COMMENTARY | Rep. Michele Bachmann, having listened to the judgment of the voters of Iowa, not to mention the gentle suggestion from her erstwhile political ally Sarah Palin, has suspended her campaign, effectively ending her quest for the presidency, according to ABC News,
Oceans of ink and bandwidth without count will doubtless be expended explaining why Bachmann, the winner of the Ames Straw Poll and the front-runner in the summer, wound up coming in sixth place in the Iowa Caucus. She had made some mistakes on the campaign trail, to be sure. But she did not have the baggage of a Newt Gingrich or the particularly crazy agenda of a Ron Paul.
In the end, Bachmann seems to have sought an office too far. People who serve in the House typically go not ascend directly to the presidency. Voters tend to want to see an intermediate step on the modern cursus honorum -- say a term or two in the Senate or a spell as governor of a state. Going from a House member straight to the office of the president is sort of like a parish priest aspiring to the papacy. It's just not done.
In a crowded field there was little reason to choose Bachmann over someone else. Conservative voters had Gingrich, Rick Perry, or Rick Santorum to choose from. Bachmann never made the case for why she should be preferred over the other three. Perry is a governor. Santorum was a senator. Gingrich was the first Republican speaker of the house in a generation and, despite all of his faults, a national political figure.
What does Bachmann do now? The next session of the Congress draws nigh and with it a chance to shine, now that she has had some national exposure. She needs to figure out what her next political move is. Does she endorse someone and if so whom? Santorum would be an obvious choice. He has the combination of fiscal and social conservatism that would be a good match. Perry and Gingrich would also benefit just a little from a nod from Bachmann.
Presuming that a Republican wins this year and wins reelection, the next national opportunity would be in 2020. Bachmann would be in her early 60s, a prime age of running again for president. But before that, a run for the Senate or governor of Minnesota should be considered. Bachmann's political career is not over.
Sources: Palin On Michele Bachmann: It's Not Her Time, RealClearPolitics, Jan 2, 2012
Michele Bachmann Drops Out of Presidential Race, ABC News, Jan 4, 2011
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