Michele Bachmann Is Not Crazy...

The media would have you believe Michele Bachmann is a "flake"—see here for examples—but Mark McKinnon says anyone who buys into that is in for a big surprise. "Bachmann is not crazy, but the media are if they continue to view her as such," he writes at the Daily Beast. Her fundraising ability is "off the charts"—she was the top fundraiser in the House during the 2010 elections—and her New Hampshire debate performance showed a woman with considerable "depth, clarity, and strength of conviction."

That performance created "shockwaves"—and, in response, ever more vicious attacks. But the truth is that she's a frontrunner in Iowa, will probably perform well in South Carolina, and is, quite simply, "gonna be a playah." No, McKinnon concludes, "she’s not my kind of candidate. And no one I know supports her. But I know enough to know I shouldn’t judge American voters and candidates by my own distorted circle. ... And I also know enough to know that Michele Bachmann has been underestimated and treated unfairly by the mainstream press." (More Michele Bachmann 2012 stories.)