IDA Caucus Countdown #4: Michele Bachmann

Now that Christmas is behind us it is time to round up the Iowa Defense Alliance Caucus Countdown. As I have mentioned before, the IDA Caucus Countdown is not my predictions as to what the results of the 2012 Iowa Caucus will be. Rather it is a countdown on the candidates based entirely on my preferences. As you will recall former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman was honored with the last place based on his decision to forego campaigning in Iowa. Number six on the list went to Texas Congressman Ron Paul primarily based upon what I perceive to be naïve foreign policy. And candidate number five was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney due to his consistently inconsistent policy positions on issues that I feel are very important. So now it is time to unveil the candidate that inhabits position number, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

To be perfectly honest, Congresswoman Bachmann was in a virtually dead heat with Mitt Romney for the fourth position on my preferences list. The only reason that she edged him out was due to the fact that Governor Romney has enacted taxpayer funded abortions, mandated same sex marriage, and enacted an unconstitutional insurance mandate. I would like to point out that at the beginning of this year’s caucus season Congresswoman Bachmann was the frontrunner to receive my support. I have numerous friends whose opinion and intelligence I admire greatly openly endorse her early in the race. However as the campaign progressed I began to have some doubts about her candidacy. We began to see some cracks appear that gave me cause for concern.

The first such crack appeared during one of Congresswoman Bachmann’s campaign events in New Hampshire. During the event she remarked that “You’re the state where the shot was heard round the world at Lexington and Concord.” Unfortunately for the Congresswoman that event took place not in New Hampshire, but Massachusetts. And then in June during Fox News interview Congresswoman Bachmann made the comment, “Well, what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That’s the kind of spirit that I have, too.” The problem is that John Wayne was from Winterset, not Waterloo. These comments are the kind that has become a staple of her campaign. It shows an unfortunate lack or research. One has to wonder, if she were to become President, would she continue to make these kinds of rookie mistakes?

During another Fox News interview conducted on December 21^st. At the beginning of the interview a Rasmussen Poll from just a few days earlier is displayed on the screen. It clearly shows that Congresswoman Bachmann has slipped behind former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum in the polls. Just a few minutes later Bachmann makes the assertion that she has never fallen behind Senator Santorum in the polls. She also makes the absurd claim that her campaign was the only one doing a 99 County tour which is absolutely false. Senator Santorum completed one at the beginning of November and promptly began another one.

I mentioned Congresswoman Bachmann’s 99 County bus tour above. When it was announced the Bachmann campaign released what I consider to be an overly optimistic schedule to say the least. Team Bachmann claimed that they were going to hit all 99 counties in Iowa in just ten days. Unfortunately this led to some very disappointing stops along her route. For instance in Muscatine Bachmann was 50 minutes late in getting to the event, at which point she spent, according to Craig Robinson of The Iowa Republican, just 12 minutes mingling among the remaining crowd before loading back aboard her bus and heading for the next stop. On Thursday of last week I attempted to attend the Bachmann event at the Pizza Ranch in Oskaloosa, Iowa. I will openly admit I was late. The event was announced to begin at 6:30 PM; I arrived at 6:38 PM. As I was arriving, Congresswoman Bachmann was departing. It became very clear to me that the primary reason that she was engaging in this farce of a tour was to be able to claim that she had visited all 99 counties.

As I stated above, Congresswoman Bachmann was high on my preference list initially. She has advocated and supported the many issues that rank high on my list of importance, but it takes more than simple advocacy to win my support. When I decide on a candidate to support they must have a high degree of honesty, integrity, and competency. And it is in this area that I have found her candidacy lacking. I honestly don’t know if Congresswoman Bachmann is being dishonest or whether some of her campaign staff is practicing incompetency. Either way it has cost her in my opinion. And this is why she is ranked just fourth in my preference list.