Michele Bachmann Goes Hand-to-Hand With Arlen Specter
Mary Winter
Assistant Managing Editor
Posted:
01/22/10
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) locked horns with Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) on a Philadelphia radio show Thursday. The subject was Obama's first year in office, and the two politicians kept talking over each other.
Suddenly, Specter told Bachmann: "Don't interrupt me . . . and act like a lady."
It wasn't the smartest choice of words on the senator's part, but the over-reaction by the Republican National Committee has been the best show I've seen since grade school, when one eighth-grader called out another in the cafeteria, and they met after school in the alley for a would-be rumble.
Here's the statement the RNC issued Friday:
"Senator Specter's rude and arrogant comments yesterday were not only disrespectful to Congresswoman Bachmann, but demeaning to all women," sniffed RNC Co-Chairman Jan Larimer in the statement. "Senator Specter should immediately apologize to the Congresswoman and to all of his constituents for such disgraceful behavior. Women should never be treated as second class citizens."
On Friday, Bachmann told Sean Hannity of Fox News that she was "stunned at the arrogance" of the senator, and bloggers have since entered the fray.
Please, spare me the drama. It's not like Michelle Obama and Laura Bush started throwing punches in the East Wing.
Specter's actions weren't "disgraceful," Specter did not "demean" all women, and Specter should not apologize to Bachmann and "all of his constituents"
If I were Bachmann, I think I'd feel more insulted by the RNC's comments than by Specter's. They suggest she couldn't quite hold her own with him in an interview, which couldn't be further from the truth.
The incident proves once again that in the world of politics and 24-hour cable news, no slight is too small to be perceived as a slur and turned into an opportunity for a huge, breaking story.
A win-win for both sides. Cable news gets a mini controversy and the Republicans get face time.
Suddenly, Specter told Bachmann: "Don't interrupt me . . . and act like a lady."
It wasn't the smartest choice of words on the senator's part, but the over-reaction by the Republican National Committee has been the best show I've seen since grade school, when one eighth-grader called out another in the cafeteria, and they met after school in the alley for a would-be rumble.
Here's the statement the RNC issued Friday:
"Senator Specter's rude and arrogant comments yesterday were not only disrespectful to Congresswoman Bachmann, but demeaning to all women," sniffed RNC Co-Chairman Jan Larimer in the statement. "Senator Specter should immediately apologize to the Congresswoman and to all of his constituents for such disgraceful behavior. Women should never be treated as second class citizens."
On Friday, Bachmann told Sean Hannity of Fox News that she was "stunned at the arrogance" of the senator, and bloggers have since entered the fray.
Please, spare me the drama. It's not like Michelle Obama and Laura Bush started throwing punches in the East Wing.
Specter's actions weren't "disgraceful," Specter did not "demean" all women, and Specter should not apologize to Bachmann and "all of his constituents"
If I were Bachmann, I think I'd feel more insulted by the RNC's comments than by Specter's. They suggest she couldn't quite hold her own with him in an interview, which couldn't be further from the truth.
The incident proves once again that in the world of politics and 24-hour cable news, no slight is too small to be perceived as a slur and turned into an opportunity for a huge, breaking story.
A win-win for both sides. Cable news gets a mini controversy and the Republicans get face time.