Just Who Is Bachmann Calling a 'Frugal Socialist'?

COMMENTARY | It now appears that Rep. Michele Bachmann will say just about anything to get elected, even going so far as to call other Republicans "frugal socialists." While speaking at the Family Research Council in Washington on Monday, CNN reported that Bachmann went after her fellow GOP presidential nomination contenders, but lashed out with a pointed barb that she had previously reserved for Democrats and liberals, adding a somewhat complimentary adjective (for distinct categorization?). And her pointed words appeared to be designed for one candidate in particular.

"Unfortunately for too many Republicans, they also aspire to be frugal socialists," she said, then seemed to elaborate with a connection to presidential preference poll frontrunner Mitt Romney. "The reason President Obama and some Republicans can get behind socialized medicine is because they share the same core political philosophy about the purpose of government."

Bachmann, an avowed social conservative, staked out her claim as the most right of the Right long ago in the campaign, calling for the abolition of the EPA, the Energy and Education departments, and eliminating the corporate tax altogether. As the political conversation among conservatives seemed to move further to the right during the 2010 midterms, Bachmann appeared to be ready to seize on a more austere, pay-as-you-go, anti-government-involvement sentiment. Using the somewhat unpopular health care reform legislation as a central theme, she quickly gained support with strong showings in early debates and speeches. But the head of the Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives soon found that the original support for her campaign became diffused among several candidates but primarily filtered over to support for Atlanta businessman Herman Cain and late-to-the-party Texas governor Rick Perry.

At the same time, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the man most under fire for the health care system -- not unlike the national reforms -- put in place in that state while he was governor (with his support), gives the impression of immovability. Throughout the GOP campaign, he has maintained poll numbers in the high teens and twenties, regardless of whether or not he has led or trailed.

So, even though Bachmann did not directly name Romney, she most certainly meant to conjure up an image of the former governor and his "socialist" medicine program while at the same time noting that his brand of conservativism was so in name only (thus the use of the word "frugal," a nod to fiscal responsibility and a way to delineate between a conservative candidate and President Obama, who conservatives have painted as a uncontrolled spendthrift).

"We cannot preserve liberty for ourselves and our posterity if the choice in next November is between a frugal socialist and an out-of-control socialist," she added for good measure, a suggestion that the future was just as bleak if Romney and Obama ultimately become the people's choices in the general election.

Bachmann, who saw her initial rise in the polls fall precipitously after the mid-August entry of Perry into the GOP race, apparently sees an avenue for a resurrection of her campaign via attacking Romney. With Perry -- who, like Bachmann, jumped to the fore in the polls quickly but subsequently slipped behind -- polling just a few percentage points ahead of her and Herman Cain, currently enjoying co-frontrunner status with Romney, besieged by a media firestorm surrounding sexual harassment allegations made a decade ago, there just might be room for a second surge in the polls in time to do well in the Iowa Caucus in January.

Unless, of course, Republicans would rather nominate a "frugal socialist" conservative as opposed to an extreme social conservative...