More perspective

Headline in today's Star Tribune- Bachmann trails Obama by 18 points.

The rumors of Rep Michelle Bachmann running for president were apparently enough for PPP to run a poll matching Bachmann against Obama in a mythical 2012 showdown.

Hello?  It's 2011, and Bachmann hasn't even announced she is thinking of running, yet the headline is enough to titillate liberals and try to throw cold water on Bachmann just in case the rumors might be true.  But ironically, 18 points is not a bad number when you consider another headline- Clinton Leads '08 Dems, No Bounce For Obama.

Polling done 4 years ago yesterday shows Clinton leading Obama for the Democrat nomination by 24 points in a 5 way matchup.  And the poll was taken just days after Obama formally announced his desire to run, when he had plenty of media buzz going.

The real takeaway from this PPP poll is that 20 months out, without even officially (or unofficially) being in the race, and with a poll sample that under-samples Republicans, Michelle Bachmann is still doing better than Obama was at exactly the same number of days left until election.

And to think that just last week liberals were agonizing over what they thought of as a huge right ward tilt at the Strib.