From “Michele Bachmann’s Holy War,” by Matt Taibbi:
At the Republican debate at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire on June 13th, which marked the unofficial beginning of the GOP presidential race, Bachmann wiped the floor with the other candidates — admittedly not a terribly difficult thing to do, given that this may be the sorriest group of presidential hopefuls ever assembled. Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty looked like a bunch of rumpled businessmen in a subway car watching an old lady get mugged, each waiting for the other to do something about it. Bachmann, by contrast, radiated confidence and energy — prompting Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein to wonder if he had been right when he half-jokingly suggested that “Michele Bachmann is the candidate Sarah Palin was supposed to be.”
It seems that there may be some sourcing problems with Taibbi’s piece, and that’s a shame, because I love his writing, and this passage was laugh-out-loud funny. And I fear he may be right about the source of her appeal; if our condescension really makes people like her stronger, it’s a lesson we’d better not ignore.