Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

I think too many Republicans have a "Cutting off the nose to spite the face" feel when it comes to Bachmann and others like her..

I'm not going to refer to her as stupid...but she certainly can be 'fact oblivious' far beyond the average politician. Where I compare her to Palin is in regards to her speeches, which appear to me as little more than strung together bumper sticker quotes. I don't trust her at this juncture to move towards downsizing the federal government in any meaningful way....that is, beyond the predictable easy targets of the GOP.

I'm also wary of anyone who so vociferously claims intimate communications with invisible deities.

The best thing I can say about her is a fighting conservative who learns really fast. She has moved on from just reciting bumper sticker slogans speaking very intelligently off the cuff. She apparently has a lot of personal charisma in person which doesn't come across on television.

I'm disappointed that she relented to House leadership in her bid for the House Conference Committee which was the least the leadership could do to reward Tea Party conservatives for last November's historic elections. I'd like to see her take them on in a very public way.

If she runs, she has my vote. I can't see voting for anyone else at this point.

I doubt that it's a coincidence the Matt Lewis hit piece against Bachmann comes out as it is leaked that the "Bush Machine" is actively trying to recruit Mitch Daniels to be the establishment candidate.

It's laughable that Lewis portrays Bachmann as a big spender. She has a lifetime ACU score of 100. Not even DeMint and Pence have ACU's of 100. The grass roots and base love her. She gets it. She's already said the next president needs to be prepared to be a one-termer because of the unpopular decisions that will have to be made to fix the fiscal mess the politicians have created.

Since Daniels is "their" guy, that means the establishment defenders like Karl Rove, Jim Geraghty, and sometime commenter here James Burke will likely give Bachmann the Christine O'Donnell treatment if she starts gaining traction. Krauthammer has already taken some subtle swipes at her.

I would also like to add that Bachmann's leverage is with her Tea Party base. The GOP establishment is clearly content to lose 2012 so long as they can blame conservatives again for the loss. The problem is that the establishment purists won't give an inch to us conservatives in keeping their precious northeast WASP country club uncontaminated from conservatives. They welcome death over life if it means accepting conservatives in their club.

Bachmann needs to work on that kind of a message. It's a good wedge issue for conservatives to pry the corrupt fingers of the Assistant Democratic leadership from the controls of the GOP. That is why I prefer Bachmann over Cain. He has no base of power.

She scored an own-goal versus her detractors recently when, at an appearance in New Hampshire she referred to the battle of Lexington-Concord as having been fought in that state, rather than neighboring Massachusetts.

I like her. In general, I think the conservative woman are remarkable. I love their forthrightness. They don't seem to be afraid to speak their minds. The liberal women act like the Stepford wives. I get the impression that they have to follow some kind of playbook, and if they don't, they're in big trouble with with their party or the feminists.

I like her quite a bit, though I'd prefer her to stay in Congress, where I think she can be very effective as a Tea Party voice, either in the House or challenging Klobuchar. I just get the feeling she's more of a legislator than an executive.

I don't remember seeing too many dumb people back in law school. What few there might have been didn't go on to get LLM's.

When you speak a lot, its easy for the press to make you look stupid, because you're going to make verbal errors. Some people they relentlessly edit to protect (Mr. We're visiting all 57 states), and some they log triple-overtime looking to find examples where they've misspoken.

Me, I like her. She's got sand.

Bachmann is a fighter and has embraced the TEA party movement from the beginning. She has been in the forefront in the fight against Obamacare. The fact that the media and elites attack her adds to her credibility.

I keep hearing about the Concord thing. Yes it's embarrassing, but at least she didn't say that there were 57 states. Every politician goofs up.

We have become incredibly nit picky about our candidates. It's as though some people will only vote for those that are not only absolutely 100% ideologically pure, but who have never misspoken, and who are charismatic. If these are our standards, then we are toast. Every single candidate is going to have some flaw, either character or ideological. They will have cast some vote we disagree with. Every one. So let's not make the perfect the enemy of the almost perfect.

Bachman is solidly conservative and willing to fight. She has made a couple mis-statements but not as many as Obama and nowhere even remotely as many as that imbecile Biden. Her negatives have been inflated by the usual Conservative haters.

I still haven't made up my mind on her. She's better than Gingrich or Romney but that's a very low bar.

I am not sure that Bachman can handle the left wing tsunami that will be directed at her. Every aspect of her personal life will be examined under a microscope (unlike Obama's personal life). And the left will portray her as stupid. But then, we know what Obama's campaign did to Hillary, and the left stayed mute on that, because the socialist Obama was their guy.

I met Bachmann at the David Horowitz West Coast Retreat. Blogged about it at the time. She's an awesome women. Her keynote was basically a stump speech. She's genuinely conservative. Some say she's a proxy for Sarah Palin, but in some ways she's an even stronger candidate. Of course, the progressive-left will work to destroy any woman who is conservative and favors small-government. Bachmann's shown savvy in defending against these attacks, and has made Chris Matthews the fool. She's also a phenomenal fundraiser, and born/raised in Iowa. In other words, she could be a huge force in the primaries. I'm backing her.

I follow your blog and Legal Insurrection religiously. I have decided the time has come to start speaking out as well. Not going into who I am or what I have done, I want to start here and now partaking in the political process. I have sat far too long on the sidelines. Timothy Geitner blaming timid politicians and "credit card ridden" Americans for the problem I think is what has put me over the top.
Americans (as my college thesis stated) are of two schools of thought:
1. I agree with whatever government wants to spend as long as I get mine.
2. Stop spending my f...ing money.

Yes, I fall in the "rich" category, but I have earned every penny of it with my own blood sweat and tears.

People have asked me for years to run for office and I have politely turned them down. I will continue to do so, but I will now speak out when asked. I think all people who care should now speak out.

If we do not, the "Takers" will when, make no mistake about it. I cannot let that happen.

Political correctness is just a muzzle. Do Not Accept it. Speak honestly, speak directly, and most importantly, do not be intimidated by people who want to take what is yours.

I will try to comment on your posts each day.

Let everyone know something I learned 30 years ago from a movie, from now on

"There is no try, there is only do, or not do." To the best of my recollection.

Michele Bachmann does exactly as I would do. She is on offense, not defense. You can either push or be pushed, and I for one am tired of sitting here and being pushed and nudged in a direction I didn't want to go. You can only push so far and I will stand up and say "no more", and mean it to the core.

The fact the left hates her rabidly only adds to her charm. My problem is lack of CEO experience. She is way ahead of Obama in that she doesn't vote present as a legislator. But she has the same problem as Obama, not having experience in running any kind of bureaucracy. Just because the bar was lowered for Obama doesn't mean we shouldn't learn from our mistakes and do it again.

Bachmann is basically Ann Coulter with years of government experience. She's the grab-em by the throat kind of person that appeals to the populist. What's not to like about that? But does that make her POTUS material?

Her bio: http://bachmann.house.gov/Biography/

Viewing her strictly as an employer looking to hire someone: I want her as Speaker of the House, but not as POTUS. We need someone with managerial experience, POTUS is the toughest job in the world, it's not a semi-skilled position where on the job training can quickly bring a person up to speed.

VforP: "Bachmann is a fighter and has embraced the TEA party movement from the beginning. She has been in the forefront in the fight against Obamacare. The fact that the media and elites attack her adds to her credibility."

Works for me!

She may be sufficiently conservative and all that, but she would obviously make a weak candidate. First, she's just a third-term Congresswoman. Presidential candidates usually need to reach be governors, senators, or VPs to be presumed qualified. (There are some exceptions, but I don't see where MB's resume really stacks up against that of the average major-party nominee over the last 50 years or so.)

Second, she is too easily lampooned as a ditsy beauty queen. She's susceptible to such stereotyping because (a) she doesn't already have a defined persona in the eyes of the American people (because she is largely unknown to them); (b) she does, in fact, look like a beauty queen; (c) she doesn't exactly exude gravitas; and (d) the media will do whatever it takes to "expose" her as an airhead because they are already convinced that she IS an airhead.

Clearly, there's an element of sexism at work here, but very attractive women politicians who display high levels of energy (e.g., Bachmann and Palin) just don't come off as credible leaders in the eyes of many voters. The persona that "sells" is the attractive-but-not-THAT-attractive, somewhat older, and serious-almost-to-the-point-of-stern woman whom you'd hate to have as your boss. (I'm thinking Hillary, DiFi, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Lady Thatcher, and Geraldine Ferrarro.)

Bachmann has almost zero legislative accomplishments compared to Gov. Palin who accomplished a great deal as mayor and then Governor.

Look i agree that the media hates every conservative woman because it exposes them for who they are. It exposes liberals, democrats, Rhinos and establishment types. I love MB i think she is fearless but i cant support her for president this go around. She has no executive experience and i dont know if she can handle the media onslaught that's coming...and that goes for every candidate. My pick is Sarah not only because she is a true conservative and has executive experience but also because she know's how to handle the attacks that are coming. She has proven that time and time again...like Rush say's: She still standing. So my advise to any candidate exept for Sarah because she's been through it, embrace yourselves its going to be a bumpy and i mean very bumpy ride. God bless, Sarah 2012

The problem with Bachmann is that her candidacy will peel enough conservative votes away from Palin (Bachmann has zero chance of winning) to throw the nomination to Mitt Romney. That would be a disaster and guarantee Obama's re-election. If Bachmann really is interested in defeating Obama, she needs to stay in the House. This is not complicated.

Bachmann is not stupid. She will not be running for President. She is raising money that she will use in her elections in MN. If she runs for President, she will not get the nomination and all the money she has raised will be for naught. She has been on stage with Sarah Palin and she knows that whatever it is that Palin has, she doesn't have. She will not trying to compete with Gov. Palin.

Sorry, she's as thick as a plank. I see people making excuses for her Concord statement, but that was a *prepared* speech... not an off-the-cuff comment or something said in haste... it was a prepared speech, which meant it had to be written, edited, approved, and practiced.

She needs a good geography primer.

Whenever I see the phrase 'whosoever' is "unelectable" I want to scream. We've already tried the 'Most Popular Boy' candidate, Ought the criteria not be the best ideas?

We keep hearing about Mitt Romney. I know he raised a bunch of money this week, and the media sure seems to like him, but do any of you know people that are actively supporting him? Not public figures, just regular folks. Maybe its because I'm here in the deep, dark South, but I don't know anyone that is looking towards supporting him. This is from a guy who voted for him in the last primary, as I suspect a great many did, for the simple reason that he wasn't John McCain. That won't be the case this time.

I guess I just wonder how much real support there is out there for him, particularly in states the GOP might conceivably carry, as opposed to hopeful media noise and simple name recognition.

I think Rep. Bachmann has a number of under-utilized strengths that could make her a very impressive candidate if she used them properly. Presently, she of course is pigeonholed by many on the left (and some in her own party) as a shoot from the hip-type politician (a perception that has plagued a fair amount of Tea Party candidates), relying upon base instinct rather than supposedly wonkish, "careful" policy planning- a sin in the Beltway. I don't think it's a fair perception at all, but it's the perception nonetheless- thankfully, I think she can overcome it (without pandering or changing the substance of who she is), and there will be definite advantages in terms of broadening her base of support if she can do so. It's a numbers game, after all.

She should definitely do more to emphasize her background as a tax lawyer with an LLM, not only to win over skeptical Establishment Republicans and demonstrate her considerable abilities in policy matters, but also as another tool to hammer Obama. She will already have Tea Party support, and possibly even beat Pawlenty and Daniels for Midwest votes- thus, I think she has nothing to lose and everything to gain by seeking to broaden her support by using what she already has. Bachmann can also draw from her own experiences as a former Democrat (who attended the Carter inaugural, I believe) as a way of connecting on a personal level with Independents, Reagan Democrats, and disaffected individuals who voted for Obama but have now soured on him. Think Reagan and his conversion, and the broad appeal that he amassed (while still governing as a Conservative).

There are of course drawbacks in that she has only been a Representative, and because of party politics, she has not been given committee positions that she deserved. But I like her because, unlike Gov. Daniels, she has never been hesitant to push back against the Obama administration, and she was one of the few Republicans to legitimately attempt to defund Obamacare (compare that to the woes of Gov. Romney and Newt).

Maybe we should go Girls Gone Wildish and put up a Palin/ Bachmann ticket that, despite their combined executive inexperience, could only be thirty times smarter, more principled, (hormonal) and effective than any combo of an Obama/Biden/Pelosireid administration

with Col. West as Palin's SecStateand Cain as American Godfather, maybe

to make leftie heads go into full melt down mode.

I keep hearing about this Concord thing, and still don't understand it. Yes she confused Concord NH with Concord MA; so fracking what? The two towns are a mere 65 miles apart; from the distance of Minnesota, that's nothing. She knows approximately where the battle took place; she can put a finger on an unmarked map of New England and say "it was somewhere about here", and get it about as right as anyone might do if asked to locate the Battle of the Alamo on an unmarked map of Texas. Knowing that there are two Concords so close to one another, and in which of the tiny little east coast states the famous one happens to be, is about as unnecessary as knowing the difference between Long Island and Long Island City, or between Manhattan and Manhattan Beach. If you live in NYC you'd better know the difference between those, or you'll get seriously lost; but from the perspective of anyone outside the immediate area, it's just trivia, and I don't see why a congressman, or a potential president, needs to know it.

I like Bachmann (and "like" her on FB), but I don't see her as a serious presidential contender (and not in the Rovian "unserious" way). As others have mentioned, she's simply not got the executive experience, is not that quick on her feet, tends to say strange things off the top of her head (amusing, but not "presidential"), and really doesn't have any policy stances that aren't one-liners (i.e. empty generalizations/sound bites geared to the TEA Party base).

She's the lovable goofball best friend, not the leading lady.

While I generally like Bachmann, I am cautioned by the fact that she has allowed the Usurpation of the Presidency by Obama. His British Citizenship inherited frm a British Subject father makes him ineligible. She knows it and ALL of Congress should know it, as well as supposed "law profs". Media and "law profs" have become the useful idiots.

If the well known reason for the requirement of natural born Citizen to be POTUS was to prevent foreign influence (FACT), then it how is it possible that Obama, admittedly born BRITISH, can be an eligible natural born Citizen?

As a matter of fact, Cowboy Curtis, I do: I support him. And so do quite a few other people. Just because we're not (usually) as vocal as other candidates' supporters doesn't mean we're nonexistent. Check out his Facebook page some time; it has close to a million followers, which is more than any other Republican candidate (except possibly Sarah Palin). And as for the $10 million, ever donor is also a voter.