The XX Factor

Remember the Early Obama? Don’t Write Off Bachmann.

I don’t know, Noreen -when you look back at Barack Obama in early 2007, Michele Bachmann doesn’t look like such a long shot. After all, who was he when he announced his own committee back in January ‘07 ? A former state senator (like Bachmann), a relatively new member of Congress (he spent fewer years there than Bachmann has), a guy who’d made a big splash in his party (in his case, with his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention; in hers, it’s her Tea Party activism all the way), and a guy who was taking his fair share of mockery for his l ong-shot Presidential run -even Slate ‘s own Timothy Noah had him on ” Messiah Watch ,” which, while arguably positive coverage, does suggest a certain degree of, well, not quite taking the guy with the completely impolitic name seriously.

But it was his moment. He was riding his wave, and he rode it brilliantly. I think Michele Bachmann at least thinks she sees a similar wave coming in her direction, and she’s not going to let it pass her by.

Photograph by Mark Wilson for Getty Images.