Rep. Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign for the GOP nomination provided plenty of fodder for Saturday Night Live in 2011 and 2012, but if the new tell-all book written by insiders from her failed campaign is accurate, at least one moment hearkened back to a much older SNL sketch.
“Bachmannistan: Behind the Lines,” an e-book released Monday that was co-authored by two (unnamed) people who had inside connections to her presidential campaign, includes all kinds of anecdotes about the behind-the-scenes action, including a key test she apparently employed to decide if she was going to run for president at all.
At the behest of her husband, Marcus, the congresswoman was urged to visualize herself in the role:
The test of whether his wife should run for president was ultimately a simple one in Marcus's view.He instructed her to get off of their bed and go to the full-length mirror in the bedroom. "If you can look at yourself and say it, then you are ready to run and you should," he explained.She listened, nodding internally and then got off the bed. Traversing the bedroom, she stood in front of the mirror.Said Michele Bachmann, looking at herself: "I am President of the United States of America."
That description reminded Rev. Sharpton of Stuart Smalley, the SNL character played by fellow-Minnesotan and now-Senator Al Franken, best known for his affirmations, "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggonit, people like me."
As Sharpton put it on the show, "Who knew the Bachmann campaign was even more like an SNL skit than we ever imagined."