BRAND DIFFERENTIATION: In trying to distance herself from Palin, Michele Bachmann is relying on Ludwig von Mises, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Gore Vidal, to name a few. Can name-dropping raise her from the depths of Palinism to the position of a respected intellectual? "She expounded on her love of economics texts in an interview last month with Wall Street Journal editorial board member Stephen Moore—the same interview in which she quipped about reading von Mises on the beach. Austrian School economists are trendy among Tea Partiers, but Bachmann did not make the obvious choice, the suddenly ubiquitous Friedrich Hayek." Ooh. How impressive.

Although I respect her effort to learn economic philosophy, I must say that this most recent effort looks nothing short of a hastily-conceived effort to cosy-up to a more sophisticated crowd. She's being earnest about it, and yet I just don't think such a crowd will be convinced.

RICHARD COHEN urges voters to look beyond Bachmann's looks, because, after all, it's her ideas that are ugly. "Looks matter. Mitt Romney looks like a president — actually, the statue of one. Donald Trump always looked like the embarrassing brother almost all presidents seem to have. Before he ran for president last time out, Mike Huckabee dropped a ton of weight. For some people, appearance is important. It not only connotes self-discipline (sorry, Newt), but handsome people are pleasant to look at. Some people voted for Barack Obama because he is black. Some voted against him because he is not white. Either way, his appearance mattered."