Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann devoted much of her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) verbally assaulting Hillary Clinton on a number of issues, including the former Secretary of State’s potential campaign for president in 2016.
Bachmann spoke on the final day at CPAC, along with Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich and other prominent Republican leaders, wasting little time in addressing one of her favorite subjects. Bachmann primarily focused on Hillary’s record as Secretary of State, posing a question to the massive throng of conservatives regarding the Benghazi attacks of 2012:
“She’s going to have to answer a very tough question: Did she pick up the phone and call the secretary of defense and the president of the United States and demand that they send a military rescue operation into Benghazi to rescue Americans that were under fire?” Bachmann said.
In addition, Bachmann yet again discussed the eventual possibility of a female president , but claimed that Hillary was in fact the wrong choice. Bachmann did not suggest any possible alternatives in regard to a viable female Republican presidential nominee or mention her own ill-fated run for president in 2012, but did remind us that her party had nominated Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential running mate on the 2008 ticket with Senator John McCain.
Bachmann referenced Palin as a means of addressing the Republican Party’s sizable disconnect with female voters, one of several disenfranchised groups the Republicans have struggled to communicate with on a consistent basis.
Bachmann has been beating the drums about Clinton and the concept of a female president in general for some time. In February, Michele intimated the American voting public might not be willing to place a woman in the White House:
“I think there was a cachet about having an African-American president because of guilt,” Bachmann explained. “People don’t hold guilt for a woman.”
Bachmann also touched on the usual caveats regarding Obamacare and chided the president on immigration policy, although Michele did not mention a “spanking” , as she has done in the past.
Newt Gingrich joined Bachmann in the Hillary bashing, equating her to a “prison guard”, suggesting Clinton is a representative of past governmental failures.
The CPAC seemed to reinforce the idea that the Republican Party is still deeply divided on ideological grounds , and it does not appear the party is making much progress toward mending these fences.
Meanwhile, Bachmann has announced she will not be seeking another term in Congress, but this has not deterred Michele from continuing to pound away at Hillary and President Obama. Does Bachmann have a point in reference to the likelihood of a woman being elected president in the foreseeable future?
