Much of the media attention on Michele Bachmann revolves around whether she has sufficient experience to be President.
Sure, she's a little lightweight on some of the qualifications, but the media pundits have ignored one aspect of the Presidency that is essential: golf.
That's right, golf.
Seriously, when was the last time you heard of a president who didn't play golf? It's got to be one of the most major qualifications of the job.
Want to settle a big deal, engage in détente with foreign dignitaries, or work with the leaders of the contentious opposition? Go out and play a round of golf with them.
The Taft Presidency established the ascendance of golfing Presidents.
Since that time (1909-1912), there have been only four Presidents who didn't golf, and one, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had been an avid golfer until he was crippled by polio 12 years before being elected as President.
As far as the other three go, their names should tell you something: Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, and Jimmy Carter.
They are far from being the most memorable Presidents.
Hoover had an undistinguished record, and when called to rise to the occasion by the Great Depression floundered badly enough the electorate dumped him in favor of FDR.
Truman was distinguished only for plain speech and inheriting the end of WWII, when FDR died in office.
And Carter has been much more successful out of office than he was when he was sailing the Ship of State.
Enough said.
Therefore, if Bachmann is serious about her Presidential candidacy, she needs to make sure her golf game is up to the test.
She's already taking this particular bull by the horns, with a recent fundraiser of choice being a $10,000-per- ticket golf tournament at the Spring Hill Golf Club in Minnesota.
Unfortunately, this event attracted the wrong type of attention, with protesters from Minnesotans for a Fair Economy, plus others, who thought it was just a little too highfalutin for the job-deprived neighborhood.
The Spring Hill Golf Club was blockaded.
However, golf under pressure is a watchword of the Presidency, so Ms.
Bachmann rose to the occasion by shifting the tournament to the Wayzata Country Club, where security could neither confirm nor deny that political celebrity golf was being practiced there.
That's a masterful demonstration of situation control, when you need to be able to knock those balls out, no matter what crisis is at hand.
Hostage situation? Wars breaking out all over? Massive protests? Break out the clubs and limber up your golf game; it's a requirement of the office.
Bachmann may already have this one nailed; she's been golfing for a while, and is said to be good at the game.
And that's what it may come down to.
Is her golf game up to the test? Sure, she uses golf carts at her fundraising events, but how is she on the greens? And a masterful tee-shot is such a great photo opportunity! Maybe that should be one of the qualifications for nomination: take the hopefuls out to the local driving range and let them knock out a bucket of balls.
Then tell them seriously that the terrorists have just bombed Times Square and see how it affects their swing.
If they still can take the shot like before, they're Presidential material!