editorial

Rachel MorganA year from now, Americans will cast their votes for president. Already, Republicans are gearing up for the 2012 election. This one could prove to be weirder than the last.

In 2008, Barack Obama faced aging war hero John McCain and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. McCain is a man one can admire on many counts, but Palin was a full-blown circus act. McCain chose her as his running mate because she attracted the Christian right with her conservative family values. Comedians feasted on her goofy pronouncements about geo-politics and the economy. The rest you know.

This year, evangelical Christians – and the Tea Party – have found a new Joan of Arc to carry their banner in place of Palin. Her name is Michele Bachmann. She’s a 55-year-old congresswoman from Minnesota who has the same telegenic looks that helped make Palin a favourite of Fox News. But she’s a lot more driven – a kind of Palin on steroids. Why is Bachmann so popular with religious conservatives? Because she believes she was chosen by God to dedicate her life to fighting secular humanism and restoring Christian family values to government. Bachmann is against reproductive rights. She believes gays can be “cured” with “reparative therapy.” She wants to reinstate the ban on gays serving openly in the military. She wants creationism taught in schools.

Evangelical Christians – and the Tea Party – have found a new Joan of Arc to carry their banner in place of Palin

Bachmann is one of 16 people who launched campaigns in the summer to become the next Republican presidential nominee. In August, Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll, which is seen as a springboard for Republican candidates. She narrowly beat 76-year-old Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a libertarian who has been called the “intellectual godfather” of the Tea Party. Between them, they collected about 56 percent of the votes. No one else came close. Since then, Bachman’s popularity has dipped, possibly because Tea Partiers and white evangelicals ultimately have trouble seeing a woman in the oval office. Texas Governor Rick Perry is now the leading candidate. He carries a gun while jogging, wants creationism taught in schools and says same-sex marriage should be banned. He also calls social security a Ponzi scheme and unconstitutional. He’s just as nutty as Bachmann but has the advantage of being male.

Whoever Obama faces will most likely be someone who has the blessing of the Tea Party and Christian fundamentalists. It’s easy to see Perry as the candidate with Bachmann playing the role Palin played last time.

Should GLBT and socially progressive Americans be afraid? Obama’s approval rating has been below 50 per cent for two years – and sinking. He will be vulnerable. But some pundits say not enough voters will take any of the Republican candidates seriously.

On the other hand, if enough disillusioned Obama supporters stay home instead of voting, Obama will be in trouble. In that case, we will discover what America with the Tea Party in the White House would look like. Won’t that be fun.