U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., gushed Monday night on CNN’s “Larry King Live” that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin “exudes competence with everything she’s ever done.” The jumping-off point for Bachmann’s effusiveness was a series of revelations about another election-year pregnancy in Palin’s family, but with Democrat James Carville also on the program, talk quickly turned to Palin’s qualifications, or lack thereof. Carville held up a photo of the tiny Wasilla, Alaska, city hall where Palin served as mayor, and he likened it to a Southern bait shop and called Palin “uniquely unqualified.”


Acknowledging that Palin “came up from nowhere to be somewhere,” Bachmann took offense at Carville’s comments, calling them “demeaning to women. She didn’t ride anyone’s coattails. She put on her own coat.” (Women’s outerwear hasn’t had such prominence in Republican politics since Pat Nixon’s cloth coat.)

Bachmann’s assertion that Palin has more experience than Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden combined drew gasps. Bachmann qualified that to mean Palin’s two years of executive experience, adding, “This is a woman who’s actually done something other than run for president all her life.”

To King’s repeated question as to whether Palin is the most qualified Republican to be Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential running mate, Bachmann would say only, “She is qualified.”

Here’s video. Bachmann’s bit starts around the 2:10 mark.

Larry King Live: Michele Bachmann et al. on Sarah Palin (4:14)