Bachmann’s carefully chosen words frame GOP presidential message

Over the weekend, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) visited the critical primary state of South Carolina, where she incorporated into her appearances two themes that have been central to her message since aides acknowledged that a presidential run might be in the works.

Both of these — attacks on the president and the process — give a good indication of how she might cast a run over the next year.

{mosads}The President

Bachmann’s appearances are often marked by sharp attacks on President Obama — both on policy and personal fronts.

Healthcare legislation is the most frequent target of her wrath. While talking to a Republican women’s group in South Carolina last weekend, she called the law “the crown jewel of socialism.” Blunting the impact of that “crown jewel” seems to be her clarion call for 2012.

Last week, she told conservative talk-radio host Steve Rosenblum that a litmus test for any 2012 nominee would be his or her absolute commitment to felling healthcare legislation.

“What I think we need to have in the 2012 nominee is a strong, courageous constitutional-conservative who will be willing to come in and make the decisions that will be very difficult ones that will have to be made, but they will be bold enough to do that, and, by example, I would mean the full repeal of ObamaCare.”

Conveniently, she passes her own litmus test with flying colors. The full repeal of ObamaCare happens to be the compelling force in her political agenda. She told the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) earlier this month: “Repealing it is the driving motivation of my life. The first political breath I take every morning is to repeal ObamaCare.”

But Bachmann’s attacks frequently extend beyond policy, and her remarks at a Republican fundraiser in South Carolina on Saturday were no exception.

“[Obama] is bending down to dictators, and he is brown-nosing the elites that are in Europe, and he’s babying the jihadists who are following Shariah-compliant terrorism,” she said.

Then there are two personal controversies that have enveloped Obama since he became a major political figure — his religion and his birthplace. While mainstream conservatives like Karl Rove have urged the GOP to accept his citizenship and professed Christianity, Bachmann hasn’t discouraged such chatter.

Last week, she told ABC that Obama’s birthplace “isn’t for me to state; that’s for the president to state” — a response that generated more questions than answers. 

She also co-signed a letter to the president last year that attacked him for insufficient religious rhetoric.

“In your speech in Indonesia, you mentioned being unified under one flag. The Pledge of Allegiance to our flag says that we are ‘one nation under God.’ As president of the United States, you are our representative to the rest of the world. By misrepresenting things as foundational as the Declaration of Independence and our national motto, you are not only doing a disservice to the people you represent, you are casting aside an integral part of American society.”

Thus, Bachmann has shown she’s willing to supplement her attacks on Obama’s policies with questions about his personal story and character. Most potential 2012 candidates are willing to do the first; very few the second and third.

The Process

Bachmann frequently dismisses the idea that voters should be focusing on particular candidates, even as she visits those voters in Iowa and New Hampshire in efforts that would seem to be geared toward advancing a run.

Last month, she told the Minnesota Post: “We’re going to have a deep bench for 2012, I have no doubt. … But the main focus right now needs to be on the fact that we cannot afford a second term of Barack Obama.”

She gave a similar answer when Fox’s Greta Van Susteren asked if she was running. Bachmann answered: “I think the next year shouldn’t be about, necessarily, who is the personality? That’s why it’s not about my personal ambition, but it is about making sure that people know what the issues are.”

Then, in one of the more clever deflections of the cycle, she told ABC that her purpose in visiting Iowa and South Carolina was to ensure voters there weren’t focusing too heavily on the candidates visiting them. “My focus is really to keep the voters’ focus on the issues.”

She added: “I’m interested, primarily, in making sure that for the next year we’re talking about the issues that the country is facing. … I’m trying to set the table, if you will, because these voters are vital in these early states.”

Finally, there’s evidence that Bachmann’s approach might be working. 

In CPAC’s annual presidential straw poll, she placed above former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and in a straw poll conducted at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee’s annual meeting, she ranked fifth among 20 names.

Heinze, the founder of GOP12.com, is a member of staff at The Hill.  Find his column, GOP residential Primary, at digital-staging.thehill.com