With Sarah Palin's aspirations all but destroyed, Michele Bachmann jumps up to quickly take her place while the political corpse is yet still warm.

"I think I'll put the knife right there between her grizzly shoulder blades."

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Sarah Palin, the reigning heroine of many social conservatives, has given few signals that she will make a presidential bid. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa caucuses in 2008 on the strength of his appeal to evangelicals and other constituencies, has mostly offered reasons for not joining the race.
So into that space has come Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

“It isn’t that I was born thinking I had to be president,” she said, leaning in and talking softer than she does on television or at Tea Party rallies. “I’m getting a lot of encouragement to run from people across the country. I don’t believe this is a rash decision.”

Do you think she is talking about real "people," or just the voices in her head?

“If Congresswoman Bachmann gets in, she has the potential to appeal to a lot of people who might have gone for Governor Palin,” Gov. Terry E. Branstad of Iowa said in an interview. “Imagine if they both got in. That could make it really interesting.”

If Bachmann and Palin BOTH get into the race this will be the most entertaining GOP primary in history!  They could put the debates on Pay-Per-View and have enough to finance the ENTIRE Republican campaign.

Of course it would still not do them any good because by the time this Republican three ring circus was over and they finally swept up the last of the sawdust, and shoveled out the remaining elephant shit, the American people would never vote whichever clown was left standing into the White House.

But the question remains, if Palin decides to finally use that common sense she is always bragging about and skips this nomination process, does Bachmann truly have what it takes to wear her mantle?

Ms. Bachmann would have substantial obstacles to overcome. She has already made some high-profile gaffes — including declaring late last month that the opening shots of the Revolutionary War took place in New Hampshire, not Massachusetts — that raise questions about her preparation for the scrutiny of a national campaign.

Her Congressional office has experienced considerable turnover, including five chiefs of staff in the last four years. A former chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party, Ron Carey, resigned after five months in the post. He told reporters in Minneapolis that he would not support her presidential bid, saying, “She’s not going to be an electable candidate for us.”

Well I guess that answers THAT question.

"The Teabaggers Queen is dead!  Long live the Queen of Teabaggers!"

Update: Andrew Sullivan honored me with quote of the day. Sweet!