Tonight, Special Report debuted their new feature, Center Seat, where they bring candidates to the studio to be questioned by their panel. Their first candidate was Michele Bachmann, and I was impressed with how she did. She answered the questions directly, without hesitation, without ums or stutters or backtracking. And she demonstrated that she has a sharp mind and knows how to make decisions.<\/p>\n
The most interesting question was one by Charles Krauthammer on whether or not she would reinstate “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”<\/p>\n
“I would reinstate it,” she answered, without hesitating, “because the military is not a social experiment.” She then brought up how the advice Obama got from the military was that changing this policy could disrupt decorum in the military.<\/p>\n
Charles followed up. “But what if it were shown in the ensuing 18 months between now and then that there was no disruption of decorum.”<\/p>\n
I was fascinated with her reply. “Well, of course, we’d have to take that into consideration. But if you’re asking me today, what I would do, I would reinstate it. But, you know, that’s another day.”<\/p>\n
While I am a strong social conservative, as she is,\u00a0I understand that this is a complex issue, and I was pleased to see that Congresswoman Bachmann was thoughtful and careful in this answer, and I could visualize her in that presidential chair, soliciting input from her advisors, and being circumspect and cautious in her decisions. I did not see this quality in Herman Cain, in his interview on last Sunday’s Fox News Sunday<\/a>. Instead, I saw a rashness and\u00a0naivet\u00e9 that troubled me. Bachmann, I must say, remains my favorite by far.<\/p>\n