The XX Factor

Sharron Angle, Part Two?

TPMDC runs with rumors that Michele Bachmann might be running for Senate in 2012, which goes a long way toward explaining why she spends roughly 99 percent of her waking hours saying nutty stuff on cable news networks. As the Sharron Angle campaign demonstrated, being willing to go the distance in shifty-eyed right-wing nuttery is an excellent fundraising technique .  Just show up on Fox News, ask, “Now, we’re not saying either way, but we just want to know, why do you never see the President eat bacon ?” and watch the checks roll in.

Of course, what Angle also proved is that fundraising doesn’t equal winning a campaign.  Especially not in a genuine swing state like Minnesota during a presidential election against an incumbent with a 60 percent approval rating.  It’s absolutely true that if Bachmann runs, she’ll get an immense amount of national attention.  I don’t think the prior election cycle burned up media hunger for women, especially attractive women spouting all sorts of head-spinning right-wing populist paranoia.  It is, after all, endlessly entertaining.  But the more attention paid to the crazy stuff you say, the more swing voters who usually tune out until a week before the election are bound to take notice, and that cannot help Bachmann in the long run.