Michele Bachmann Thanks Sarah Palin For Her Contributions To… Something

It is widely accepted that, in conservative mythology, Michele Bachmann is the most moderate member of the Bachmann/Sean Hannity/Sarah Palin triumvirate. So it was a bit surprising that of the three it was Bachmann who managed to say the most questionable thing in tonight’s special edition of Hannity, thanking her comrade-in-arms for “breaking the barrier by being a woman as the vice president on the ticket.” What barrier is she talking about?

The comment came as a response to a question from Hannity on the future, asking whether either of them were considering a run for the presidency. Palin, of course, would take the top of the ticket; while Bachmann has a few months on Palin’s half-term as governor, the former has no executive experience. Palin replied with a folksy “that sounds kinda cool!” and her usual string of buzz words. Bachmann took the opportunity to thank her running mate for “breaking the barrier” as a female vice presidential candidate. Except it’s completely unclear what barrier, exactly, Bachmann was referring to.

Was she thanking Palin for being the first female vice presidential candidate for a major party? Because Geraldine Ferraro would have a serious bone to pick with that statement. Every female politician since Ferraro, regardless of politics, has benefited from her huge step forward. Erasing her major footprint in the history of American female politicians or, worse, handing the legacy to Palin transcends the absent-minded and borders on offensive. Or maybe Bachmann was referring to Palin’s potential run as first female candidate for president, in which case America has been there, done that in much more impressive ways than Palin could hope to achieve. It’s possible Bachmann was restricting her scope to the Republican Party, where she would be correct in stating that Palin as a vice presidential candidate was a first, but given the rise of independents and decreasing popularity of strict party identification, would that denomination even matter?

Whatever her intent, she did a good job of making the comment context-free to keep us all guessing.

Watch the clip below:

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.