Michele Bachmann: Americans Aren't Ready for a Female President

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Michele Bachmann: Americans Aren't Ready for a Female President
Friday, February 21, 2014 08:12 AM

By: Sandy Fitzgerald

Many Americans aren't ready for a female president, but there was a "cachet about having an African-American president because of guilt," says Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, who was the only female GOP presidential candidate in 2012.

“People don’t hold guilt for a woman," the Minnesota lawmaker and tea party favorite told syndicated columnist Cal Thomas in an interview.  People will vote for women for just about any other political office, Bachmann said, but "I don't think there is a pent-up desire" for a female president.

Bachmann has less than a year left finishing out her fourth and final term in office.

President Barack Obama won in 2008 and 2012, Bachmann said, because he was "new and different." But presumptive Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who has not publicly announced her intentions for 2016, has been in the public eye for years and is less likely to attract the attention Obama did, Bachmann said.

But if Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee, Bachmann said the Republican candidate should focus on the issues surrounding the former first lady and secretary of state.

"Two things that need to be done: Remind people [Clinton] is seeking to become commander in chief [and] how she has operated in the past with these types of responsibilities," said Bachmann. "She was in charge during the Benghazi debacle. If a person reads the Senate Intelligence [Committee] report and the House Foreign Affairs [Committee] report released [last] week, it is damning for Hillary Clinton.”

Clinton "has a real problem when it comes to Benghazi," said Bachmann, noting that she had testified before Congress she was "aware" of the conditions in Benghazi but did not do anything about the growing concerns.

Further, Bachmann called Clinton "the godmother of Obamacare" and said she tried to push a similar plan through when her husband Bill Clinton was the president.

Bachmann also said that Clinton's potential for being the first female president could be overshadowed by Obama's record.

"Effectively, she would be Obama's third and fourth term in office," Bachmann said.

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McCain: Bachmann Wrong, Hillary Would Win If Election Today
Friday, February 21, 2014 06:29 AM

By: Greg Richter

Michele Bachmann is wrong if she thinks Hillary Clinton doesn't have a good chance of winning the presidency in 2016,  Sen. John McCain says.

Bachmann, the Republican congresswoman from Minnesota, told columnist Cal Thomas in an interview published Wednesday that Clinton doesn't hold the same advantage as Barack Obama when he first sought the White House in 2008.

"I think there is a cachet about having an African-American president because of guilt," Bachmann told Thomas. "People don't hold guilt for a woman."

McCain, appearing Thursday on CNN's "Piers Morgan Live," disagreed.

"I would bet my friend, as much as I hate to admit it … that if the election were tomorrow Hillary Clinton would most likely be the president of the United States," McCain said, the he admitted, "She wouldn't be my candidate."

There are many more women today in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Representatives than just a few years ago, he said. There are also many more women serving as mayors and as governors.

"I just have a very different reading of the American political scene," McCain said.

McCain also said he condemns rocker Ted Nugent's recent description of Obama as a "subhuman mongrel." Texas gubernatorial GOP frontrunner Greg Abbott has taken Nugent off his campaign events, but hasn't condemned the comments.

"It's a free country, but that kind of language doesn't really have any place in our political dialogue, McCain said. "It harms the Republican Party. I'm sure that it harmed that candidate there. And it should be obviously repudiated."

"I am a severe critic of President Obama, particularly on national security, but that kind of language … he's the president of the United States. He's been elected and re-elected. I believe we should treat him respectfully."

On the troubles of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, McCain said he was hopeful.

Christie, a moderate Republican like McCain, is still a serious potential presidential candidate despite the Bridge-gate scandal that has engulfed members of his administration since early January. The lane closure scandal has caused his poll numbers drop from a clear GOP favorite for the White House to middle of the pack.

McCain noted he survived his own scandal in the late 1980s as a member of the "Keating Five," during the Savings and Loan crisis to become the Republican presidential nominee against Obama in 2008.

"I'm hoping he'll continue to improve and regain his status," McCain said. "But you never know in one of these things when another shoe is going to drop."