So, there was apparently a minor kerfuffle in Iowa when Michele Bachmann claimed that an appearance at a family reunion caused her to be late to a GOP event in Waterloo, Iowa, at which Rick Perry and Rick Santorum were also present. Then it came to light that she never attended that family reunion. Now her campaign is saying, "Oh, you meant that family reunion! No, no, we were talking about an entirely different one!" To wit:
“She was visiting with family. Her husband and daughters went to one reunion and she met with family members at a different location," [campaign spokewoman Alice] Stewart told POLITICO's Molly Ball. "There was a family member that was a shut-in and other family members she met with privately elsewhere. I’m not going to tell you details of who and where she met. She was meeting with family members at a different location. There was more than one family reunion that weekend, more than one family reunion that day. Her husband and kids went to one and she met with family members elsewhere."
Okay, well, this wouldn't really matter, except that I read today that Bachmann has "pattern of saying things she can't back up and wiggling through the ensuing questions without ever acknowledging the falsehood or explaining how she came to say it in the first place." [Politico, Salon]
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Good news for incumbent Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who has run afoul of the Tea Party frequently enough to have the modifier "embattled" added to his name: the new Mason-Dixon poll has him up 10 points over Rep. Jason Chaffetz in a Republican primary match-up. (None of that will matter if Hatch fails to survive the state party convention that felled his former colleague, Bob Bennett.) [Taegan Goddard]
"I saw a bit of Obama's speech in Iowa a few minutes ago, and it reminded me of the micro-debate over whether Obama knows how to craft a public narrative. I think the answer is clearly yes: it's just not the one that his lefty critics want him to craft." Also: "...employment is plainly not his main theme even if it permeates everything he says." Well, good luck with all than, then! [Kevin Drum]
Karl Rove is really, really sure -- like, for real guys, honest! -- that Rick Perry's entrance into the race isn't going to close the door on future 2012 entrants. Rather, he thinks that Perry's entrance into the race will galvanize other would-be contenders to bite the bullet and jump in. I'm sure that this isn't just wishful thinking from a guy who really, really despises Rick Perry, at all. [Politico]
"While I'm amused by photos of Republican candidates enjoying corndogs, I think the right way to appreciate them is one that doesn't imply anything discreditable about the corndog-eater. The fact that it looks vaguely like the eater is fellating a penis should merely be seen as a silly coincidence." I agree with Neil Sinhababu. Let's face it, the whole politico-eats-a-corndog game is all about the photographers on hand trying to get the least flattering shot possible. Let's just admit that. [Donkeylicious]
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