While there is little doubt the downgrading of the U.S. credit rating is a terrible blow to President Obama, the question remains whether the Standard & Poor’s decision will have an impact on the Republican field. Virtually all the GOP contenders have already weighed in with tough criticism of Obama, laying the responsibility for the sinking U.S. economic shift on the president. But it is far from clear whether the credit shakeup or fallout from the debt ceiling crisis will either help or hurt any of the Republicans.
Ironically, the loudest voice condemning the president came from Rep. Michele Bachmann–who is hoping to win this week’s Iowa Straw Poll–who declared the president was AWOL on the issue and flatly claimed because the downgrade happened on Obama’s “watch,” it was his fault. That’s a message that resonates with Tea Party activists who applauded Bachmann’s stand on the debt ceiling as well as other Republicans who rightly see the president’s spending spree and insistence on raising taxes as the primary cause for the country’s predicament. But many Americans, including some conservatives, aren’t thrilled with the role played by Tea Partiers and absolutists like Bachmann who seemed unfazed by the possibility of a default and did nothing to help advance a fiscal compromise. That means the country’s credit downgrade may ultimately prove to be a problem for Bachmann’s candidacy.
Though Bachmann started off her run as someone who only appealed to Christian conservatives and Tea Partiers, it soon became apparent her strong start gave her the opportunity to be heard by a broader segment of her party. Her breakout in the polls in June and July established her as a serious contender and appeared to knock fellow Minnesotan Tim Pawlenty back into the second tier.
But as much as the Tea Party still remains a potent force within the GOP, it would be pointless to deny a bit of its luster was lost in the debt ceiling debate. A number of the GOP candidates opposed the various compromises, especially the deals proposed by House Speaker John Boehner. But of the major contenders, only Bachmann was in a position to vote no on all of them. She did exactly that while proclaiming she would oppose any rise in the debt ceiling.
It is true attempts to shift the blame for both the debt standoff and the credit downgrade onto the Tea Party will be a main Democratic talking point for the next year. It may be that few Republicans will buy into this argument, and those that do wouldn’t have voted for Bachmann anyway. But Bachmann has higher hopes than merely being the Tea Party candidate. If she is going to survive the early primaries and challenge Mitt Romney and perhaps Rick Perry in the states that follow, her task is going to be to convince mainstream Republican voters she is serious enough and sufficiently electable to gain their trust. The events of the last week may have made that job a lot harder.
