Today, thanks to ABC News and Yahoo, who teamed up to interview every single GOP candidate, we learned a lot of random, mostly useless, but incredibly fascinating things about the Republicans who hope to be president. A few examples:
• Mitt Romney watches Modern Family with his wife.
• Jon Huntsman is not as big of a Tom Petty fan as he thinks he is. Asked what his “theme song” would be right now, Hunsman chose, “I Won’t Stand Down.”
• Rick Perry’s favorite junk food is “sausage and crackers.” (?)
All of those tidbits are very interesting, in their own way. But the best answer of all belongs to Michele Bachmann, who was asked which president should be the fifth face on Mount Rushmore:
Well, Ronald Reagan would be a good choice. But– I– I think just– Garfield was the last member who was – the House of Representatives who became president of the United States — and he – and he was a very– he was a wonderful man. But also, I’d have to say, Calvin Coolidge should be up there, too. Calvin Coolidge, because Calvin Coolidge — was able to get the United States’ budget way on track. And he really was a taking care of business kinda guy.
Garfield and Coolidge? Is Michele Bachmann sneaking hits of Rick Perry’s special syrup? We get it, of course. As Bachmann notes, Garfield jumped from the House to the White House, which is what Bachmann is so very unsuccessfully trying to accomplish. He only served for 119 days in the White House before getting shot, so he obviously doesn’t deserve to be on Mount Rushmore, but we get the joke. As for Coolidge, when presidential scholars rank the presidents, Coolidge is usually near the back. Obviously, Bachmann admires his laissez-faire approach to economics, and picking Coolidge is something of a dog whistle to those Republicans who would love to bring back the days before the New Deal. But still. We’re talking Mount Rushmore here. Not a ton of space for random dudes.
