Michele Bachmann is Out

With yesterday's result in Iowa, Michele Bachmann has stepped aside and suspended her campaign.

With coming in dead last (Huntsman didn't campaign, so I don't count him in the Iowa "pole positions"), this exit was inevitable. While a good conservative, Bachmann's inexperience in an executive position and recent transition of tone to reciting sound bytes, also led to her exit. Furthermore, history was against Bachmannn; not because she is a woman, but because she is a Representative in Congress. A transition from Congress to the Presidency has not occurred in the United States since James Garfield in 1881. A Congressional Representative not in the leadership of their party, making the transition to the presidency, has never occurred, so history was heavily stacked against Bachmann.

Bachmann can continue to serve in Congress and should seek re-election in 2012, even if her district is radically changed, as a result of Minnesota losing a Congressional seat after reapportionment. The fact that Dayton has been gunning to cut/slice up her district combined with her passionate brand of conservatism was enough impetus for her to seek the Presidency, and with this run, Michele Bachmann had nothing to lose. If winning re-election in 2012, by 2014, she should consider running for the governorship in Minnesota, against Mark Dayton.

And then there were six...