Pawlenty Is Right: Bachmann Has Accomplished Very Little
All over America, newspapers and magazines are reporting on Tim Pawlenty’s criticism of his rival for the GOP nomination, Michele Bachmann. “Her record of accomplishment in Congress is non-existent,” he said Sunday on Meet the Press. I suppose a campaign barb is newsworthy. But the bigger story here is the fact that Bachmann, who is rising in the Iowa polls, does in fact have a resume that’s absurdly thin for someone seeking the White House. Ponder its shortcomings: she has no foreign policy experience, no executive experience, has never sponsored or co-sponsored a bill that became law, has never chaired a committee or subcommittee, and cannot even claim notable success outside the public sector like Mitt Romney.
Why this doesn’t bother her supporters? They’re choosing the person who’ll preside over the Armed Forces, negotiate with foreign leaders, manage the bureaucracy, shepherd legislation through Congress, execute the nation’s laws, and otherwise fulfill the many obligations of the presidency.