Obama Could Face a Challenge from the Right

Among Republicans, Michele Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll

Which of the Republican candidates can stand up against today’s president of the United States? The number of candidates willing to contend with Barack Obama for the White House is growing, and so is the competition among the Democrat’s enemies.

During the non-official primaries in the state of Iowa, the star of the ultraconservative tea party, Michele Bachmann, outflanked the above-average Republicans who would like to contend for the White House; however, her competition may be another conservative — Texas Governor Rick Perry.

“This was a wonderful down payment on taking the country back,” said Michele Bachmann to her supporters after it became clear that she received the majority of the votes. As the first woman in history to win the Iowa Straw Poll, Bachmann was a welcomed guest among many popular American political shows. There, she was indefatigably repeating that the main topic of this election is the economy, the economy and, once more, the economy.

For planners and sponsors of the “Grand Old Party,” it is vitally important now to find the one and only candidate who will compete with Obama by putting a halter on Americans’ dissatisfaction with the present economy. It’s not an easy job. In the upcoming presidential election, the party is putting forward a number of candidates, among which there is no obvious leader so far. Last time, exactly the same “polyphony” let the Republicans down. John McCain, clearly, was not a leader capable of pulling together his supporters and attracting new ones. The Iowa Straw Poll, although an unofficial indicator of the election results, remains an important litmus test showing the mood of the Republican voters. According to one of the many versions, the poll was named “straw poll” because straw helps to figure out which way the wind blows by carrying dry grass. For example, in 1999 the winner of the poll was George W. Bush, who then worked in the Oval Office for eight years.

In recent years, the political spectrum in the Republican Party has been changing before our eyes. The neoconservatives, who were leading during the George W. Bush presidency, gave up their positions. On the scene now is the populist tea party — well-organized, influential and, most importantly, eager to take control of Washington. All Republicans, even the moderate ones, can’t ignore the pressure from the right wing. In particular, the conservatives have become a force that pushed the party’s representatives on Capitol Hill to an uncompromising position on raising the national debt ceiling. That almost brought the country to a technical default, just a step away from the abyss. The problem here is not even in the economy, which was mentioned so many times by Bachmann, but in the fundamental unwillingness of the right-wing populists to give at least an inch to President Obama, whose views are almost diametrically opposed to their own. This means that during this year we will see many more battles in Washington.

And Michele Bachmann, a true representative of the tea party, will play a very significant role. She is often compared to another favorite of the average American — Sarah Palin, who together with McCain in 2008 had tried to conquer the political Olympus. Nevertheless, there is a significant difference between them. If the former boss of Alaska prefers to solve problems with cavalry assault, Bachmann, who has been working in the House of Representatives for five years, is already well acquainted with Washington’s ins and outs. However, this doesn’t prevent her from taking liberties with facts in her statements and thus being repeatedly caught by her political rivals. For instance, once she said that the swine flu outbreak first happened during the presidency of Democrat Jimmy Carter, and supposedly, there is some connection between this party and the infection. Bachmann immediately was caught on her ignorance of history: The outbreak was recorded during the presidencies of Republicans Gerald Ford and George W. Bush.

However, the tea party voters are ready to forgive such lapses of their darling by justifying them with her sincere dislike for the Democrats, as if to say that all the ills come from them, even the swine flu. The Iowa Straw Poll results speak for themselves: Bachmann received 28.6 percent of the vote. Behind her is Congressman Ron Paul, who collected 27.7 percent; however, this interesting politician with a large number of supporters is unlikely to become a promising candidate for the presidency. Besides, he is not widely accepted by Republicans and at times is viewed as voicing too exotic ideas, such as the U.S. withdrawal from all international organizations or elimination of the Federal Reserve System. On the other hand, during the last election, Ron Paul showed very good results; however, most political analysts agree that for Paul the way to the Oval Office is closed. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who collected 13.6 percent of the vote, also refused to participate in the elections.

However, Mitt Romney, who was considered one of the main contenders in the presidential race, won only 3.4 percent. This was the second time fighting for the former Massachusetts governor, but apparently, he is not lucky this time either. Romney is a politician with perspectives and a good businessman, but he professes the Mormon faith. Christian fundamentalists, who make up an important part of the Republican electorate, don’t like that.

Dearest to their hearts is another candidate who was not on the ballot of the Iowa Straw Poll due to technical reasons. Texas Governor Rick Perry announced his intention to fight for the White House just last Saturday; hence, his name didn’t appear on the list of candidates. Nevertheless, this politician already has many supporters. They just put his name on the ballot and gave him enough weight in this case with 4.3 percent. Perry is known as a very conservative politician who favors tax cuts and opposes abortion and gay marriage. So, it turns out that the main battle in the Republican camp will unfold on the right flank. Will it be Perry to repeat the success of another Texas governor, George W. Bush? Only time will tell. However, his announcement in the presidential race is a serious bid which can’t be written off.

Reference

Michele Bachmann (née Amble) was born in 1956 in Waterloo, Iowa. Later, her family, which has Norwegian roots, moved to Minnesota. As a teenager, Michele was a supporter of the Democratic Party, but during her college years she became a Republican. In 1980, she participated in the election campaign of Ronald Reagan. In 2000, Bachmann was working in the Senate of Minnesota, and in 2006 she took her place in the U.S. House of Representatives, thus becoming the first female Republican elected from that state. On Capitol Hill, she organized a union of tea party supporters.