Whatever else you might say about the Ames Straw Poll, it does take some money and organizational skill to win it. The outcome doesn’t necessarily reflect the true sentiments of Iowa’s Republican voters, but anyone who figures out how to be victorious in the Straw Poll probably has a decent chance of figuring out how to do very well in the Iowa Caucuses. When we consider that the winner of the Straw Poll is also leading in the Real Clear Politics collection of Iowa polls, we have to take Rep. Michele Bachmann’s at least somewhat seriously as a candidate. It’s just damn hard to do. Today, she went on the Jay Sekulow Live radio show and said the following about her victory and her message:
BACHMANN: I would say it’s a unified message. It really is about jobs and the economy. That doesn’t mean people haven’t [sic] forgotten about protecting life and marriage and the sanctity of the family. People are very concerned about that as well. But what people recognize is that there’s a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward. And especially with this very bad debt ceiling bill, what we have done is given a favor to President Obama and the first thing he’ll whack is five hundred billion out of the military defense at a time when we’re fighting three wars. People recognize that.
Bachmann is a better speaker than Palin, but I think she meant “unifying,” didn’t she? And she meant “have” not “haven’t.” I hope she also meant “Russia” rather than the now extinct Soviet Union. And who are we going to lose to militarily? Who’s afraid of us losing militarily? Finally, she must assume that the president will force the Republicans (somehow) to refuse to make a deal on the Supercommittee, which will then automatically trigger $600 billion in cuts to the Pentagon’s budget (as well as $600 billion in cuts to Medicare providers).
In any case, this is a garbled pile of stupid bullshit, which pretty well describes everything I’ve been hearing from the right since Bush left office. Prior to that, it was much less garbled. Actually, the garbling started when McCain weaponized the stupid by choosing Caribou Barbie as his running mate.
