Why Michele Bachmann Is No Sarah Palin

Cover of Newsweek featuring Michele Bachmann, August 15, 2011.
(Photo credit: Newsweek via The Washington Post)

By Chris Cillizza
The Fix blog

August 9, 2011

Excerpts

The controversy over a photo of Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann that appears on the cover of Newsweek magazine this week has drawn comment from people all over the political world.

Except for one: Bachmann herself.

On the campaign trail in Iowa, she said that she hadn’t seen the photo; her campaign team told NBC that the photo was from a lighting session and was not their preferred picture but have issued no formal statement about the image. …

That (relative) silence affirms a simple but important truth of this campaign: Michele Bachmann is no Sarah Palin.

(Close readers of the Fix know that we have already laid out a laundry list of how the two womens’ political approaches differ.) …

Bachmann’s refusal to engage in an extended back and forth over the Newsweek cover coupled with her approach to stories raising questions about her ability to cope with migraine headaches suggests she is taking a very different tack. …

The broader strategic calculation Bachmann appears to have made is that she needs to expand beyond her political base rather than simply deepen her supporters’ connection to her in order to be something more than a sideshow in the nomination fight. …

Full story

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Related reports on this site

Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann.
(Photo credit: Robyn Beck / AFP — Getty Images)

Michele Bachmann vs. Sarah Palin (April 6, 2011)

Bachmann Migraine Hit Piece (July 23, 2011)

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