HuffPost's Alex Wagner Discusses Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin On 'Hardball' (VIDEO)

HuffPost's Alex Wagner appeared Friday on MSNBC's 'Hardball with Chris Matthews' to discuss Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin.

Examining the likelihood of either Bachmann or Palin running for president in 2012, Wagner said:

"I would put my money more on Bachmann at this point than Palin in all honesty. And if you're looking for the Rosie the Riveter for the conservative set, it is Michele Bachmann. Here is someone who has been married for 33 years, she has 28 children, 23 of whom are foster children, but she has a huge brood. She's an Evangelical Christian, you know, and she's taken cues from the Palin camp in so far as she's spouting half-truths and wildly incorrect data."

Wagner continued, "she's saying the things that conservatives want to hear, and in that way I think has learned some great lessons from Sarah Palin."

Summing up Palin's week, Wagner called the former Alaska governor "the Lady Gaga of American politics right now. She has, you know, high-speed chases going on around the country, she has her version of Little Monsters, she has the press corps wrapped around her finger, and she's not even going to run."

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Comments

[NVEnvy07]

03:18 AM on 06/08/2011

Love me some Alex Wagner!!

[Eugene Hill]

04:58 PM on 06/04/2011

I'd like to hear Palin and Bachman talk about real issues concerning our government !

[gevan]

03:56 PM on 06/04/2011

I love Alex, "nobody puts baby gaga in the corner".

[Ebay Seller Len]

03:10 PM on 06/04/2011

Sarah Palin is to thoughtful legistlators as Snooki is to Academy Award winners.

[Nonpartay]

02:02 PM on 06/04/2011

And the tea party is a misnomer as well. It's really the latest iteration of the John Birch Society. Let's not forget that, shall we?

[magpie111]

02:28 PM on 06/04/2011

Absolutely not. Well at least not until the next installment of Charlie Sheen's new shenanigans! Is that gonna be a show on Fox?

[marla29]

01:00 PM on 06/04/2011

C'MON Matthews...Palin isn't smart enough to figure out your "endorse Pawlenty to subvert Romney nomination" strategy. Stop promoting her and her "power" (which is only there because the media constantly focuses on her).

[Nonpartay]

02:05 PM on 06/04/2011

Matthews has always had a strange fascination for Palin. Go figure.

[Pretrib]

12:29 PM on 06/04/2011

Michele Bachmann is a businesswoman and has been a member of the United States House of Representatives since 2000. Bachmann is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, a supporter of the Tea Party movement, and a founder of the House Tea Party Caucus. Bachmann earned a Master of Laws degree, worked as a tax attorney. She has been married for 33 years, she has 28 children, 23 of whom are foster children.

Dems, be afraid. She is a force to be reckoned with. Ridicule and denigration on the part of the left and the MSMedia is a sign of fear and lack of understanding of this candidate. I hope she runs. Her background, contributions to society, and experience far exceed what the present POTUS has. Pelosi did her best to get rid of her in the last election and failed miserably.

[LMKay66]

12:36 PM on 06/04/2011

She is Sarah Pa.lin II

[Cyn63]

01:09 PM on 06/04/2011

lololol...omg, I can't breathe I'm laughing so hard.

[julietrecamier]

02:32 PM on 06/04/2011

I don't know, I thought Pretrib's post was factual; tell me why you can't breathe from laughing so hard and I might consider your point.

[sunbury girl]

12:23 PM on 06/04/2011

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Donald Trump doesn't demand to see Sarah Palin's transcripts...from all 5 colleges she attended before finally graduating.

[dionne67]

12:59 PM on 06/04/2011

Too funny! ( : )

[coffeeshoptalk]

01:26 PM on 06/04/2011

Because then Sarah would demand to see his last 5 years of tax returns.

[gmombarb]

03:04 PM on 06/04/2011

That would not be a problem. President's always have to disclose their tax returns. He has not ben president for 5 yrs. so the tax returns for former years are none of your business.

[Charles Hamel]

12:16 PM on 06/04/2011

You know, as a Canadian, I find these two to be incredibly absurd "presidential" contenders.

Someone like me, with no ambition for political office in America, knows more about US history than they do, then that really doesn't speak much about their calibre as "Real American" politicians.

I mean, seriously, this is shameful. There's so much attention on these people, but they barely deserve an iota of it. They look pretty, okay, models look pretty too but you don't ask them for political advice or to run for office.

[Nonpartay]

02:18 PM on 06/04/2011

Thanks for sharing in our mortification. It is very hard to believe. F/F

[julietrecamier]

02:38 PM on 06/04/2011

Your last sentence sums it up, especially for Palin; it is truth that Palin is a beautiful woman, DESPITE what bashers want to post; they reveal their attraction to her because they follow everything Palin does on these threads. I admit I follow everybody, whether I agree with their politics or not.

Palin is used to getting her way based on her looks, as most beautiful, charismatic women are used to getting their way. Nobody can take the looks away from Palin, those looks will fade by themselves.

I remain an independent, beholden to no party politics.

[Nonpartay]

03:18 PM on 06/04/2011

Yeah, well, this independent thinks her beauty is no more than skin deep, if that.

[den1953]

12:12 PM on 06/04/2011

Until any of these Republican candidates can prove to the American people they are there for them and not the likes of the Koch Brothers they can just keep spewing nonsense with no meaning, the future of this nation depends on facts and honest attempts to recover our economy. Any one can point fingers and accuse others of wrong doings, the real hard part is putting a plan together to get this country back to work and pride among Americans again...........

[julietrecamier]

02:40 PM on 06/04/2011

As an indpendent, the same could be said for Dems and George Soros.

We have been swindled for too long; understand that fact and take a stand against the grifting of America, no matter who's providing the funds for the regimes.

[Nonpartay]

03:26 PM on 06/04/2011

You said, "As an indpendent­, the same could be said for Dems and George Soros."

No, it couldn't. If you're going to claim to be an independent, you have to stop paying so much attention to the propaganda put out by the fright-wing media. You have to look at the reason behind a donation, not just the fact that a lot of money is being given. George Soros' contributions are not to benefit him but to benefit those he thinks are less fortunate, working people, the poor, etc. He believes liberal policies do this; he actually cares about those people, so he gives. It doesn't benefit him in particular other than to make a better society for everyone, including himself. The Koch brothers, otoh, only give money to causes that benefit they themselves, that put Republican politicians in their pockets so they can avoid paying taxes and those stinkin' regulations that might cost them money, never mind that they might make their workers safer and the environment cleaner, and never mind they are among the wealthiest people in this country and could well afford any government regulations and paying more in taxes. There's really no comparison. One cares about his fellow citizens and his country, the others do not. Of course, they talk a good game about patriotism and all that. But I have yet to see them put their money where their mouth is. How patriotic is it to want to institute policies that will make almost everyone but yourselves poor? It just doesn't seem like that's the best way to make a great country greater.

[Nonpartay]

03:37 PM on 06/04/2011

Sorry, this message didn't come out right due to a glitch in the system. I think I'll go do something else and hope they fix this eventually.

[HawaiianLady]

11:40 AM on 06/04/2011

To consider either Bachmann or Palin as possible candidates for the actual presidency of the most important country in the world is like taking the Mad Hatter's Tea Party seriously. The right has gone completely insane. No more to be said about it.

[FogBelter]

11:38 AM on 06/04/2011

I like Alex Wagner, she is bright, conveys her information well, and isn't a dour lefty (like me). She represents HuffPo well.

[rbrain]

11:34 AM on 06/04/2011

Imagine an entire country home schooled by Bachmann and Palin... that'd put an end to American exceptionalism.

[magpie111]

01:42 PM on 06/04/2011

Untrue...we'd be exceptionally uninformed and ileducated (sic), so we'd still be exceptional.

[Dogwithoutaleash]

11:29 AM on 06/04/2011

I may be the msater of the understatement here, but either one would be bad for America.

[LMKay66]

11:08 AM on 06/04/2011

What happened to this country in the last two years? How can we be talking about the possibility of Pa.lin even being a viable candidate, much less winning an election? Three years ago, right before the 08 election, a poll indicated that 70% of the country didn't think she was qualified to be president. Today her disapproval rating is an all time high of 63%. Is the GOP that desperate that they would consider her? Anybody to get Obama out of the WH? Have they been dumbed down that much just by listening to her rhetoric? I simply cannot believe some of the comments from people saying we shouldn't underestimate her ability to become president. We shouldn't underestimate her ability to play games with the media, and she'll try her darnedest to influence the next election by sh00ting her mouth off, but she has no chance of becoming president.

[Nonpartay]

12:11 PM on 06/04/2011

I don't think she's running. I think she was just feeling like no one was paying attention to her, so she pulled this bus stunt. I don't think it's done much good for her though. Her description of what Paul Revere was all about had everyone howling last night on Bill Maher. :) Obviously, she has done absolutely nothing to educate herself about American history in the past couple of years in spite of having to answer questions about it from the media from time to time. Most normal people would bone up, study the Constitution, try to understand our basic documents and history. It's completely obvious she has no clue. A large majority of Americans will never vote for her. She was a factor in the 2008 election. I know people who were Republicans that voted for Obama because of her. They just couldn't bring themselves to do it. And she was only running for VP. Can you imagine what it would be like if she ran for president? LOL

[TexasMike]

12:16 PM on 06/04/2011

Nah, the press just loves these two because of the entertainment value. We are all bored of the same politico speak we hear from mainstream

[TexasMike]

12:51 PM on 06/04/2011

There's some kind of bug going on at Huff Po. This is the second time a post of mine was cut in half.

[julietrecamier]

02:43 PM on 06/04/2011

Palin provides great entertainment, by virtue of the hundreds of Palin haters who follow her every move. That's her greatest value to herself, so she should stick with that, make her money, and leave politics alone.