COMMENTARY | Is Rep. Michele Bachmann a little rattled? Does she seem to have gone off the rails somewhat since her weekend victory in Iowa? Could it be that the quick success of Texas Governor Rick Perry, who entered the GOP race just hours before the Ames Straw Poll and who dominated the first national poll he was included in since his announcement, has got her more than a bit worried?
Some might say that the Minnesota Congresswoman was so distracted by the news Tuesday of Perry’s domination of the Rasmussen Reports survey released the same day that it had contributed to her egregious gaffe regarding Elvis Presley’s birthday. In Spartanburg, South Carolina, Bachmann appeared at a rally, getting off of a bus that was playing Elvis’ “Promised Land.” She told the crowd, ” Before we get started, let’s all say ‘Happy Birthday’ to Elvis Presley today.”
It was the 34th anniversary of the legendary singer’s death.
She went on to say “… we thought we would celebrate his birthday as we get started celebrating taking our country back to work.”
The Elvis gaffe aside, later in the day in Greenville, S. C., she pointed out that gas prices had been $1.79 when President Obama took office. ” Under President Bachmann you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again,” Bachmann said. She then stated: “That will happen.”
It is a promise, a statement of assured future fact, over which Rep. Bachmann (or “President” Bachmann) has — or would have — no control. Too many variables, including futures markets and production costs and capacities and competition, play into the price of gasoline for it to be a controllable entity.
So… at the end of the day, the day that Rick Perry was found to lead a Rasmussen Reports poll by 11 points over long-standing national frontrunner Mitt Romney (and over Bachmann by 16 percent), the Minnesota Congresswoman and Tea Party Caucus leader was seen and heard making a gaffe that a simple Google search would have fixed (or a true Elvis fan, as she claimed to be, would have simply known) and promising something she realistically could not deliver.
Such poor campaign decisions play only too well in a media environment eager to catch any politician in a compromising light.
Bachmann supporters could always point out that their favorite candidate was not worried in the least by Perry’s meteoric ascendance. Besides, she has always been prone to embarrassing gaffes and making baseless and/or ill-informed statements .
But it might be best if they went with rattled…