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Bachmann's Debt Ceiling Stance Strengthens GOP for 2012

Michele Bachmann’s decision to vote against raising the debt ceiling, and to campaign on that stance, may turn out to be a decisive event in the race for the GOP nomination–and the presidency.

Whether that was the right policy for the economy is still an open question–especially since the U.S. credit rating was downgraded anyway. But it was the right decision for American politics, because it assures voters a real choice in 2012.

2012 is about the future. (Bachmann campaign)

The turning point in the 2008 contest was the financial crisis of mid-September–and the decision by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to support the massive taxpayer bailout of Wall Street. That may or may not have been the right economic decision; economists are still debating that, and plenty of conservatives supported the bailouts. But it robbed American voters of the chance to choose an alternative to Barack Obama’s big government philosophy.

By the time McCain arrived at the first presidential debate on September 26, 2008, there was little apparent difference between the two candidates on the substantive question of the role and size of government. Only Sarah Palin managed to articulate an unabashed defense of the free market–one that held Wall Street accountable but also emphasized personal responsibility rather than the need for government intervention in the economy.

As House Majority Leader Eric Cantor notes in a must-read interview in the Wall Street Journal, the 2012 election will offer voters the debate over the role of government that voters deserved–and which the GOP was too timid to offer–in 2008. Any Republican candidate, including those now positioning themselves as moderates, would be better than Obama on that question–but who would best articulate the Republican position?

Michael Barone, writing in the New York Post, notes that most Republican candidates failed to articulate a clear position in the debt ceiling debate. But he contends that those who voted no–Bachmann and Ron Paul–may have weakened the GOP’s 2012 chances by “tak[ing] positions that no president could ever take.” Barone believes then-Senator Obama hurt himself in the long run by voting against raising the debt ceiling in 2006.

The key to Barone’s argument is that “anyone who gets to be president will at some point be compelled to call for raising the debt ceiling.” It’s precisely that assumption that American voters–who largely opposed the recent debt ceiling increase–want to see questioned.

It’s not that voters want a candidate who will never raise the debt ceiling; rather, voters want a candidate who does not see raising the debt ceiling as inevitable.

No doubt, Democrats and the mainstream media will try to portray Bachmann’s position as irresponsible, as a form of economic “terrorism.” But they’ll abuse anyone who wins the GOP nomination. The task for Republicans is to pick a nominee who is not afraid to withstand the assault, and to articulate a clear alternative to the big-government policies of the past several decades–without otherwise alienating independent voters.

It’s not a question of “moving right” in the primary; fiscal conservatism is closer to the mainstream than the media will allow. Rather, the question is who can rally voters to the sort of alternatives the Tea Party has encouraged–and which America needs.

Spending–not the debt ceiling–is the heart of the debate. But Bachmann’s clear stance on the debt ceiling has thrown down a challenge to the rest of the GOP field–which is stronger for it.


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