Within the first 24 hours of entering the race, Rick Perry snatched Michele Bachmann's base right out from under her. One minute, she had the religiosity vote, and the next minute, she didn't. Unless Bachmann can reclaim at least some of that vote, her campaign is over.
About the only thing she can do is try to run even further to the right and hope that Perry messes up. To mix a metaphor, if she can turn his right flank, she might at least stop the bleeding.
It is, therefore, not surprising to see that Bachmann is talking more and more about God and his arch-enemy, the United States government.
"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?'" Bachmann, a third-term Minnesota congresswoman, told a crowd in Sarasota that the St. Petersburg Times estimated contained around 1,000 people.
"Listen to the American people, because the American people are roaring right now," Bachmann continued. "They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending."
Now, I'm not necessarily opposed to trying to read portents. Portents can be fun. You can bet the ancient Greeks would have had a field day interpreting the spacecraft that blew up over Texas right before Bush invaded Iraq.
As they stand, however, Bachmann's comments are schizophrenic. God was speaking through a hurricane, and wondering if anybody gets it. Then, somehow the voice of God conflates with that of the American people who are "roaring" about government spending?
Heavens sakes alive! We've got a real-live portent going on in Texas (again) and Bachmann needs to pay attention. God has been baking Texas with a drought ever since Perry became governor because God is mad at Perry for stiffing the poor.
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