All these thoughts went through my head, befogging me. And then I looked further and I saw that Pawlenty was responding to reports that Bachmann suffered from migraines. What? Headaches? We’re talking headaches? The woman is an ignoramus, a bigot when it comes to gays, wholly unqualified for the presidency and yet Pawlenty courageously suggests that migraines might make her less than presidential material. Of course, having summoned the courage to question her on that score, he then backed down. Unaccountable episodes of boldness sometimes seize Pawlenty, but he soon recovers and reverts to a comforting placidity — without, I’m sure his aides would say, missing a day’s work.

Still, Pawlenty should become Mr. Republican, a term once reserved for Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio. He personifies the near-total lack of leadership among leading contenders for the GOP nomination. Not only will they not confront Bachmann and the nonsense she spews, but they diligently turn their backs on their obligation to educate their own constituencies. For the time being, they seek to become president only of the 119,188 Republicans who voted in the 2008 Iowa caucus, and then only those whose conservatism has been set in concrete…

Of course Bachmann does not deserve to be in the presidential race. Legislatively, she has done little, she knows next to nothing and what she thinks she knows is wrong. For a moment, I thought one of her GOP competitors had said so, but I was mistaken.