Sunday, November 13, 2011
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.
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The youtube video you share here is pretty outrageous. Bachmann's facial expression when the protesters first start is priceless. As you say, the bloc isn't looking great for her. I'm interested to see how she reacts as she knows her chances might be fading. It will be interesting to see if her stances begin to change.
ReplyDeleteI've said it before, and I'll say it again - if Bachmann is smart, she will have lined up her book/speaking tour deal a good couple months ago, back when it became eminently clear that she is nothing more than a walking punchline in this race's advanced stages.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, of course...she WILL be pretty much set for life with said deal, if Palin's example is anything to go by. But as a politician? She simply does not matter to this race anymore, and never shall again.
- Kevin Chafe
I've got to agree with Kevin. Bachmann has become irrelevant. Much like Palin in '08, she had an initial surge as a female GOP candidate who already held an office and so she had to be legitimate, right? Then people began to look at her actual policies and what she believed. They saw how scary she really is and ran away screaming. I'll be honest, I hope she doesn't have a book deal done because the fact that people are going to listen to what she has to say is perhaps the scariest part about her. The fact that she is crazy is fine, its the fact that other people agree with her that worries me.
ReplyDeleteI think it's highly unlikely that Bachmann would ever try to court the Occupy Wall Street movement. In debates, she and other Republican candidates have denounced the movement strongly. In addition, they've even critized Democrats for supporting the movement. Appealing to the movement would probably ultimately lose her votes because she would lose some or many of her far-right voters.
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