Michele Bachmann’s biggest obstacle is her lack of experience

Ryan Streeter
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Now that Michele Bachmann is officially in the 2012 race, the predominant theme that will emerge about her in the public debate is her (lack of) experience. And it will be a valid question. For the next few days, late night shows will have fun with her mixing up the legendary John Wayne with madman serial killer John Wayne Gacy, but after that dust settles, we’ll get back to questioning her qualifications.

And we should. Bachmann needs to be challenged on this point. She also needs to do what she’s doing right now: running.

A few points on this theme:

Of congressional hopefuls for 2012, Bachmann is clearly the weakest.  Her three terms in Congress have yielded very little real leadership.

• By contrast, consider Mike Pence and Paul Ryan. Pence was an early favorite among conservatives for a 2012 bid. After a decade in Congress, he had proved he was reliably pure as a conservative and willing to offer creative solutions at some political risk. For instance, he opposed President Bush’s No Child Left Behind and Medicare Part D efforts and was hauled over to the West Wing to explain his opposition in person – the stuff of heroics among conservatives these days. And yet he waded into the immigration debate at some political risk to offer a compromise of his own on naturalizing persons who had come to America illegally. His rhetorical strength stands upon a record of leadership.
• Paul Ryan, whom we and others have encouraged to run in 2012, hardly needs an introduction to American households anymore. His leadership, first with his Roadmap, which received virtually no support within the GOP in the early days, and then with the GOP budget this year, ranks among the biggest acts of political leadership in the past decade. His political courage - and the ability to convert it into the de facto GOP position on America's fiscal predicament - has shaped the domestic debate for 2012 more than anything else.

It’s not enough to point at Obama’s relative lack of experience before becoming President as a reason why Bachmann shouldn’t worry about the experience question. Some will try to make this point. Americans are two and a half years into a presidency marked by the kind of arrogance that accompanies anointed ones, “leadership from behind” (I’m still waiting for a management guru sympathetic to Obama to publish a book by that title), and aloofness and denial in the midst of the most serious fiscal crisis we have known. The nation doesn’t want a President right now who is emblematic of ideals or ideologies, but rather a living example of the ability to push forward solutions in a political environment. This sentiment works against Bachmann.

Running against governors will make things challenging for her.

• Romney’s best-known act as governor, signing RomneyCare into law, is also his biggest liability. But he’s also able to say – as he has – that he was being experimental with plenty of support from conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation. He’s also got a long track record of executive leadership, which, judging by the polls, seems to be worth something among voters these days.
• Pawlenty, while sagging in the polls, will continue to stand on his record of conservative governance in a blue state (even if voters are hard-pressed to say exactly what the record consisted of).
• And if Rick Perry gets into the race, Texas’s economic record over the past decade will overpower everyone – and his anti-Washington worldview will appeal to a substantial cross-section of Tea Partyers who are currently enthused by Bachmann.

And yet it’s good to have an ideological purist like Bachmann in the primary anyway. Bachmann will surprise critiques within and without the GOP with her ability to articulate policy positions and explain complex problems (she already achieved some of this in the last debate). Just as Republican leadership in Congress has needed its group of freshman to hold its feet to the fire, Bachmann will be the candidate who keeps forcing the other candidates to display their conservative bona fides – and that will be a good thing. Were she to win the nomination, she would lose to Obama miserably on by utterly failing among independents. But her presence in the primary will keep the others on their toes.

Comments

[Ian Stewart]

You mean like Obama?

[Libertarian]

I think you are totally and utterly wrong about Bachmann. There is no evidence whatsoever that she would fail miserably with independents. Indeed considering the Tea Party movement is made up of independents, her success within it shows what a ridiculous assertion that is. You have no polling evidence whatsoever.

I also find it laughable that you refer to Paul Ryan as a Leader. He may have been once during his Roadmap days but his "Path to Prosperity" is a joke. As a budget it doesn't balance for 20+ years! How is that even vaguely radical? The RSC Budget which balances in 10 years (supported by Bachmann) was fairly radical perhaps, Rand Paul's budget which balances in 5 was no doubt radical, but to suggest Ryan is in their league is ridiculous. Indeed Ryan's budget drastically increases spending in real terms over many years, it only balances because of growth assumptions. Not to mention that Ryan voted for big government programmes such as No Child Left Behind, this man is no leader!

Bachmann isn't afraid to speak the truth about the debt crisis. Like Ron Paul and Gary Johnson she doesn't hide behind pledges to cut money over ridiculous lengths of time, she believes in getting to grips with the budget now! To suggest she is something of a sideshow is hugely insulting considering (unlike most of the other candidates) she speaks the truth.

It's nice have at least a few candidates genuinely representative of limited government. They should be applauded not derided.

[Chris L.]

Ryan, not only is her lack of experience and accomplishment a serious problem, but her extremist views on social and religion-related issues will be box office poison outside that community. She now tries to hide that a bit, but her past record will be dragged out for all to see---and it's not going to play in the battleground states, especially in the must-win suburbs of those states.