If I were going to put money on a dark horse GOP presidential primary candidate emerging in the vacuum left by Governor Mike Huckabee – Iowa is now up for grabs – I’d put my money on Michelle Bachmann (R-MN). Bachman has been much maligned as an inconsequential Tea Party kook, but she brings to the table a clear message and impressive media skills. Watch her.

Bachmann knows who she is as a candidate. She is a staunch social conservative – some say too staunch for the general election – and that will serve her well in the early primary states of Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida — states where Huckabee was expected to thrive. And her conservative fiscal record is unblemished.

Bachmann’s challenge will be twofold. She will have to survive the scrutiny of a press corps unforgiving of female candidates and Tea Party leaders. She is, of course, both. And, secondly, Bachmann will have to quickly assemble a campaign team capable of operating nationally. That will be a  challenge.

Sarah Palin has served the role of the plain-speaking, middle-American conservative woman for the past three years, but Bachmann is the real deal.  She is smart and beautiful and far more talented a speaker than Palin is. Katey Couric wouldn’t so easily trip her up. She knows her stuff. That’s why the America Left fears and lampoons her.

Bachmann will have to pounce on this opportunity, though. Vacuums quickly fill, so there is a sliver of a window for her to catch fire.She will have to carpe diem.