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Rick Santorum vs Michelle Bachmann

I hadn't thought of the similarities between the two before I read about Santorum trying to claim that Obama follows a different theology than his, which is a christian one. Thus Santorum is basically saying Obama isn't a christian. This shouldn't matter. In fact, the Constitution stipulates that there should be no religious tests for public office. Anyway. This this got me thinking about Bachmann:

As James Joyner said in his post this morning, we will learn soon enough whether Santorum’s brand of Christianist Theocracy resonates with Republican primary voters. One of two things will happen. Either his religious zealotry and Michele Bachmann level of craziness on public policy will turn voters off so much that they’ll run away from him screaming. Or, his populist message will resonate with voters so strongly that he’ll end up riding a wave all the way to Tampa in August. If that happens, I have no doubt what the result will be in the General Election some three months later, the question at that point will be whether Republicans will recognize the mistake they made and begin the return to sanity that could have started with a swift and hearty rejection of the Bush 43 era. Only time will tell.

I think his Bachmann level of craziness will give Romney the nomination. But he is giving Romney a run for his money, something Bachmann couldn't do. Which prompts me to ask, why couldn't Bachmann do what Santorum is doing now? Did Santorum simply benefit from a better news cycle, one in which the contraception issue come up and he was allow to go off the religious deep end? From what I can remember, Bachmann said just as much crazy religious stuff as Santorum has. So maybe people just weren't that interested in that stuff until recently.

I think a small part of it could be that conservatives don't want to be reminded of past failures. Rick Perry was too much like Bush. Bachmann could be too much like Palin for their liking. That would be hard to quantify.

Perhaps Bachmann just wasn't as organized as Santorum. Despite similar messages she just couldn't get her's out as effectively as Santorum has. Or maybe it's just as simple as Santorum being the new flash in that pan that will fade out like the others have. Maybe it has nothing to do with their message. I think these three reasons are the most likely. And like the other flashes in the pan I can't wait for Santorum to burn out. He provides good blog fodder. But he is completely ridiculous and shouldn't come close to being a presidential candidate, much less any public office on any level.

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