An MSNBC host praised Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann? Yes it happened, but at the expense of another MSNBC favorite target, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
On his Tuesday program, MSNBC’s Martin Bashir asked network contributor Pat Buchanan if calling Bachmann “the thinking person’s Sarah Palin” was a fair characterization.
“Now you have mentioned Michele Bachmann — she really gave a stellar performance last night,” Bashir said. “Do you think that she is now the thinking person’s Sarah Palin?”
Buchanan didn’t take on Bashir’s question directly. However, he did heap praise on Bachmann for her performance in Monday night’s GOP presidential debate.
“I’m a friend of Sarah Palin’s — let me tell you,” Buchanan said. “Well, let me say this –- she came on stunningly and she is charismatic. She is personable. She’s attractive. She’s very friendly. But what she showed last night is that this is a highly intelligent woman who is very crisp and who probably is the one person speaking last night that John King didn’t signal, ‘Can you please hurry up?’”
Buchanan added Bachmann was certainly a threat in Iowa and could be tough in South Carolina as well – both early primary states.
“So I think that she came off startling well of the newcomers who introduced themselves,” Buchanan said. “I think that she clearly did the best. I think that she now becomes, Martin, the first choice right now to become the social issue, pro-life Tea Party challenger in the primaries, and we will see if Rick Perry gets in, if Sarah Palin gets in. But right now, she has a wide avenue to go towards the nomination. I would put her down as almost equal as a favorite for the Iowa caucuses, and a real contender in South Carolina.”
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