrected. In times of crisis, it's know that people tend to become desperate or in some cases religious, so for desperate Americans to turn to a highly socially conscious Bible-thumper is perfectly understandable, but not all logical. A candidate's morality is an important issue, and for some people that means being religious, but for Michele to win, even before Rick Perry came into a race was a long shot, mainly considering her socially-centered campaign.

Bachmann's Intelligence

In the CNN Debate on November 21, Michele Bachmann made a statement concerning the danger of allowing Pakistan to maintain nuclear sites considering substantial "threats" to the sites. 

"We have to recognize that 15 of the sites, nuclear sites, are available or are potentially penetrable by jihadists. Six attempts have already been made on nuclear sites. This is more than an existential threat."

This article shows that Bachmann's threats were checked by the National Journal, and none of the information was found to be true. As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, Bachmann upholds a position of high responsibility where she has the power to choose which information dictates American policymakers' actions and monitor the flow of information to the House. This comment can only be considered one of two things: A fabrication of serious evidence, or a leak of secret information which has not yet been released. Either way, while her motives of protecting the U.S. from WMD's is noble, her execution is all wrong. A likely possibility is that the information she gave was fabricated, and was used only to further her argument. The necessity to take correct information and warp it in order to fit one's argument is completely illogical, any way you look at it. It's possible that the mindset necessary to accept the Bible at its every word, for it's face value in addition to its moral value, may be similar to the mindset it takes for Bachmann to be convinced that funding Pakistan will indirectly lead to funding jihadists. While this might be true on an entirely different level, fabricating evidence and moving through the electoral with an unreasonable and closed mind will not lead to logical or cooperative solutions. Theoretically, for her to win even just the primary election, she would have to make huge changes to her strategy and maybe even her personality, but among those things would be to stop telling lies. 

Bachmann and the "99%"

The Occupy Wall Street movement has resonated strongly throughout the United States, and it will most likely play a large role in the upcoming election in 2012. Obama has placed himself on the side of the protesters, and therefore has presumably gained some support both from some protesters and supporters of the movement.

On the other hand, Michele Bachmann is facing some animosity from protesters, and as you can see in the video above, she is having to deal with some very forward acts of confrontation on behalf of the "99%". While the event may have been disrespectful in the light of the occasion (a Veteran's Day parade), Bachmann handled the uprising rather gracefully, but still looked somewhat irked.

When she returned to the podium, she said with some chagrin, "Isn't the First Amendment great?", getting a laugh out of her audience, but snide comments like those will likely alienate her from the "99%", a movement on behalf of the American people, supposedly her voter base. Granted, she has made it clear that she has a very specific voting bloc that she is gearing toward, and granted, the position she was put in was understandably irritating, from her point of view, however, she will not be able to gain the support of the "masses" if she continues with this anti-protester attitude in accordance with many other GOP candidates.

While, unfortunately, she may not need the "99%" to get a win by playing politics and dominating a solid voting bloc, it looks like that bloc is not doing too well for her, as a recent Gallup poll put her at 5% with Perry in the lead,  Romney in second, and Ron Paul in third. This should be a rough estimate of what her game plan has done for her so far, so it will be interesting to see if she decides to reach out to that "99%", or more likely, independent yet silent supporters of the Occupy movement.

Michele Bachmann on Social Issues

In a Real Clear Politics article, Michele Bachmann is quoted as saying, "Some Republican candidates seem confused by what it means to be 100 percent pro-life. Bachmann's campaign thus far has not made a point of reinforcing her stance on social issues, in fact it has been skirting around them for most of the time, as she made some very staunch declarations of her positions before beginning her campaign for the presidency. Her politics have focused much more on the hot topic of fixing the economy and antagonizing President Obama because of the currently lame economy. 

While she has had to dodge questions from various liberal biased interviewers and media sources, she has successfully deflected most of them, however, she seems to be returning to her far right social stances as the race progresses. Her points of view are not in danger of alienating her supporters because a majority of them believe what she believes, but should she continue, I still maintain, that she will have to change her game in a big way. 


Bachmann is returning to accusing others of not  holding the same, God-filled moral  values as she does, and it will be interesting to see how much of them the American public can take. As the race continues, we may see a move on Bachmann's part even further towards those issues which she deems to be strongholds for those voters who support her, but we may also see an increasingly negative depiction of Bachmann in the media, a trend that may not produce positive results for Bachmann.