Bachmann: Natural disasters a warning to D.C.

Speaking in Florida, Michele Bachmann ventures into the risky territory of attributing political motive to natural disasters, calling the events of the last week a wake-up call from above:

She hailed the tea party as being common-sense Americans who understand government shouldn't spend more than it takes in, know they're taxed enough already and want government to abide by the Constitution. Advertisement "I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' Listen to the American people, because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet, and we've got to rein in the spending."

Bachmann's not the first public figure to call a hurricane a message from the Almighty: John Hagee suggested that New Orleans might have triggered Hurricane Katrina with a gay pride parade, while Pat Robertson postulated a connection between Katrina and the debate over abortion. But it's not exactly a mainstream meteorological view.

Bachmann, whose campaign offered scant information about her Florida operation to the St. Petersburg Times, also struggled to draw a meaningful contrast between herself and Rick Perry:

"The difference, I think, is that I've been in Washington over four years, actively fighting against all of the measures that people want gone. If people are looking for someone with a proven track record to trust with the highest office of the land, someone who means what they say and says what they mean, I do that. People who see in me someone who's genuine and authentic and also someone who's a champion, a champion for the principles,'' she said. "We can't just have a manager in that seat."

"We can't just have a manager" is a line Bachmann used against Mitt Romney, who's running as a private-sector solutions man. But is that the best way Bachmann can distinguish herself from the strongly conservative governor of Texas?

This article tagged under: Michele Bachmann

2012 Elections