Sarah Huisenga, a CBS reporter has put her “spin” on a story to make it sound like something it is not. How unusual for a CBS reporter (sarcasm here).
A blogger named Ned Ryun wrote an article saying “It’s time for Michele Bachmann to go”. OK, so one blogger who is (or claims to be) a Tea Party participant thinks Bachmann should quit. Does that rise to the level of the CBS reporter’s title “Tea Party Bites Bachmann”?
Sorry, Sarah, Ned isn’t the National Tea Party spokesman. Your title fundamentally misrepresents the facts.
Bachmann campaign manager Keith Nahigian discloses that Ned is a supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry. With Perry slipping daily in the polls, is it any surprise that he would like to eliminate a candidate like Bachmann who enjoys Tea Party support? “Michele Bachmann enjoys strong support from Americans across party lines and that certainly includes the tea party,” Nahigian said.
Ned is critical of Bachmann for her positions on “social issues and religion”, suggesting that this is a strategic mistake. I know a lot of Tea Party folks. Most of them are in lock step with Bachmann’s positions on these issues. To suggest that the Tea Party is calling for Bachmann to quit is misleading at best.
Other media has now piled on and added fuel to this “story”. It seems as if Perry supporters and the media are teamed up to push Bachmann out. That is the way the system works. Bachmann is a conservative Christian. The media “invents” a negative story line to light a fire. Then, anyone who could benefit from the “story” jumps on and the flames get bigger. The real story line should read, “Perry supporters want Bachmann out of the race to boost his falling poll numbers”. But that wouldn’t be much of a story, would it? And it wouldn’t help get Bachmann pushed out.
I will confess openly that I like Michele Bachmann. While I have not made a final decision in the Republican primary, it is easy to see that Bachmann embodies the values and fiscal policies that line up closely with most Tea Party patriots.
The liberal media wants desperately to steer voters in this primary, if not “choose” the nominee. I don’t think Tea Party folks are ready to let them do that.
***Gordon Howie is a nationally syndicated author and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***
