Michele Bachmann needed a home run at the CNN Tea Party debate. She hit a triple.
Batting around front-runner Rick Perry, the Minnesota congresswoman scored with sharp attacks on the Texas governor's penchant for "crony capitalism" and his squishy soft stand on immigration.
Bachmann, who has been fading in the polls since winning the Iowa straw poll, came out swinging Monday night in Tampa. Reiterating her hard line against Obamacare, she assailed Perry for requiring that Texas schoolgirls be inoculated for the HPV virus.
It was all red meat for the tea party crowd that gathered at the Hillsborough County Fairgrounds and gave Bachmann some of the loudest applause of the night.
Perry, by contrast, was roundly booed for his defense of a Texas-style DREAM Act that awards in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants.
Though leading the GOP field in the national polls and carrying media momentum into the debate, the Texas governor was knocked off stride by Bachmann, Mitt Romney and even Jon Huntsman, who, with a wink, jabbed Perry's dismissal of a border fence as "treasonous."
Tea party groups such as Freedom Works and Red State continue to promote the notion that Perry has the best chance of beating Barack Obama. But that was far from the consensus after Monday night's debate.
The British press weighed in first, with the Daily Mail all but declaring Bachmann the winner.
"In what was seen as a make-or-break opportunity for the Minnesota congresswoman, she roared back into contention with outspoken attacks on two main targets, President Obama ... and Governor Perry," the Mail reported.
In the Telegraph, Tim Stanley, an American history specialist at Oxford University, wrote:
"Bachmann struck Perry hard, accusing him of running Texas like a dictatorship. She added that the drug company that benefited from the vaccination was linked to Perrys then-chief of staff, and that the company had given the governor campaign money.
"Perry looked angry. Mitt Romney continued to smile glacially. Inside his head he could probably hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing 'O Happy Day!'"
In Florida, views were mixed.
Sarasota GOP Chairman Joe Gruters' scorecard ranked longshot Rick Santorum No. 1, followed by Bachmann. He had Perry seventh, followed by Ron Paul.
Roger Stone, a veteran Republican operative in Miami, said Bachmann made a strategic mistake by going after Perry.
"Bachmann should be attacking Romney -- not Perry -- ZERO chance at nomination now," he tweeted. At the top of his grading chart, Stone gave Perry a B+ and Romney a B-.
Other critics said Bachmann deviated from tea party orthodoxy by pledging to bolster Social Security. On that issue, Perry's "Ponzi scheme" description of the program resonates with the conservative base.
But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Sarah Palin paid Bachmann a significant compliment by repeating the congresswoman's "crony capitalism" charge against Perry after the debate.
A Florida tea partier, who declined to be identified by name, said Bachmann showed "a lot of class" by staying around the auditorium to shake hands, sign autographs and pose for photos.
"Perry looked lost," this tea party activist said.
While Democrats and liberals took to Twitter to express their "horror" at the tea party affair, Republican activists seemed pleased by the debate format and its outcome.
"What really made the debate is that CNN allowed the audience to participate, and not just in asking questions. They allowed them to cheer! They allowed them to boo. What a concept -- allowing people to voice their support," said one observer.
With a virtual consensus on market-driven policies to boost jobs and the economy, the GOP candidates looked for ways to differentiate themselves from the rest of the field.
Bachmann hit pay dirt on immigration, scoring one of the biggest applause lines of the night.
"I think that the American way is not to give taxpayer-subsidized benefits to people who have broken our laws or are here in the United States illegally. That is not the American way," Bachmann said, in sharp contrast to Perry's pontification about the DREAM Act and other Texas government programs that benefit illegals.
Going forward, most pundits expect Perry's stratospheric poll numbers to come back to Earth.
The governor's failure to effectively respond to Bachmann's barbs stripped away any aura of invincibility, and breathed new life into the congresswoman's sputtering campaign.
Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
