Michele Bachmann

I spent an evening with about 100 others listening to Michele Bachmann and her vision for America’s future. Like most of the others in attendance, I’m still kicking tires in this GOP primary. Bachmann is certainly on my short list.

There’s nothing at all wrong with her message. In fact, I believe her message appeals to anyone with common sense. It’s a message of smaller government, of living within our means, of getting back to the founding principles. Bachmann’s “connect” problem has been this thin wall between her and her audience. It’s hard to quantify. To say that she’s plastic would be going too far but it’s there, whatever “it” is.

With the press there’s a complaint that she can be evasive. Their frustration is palpable when they feel she has not answered their questions directly. It seems her campaign staff has tried to avoid her stumbling so much that it has inevitably led to more stumbles.

Wishing Elvis a happy birthday on the anniversary of his death is no big deal in the grand scheme of things. However, it reveals a campaign that seems to be trying too hard. If you don’t know much about Elvis, that’s perfectly fine. What isn’t fine is to pretend that you do.

Perhaps it was the exhaustion of the Florida debate, but on this particular campaign stop in the Nashville area, it was Bachmann unguarded. There was no façade, no script, no handlers, no press. What we got was Bachmann unplugged, and it was quite refreshing.

If the Tea Party was looking for a voice, Bachmann certainly provided one. She was direct and to the point. “Obama is toast,” she told the delighted crowd, adding that the only question that remained was which Republican would take his place. “We have to get this right,” she correctly insisted. No more compromising. No more holding our noses and voting for a moderate just because the media tell us independents won’t go for a conservative.

Having MC’d a rally for Bachmann at the foot of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., and having watched her for months on the campaign trail, this was Bachmann at her best. It was the unvarnished truth. No sugar-coating, no placating, no politicking.

Unfortunately, one of her best days on the campaign trail was hidden from public view. We had planned a whole day of Bachmann, starting with a rally in Memphis spearheaded by the Memphis Tea Party and our radio affiliate, WMPS The Point. They had already reserved a rally point along with police escort, massive publicity, the whole nine yards, when the campaign came in and pulled the plug. They claimed it would cost the campaign $20,000 when the people I talked with said it wouldn’t cost them a dime.

Ditto for Nashville. She was supposed to fly from Memphis to Nashville for another mid-afternoon rally. After that she was supposed to join me for an hour of free publicity to over 100 stations across the country, then head to the aforementioned private event. All that was cancelled too.

I hate to say it, but I saw the same thing happen to Fred Thompson. Political handlers love to say no. Once Fred turned himself over to the professional campaigners, they made him so inaccessible that his campaign died on the vine.

We’re witnessing the same thing happening to Michele Bachmann. Her campaign staff has killed her campaign and now they’ve apparently given up on her just as she’s hitting her stride. It really is a shame.

If she’s looking to save money, she might want to consider ditching her campaign staff.