Michele Bachmann Answers “Calling,” Runs for Presidency

GOP Debates: Michele Bachmann announces her candidacy for president during republican New Hampshire debates.

In a republican debate as boring as last night’s, which will inevitably be remembered as the lacklustre “This or that? Coke or Pepsi?” debate, we were all eagerly anticipating something big – was Rick Santorum going to say something involuntarily racist maybe, or was someone planning on hacking into the backdrop projector and upload a slideshow of Anthony Weiner’s email attachments? This was supposed to be, after all, a savage GOP debate showdown, but it quickly transcended into a political forum where the seven candidates were united in their hexing healthcare, lambasting Obama’s economy package and, Ron Paul aside, desire to outlaw gay marriage and abortion, while advocating less government intervention in people’s lives.

Ultimately, it was up to Michele Bachmann to seize the moment and announce her candidacy for the presidency – the seventh republican candidate to do so and the first, although surely not the last, woman.

“I filed … my paperwork to seek the office of the presidency of the United States today, and I’ll very soon be making my formal announcement,” said Bachmann shortly after the debate kicked off. According to CNN, the Minnesota congresswoman, a born again Christian, made her decision following encouraging words given to her in a “calling” by God, no less.

So confident was Bachmann during the debate, that she even went as far as to label Obama a “one-term president”.

Bachmann has been heralded as a “Sarah Palin with brains,” which isn’t exactly saying a whole lot, but nevertheless reinforces the popularity of riding the crest of the Tea Party wave, something both candidates have used to gain publicity and abrasively criticize Obama.

Ed Rollins, Bachmann’s unofficial running mate, however, was quick to squash such comparisons, telling Politico that a Bachman campaign would be “So much more substantive” – once again setting the standard at perhaps an all-time low.

Her running will nevertheless make for compelling viewing, with both women vying over the same stream of voters from the religious right. Bachmann, however, seems to mean the real-deal: Her campaign video proclaims that “This is the first day of taking our country back,” and she deems that being an Iowa native will give her a clear advantage in the Iowa caucus. Queue Palin to mix together the next populism/smear cocktail.

Photo courtesy of ABC Australia