With debate leaders underplaying conflict, Michele Bachmann takes center stage to give an over-the-top performance worthy of Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard.”
After Newt Gingrich twice accuses her of getting facts wrong, Bachmann harrumphs that “it’s outrageous to continue to say over and over through the debates that I don’t have my facts right when, as a matter of fact, I do. I am a serious candidate for president of the United States and my facts are accurate.”
(“You’re Norma Desmond, you used to be big in pictures.” “I am big, it’s the pictures that got small.”)
The former frontrunner, with wide-eyed stare, by tangling not only with Gingrich but Ron Paul as well, is reprising the refusing-to-face-reality role that has marked her five years in Congress, starting with a bit part at her first State of the Union, when she groped George W. Bush and did not let go.
A Minneapolis TV station reported that Bachmann “put her hand on Bush’s shoulder. However, it wasn’t just a tap. After he signed an autograph for her, Bachmann grabbed the president…
“After signing the autograph for Bachmann, the president turns away, but Bachmann doesn’t let go. In fact, the video shows her reaching out to get a better grip on him.
“Bush then leans over to kiss another congresswoman, but Bachmann is still holding on…”