Well, there’s never been one before, but there will be this year: Rep. Michele Bachmann. Who also happens to be thinking about running for president. And who also happens to have a revenge motive against Rep. Paul Ryan, who is delivering the GOP response. Bachmann will speak after Ryan speaks, who will speak after POTUS speaks. Thus, an endless night of political speechifying. Lovely.
I like Bachmann quite a bit. But this is a mistake. The media narrative of a resurgent Obama driving a fractured GOP before him is all too easy to write, and this speech gives every Journolister and lefty hack in the MSM the opportunity to write it. Chris Matthews is already getting tingles aplenty, no doubt.
One of our newest Tatler bloggers, Andrea Tantaros, was on Fox earlier today, making the point that Bachmann’s presidential run is really about enhancing her stature within the party. Running what amounts to a counter SOTU response may set that effort back a few paces. It should.
Update: That didn’t take long, or even much thought, for Politico’s Ben Smith. Too easy.
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