Behind a GOP Contender's Iowa Surge

[Casino67]

WSJ:

MARION, Iowa—To understand why presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has surged in Iowa, watch when she is handed a baby. On a recent stop here, she took off her bracelet, dangled it before the infant and cradled him while he teethed on the pearls.

During another campaign appearance, Ms. Bachmann climbed down from the stage to take the hands of a woman who asked a question, holding them as she answered. Meeting a teenager with Down syndrome, the Minnesota congresswoman swept him up in a hug, then signed his T-shirt.

Ms. Bachmann has built a national reputation for hard-line conservative stances—most recently, she bucked her own Republican leaders to oppose the debt-ceiling compromise—and her repeated vow to retire President Barack Obama.

But here in Iowa, the tough rhetoric is sheathed in a soft presentation. Ms. Bachmann hugs, dances and offers girl talk on the campaign trail—"That's a rockin' shirt!"—as if baking her steely conservatism into a warm apple pie.



//The only way I can see to get article is to Google the headline and find a link to the article//

[Saltbag]

The concept of a polarized Obama vs. Bachmann election would be fascinating. The "independents" would be looking so many blocks in each direction they might have to choose a side. I think that situation favors Obama, unfortunately. At present, but that could change.