Bachmann’s dime-turn on Obama wasn’t evident on Election Night

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s 180-degree turn on Barack Obama has made her a New York Times cover girl, the lead example in today’s front-page story on Republicans whose opinions of Obama have undergone drastic makeovers in the five days since his landslide victory in the presidential election.

Bachmann’s conversion earns pride of place because it’s the sharpest and most succinct. Her take on the Democratic president-elect evolved from being “very concerned that he may have anti-American views” on Oct. 17 to “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year” on Thursday. Only two days after the election, Bachmann was already casting herself in a new role among his cheering throngs: Obama’s victory is “a tremendous signal that we have sent,” she told Politico.

But the political calculation required for a reversal of Bachmann’s verdict on Obama wasn’t in evidence on Election Night, a review of video from the vaults of the Minnesota Independent and The UpTake indicates. The only thing she had to say about Obama came in the first line of her victory speech, about her Democratic challenger’s dashed desire to serve with him:

I just had a phone call with my opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, and he graciously wished me well and said he wished he could be in Washington, D.C., working with the president-elect.

Bachmann’s was an opinion that changed, but not immediately on Election Night and not overnight either. (The Times article erroneously date-stamps her Politico statements as being made on Nov. 5.)

There was, however, a clue on Oct. 16, the day before Bachmann’s “anti-American” accusations. Bachmann made this statement to reporters after a candidate debate, when her re-election was still considered a waltz: “If the presidency would somehow go to Barack Obama, I would welcome him to the 6th District as well. As a matter of fact, I would put my hand on his shoulder and give him a kiss if he wanted to.” As if she’s an actor in her own play, Bachmann delivers a line that both foreshadows her post-election conversion to Obama’s side and harkens back to the death-grip smooch she gave President George W. Bush at his State of the Union address in 2007 — when she first made her inimitable presence felt on the national stage.

UPDATE: Commenter Karl below provides a link to Bachmann’s Nov. 5 appearance on conservative radio host Mark Levin’s syndicated program. The audio offers insight into her thinking on the day between Election Night and her Politico interview. Here it is: