How Michele Bachmann’s Surge Reshuffles the GOP Presidential Race - Mike Murphy

http://swampland.time.com/2011/06/30/how-michele-bachmanns-surge-reshuffles-the-gop-presidential-race/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fswampland+%28TIME%3A+Swampland%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

For Romney, a two-way contest with Bachmann is a strategic dream come true. (Disclaimer: I worked for Romney in 2002.) It would draw attention and money away from his two real rivals, Huntsman and Pawlenty, and give him a simple race against a candidate who would remove much of the ambivalence many big-league Republicans still harbor about him. Make no mistake: faced with the terrifying prospect of nominating Bachmann and handing the presidency to Obama, the Republican establishment would rally hard and fast behind Romney. And while a unified Republican establishment in full combat mode cannot compete with the Tea Party when it comes to making cardboard Uncle Sam hats, GOP Inc. can easily crush a candidate like Bachmann over the full series of primaries

 

Murphy hits the nail on the head - Bachmann is not going to get anywhere near a ticket for the GOP. She doesn't strike me quite kamikaze enough to mount a third party effort, though she will try to exact her pound of flesh in the form of base-pleasing red meat issues from whoever is the nominee in return for her endorsement.