It is impossible to resist, comparison of two women is unavoidable. They can downplay tensions between them as much as they like, reality is just like Michele Bachman said: “They want to see two girls come together and have a mud wrestling fight…” As much as it is offensive-it is also true. We might not want to see them in a mud wrestling (at least not all of us) but we will put them in some kind of opposite to each other. I’m aware that there is certain sexism in lining the two up, as opposed to lining up Bachmann and Sen. Jim DeMint or Newt Gingrich. I know, I know, but you must also know and see that comparison is not possible to avoid. Look at them! You can say that there is only party and gender they have in common, but look again:

The two Tea party darlings are of course, Republicans, and both come from the North.
Both hold deeply conservative values close to their heart, and love to talk about their families, children specially. Both align most closely with social conservatives.
Both women and have vaguely similar accents, of course.
They're both highly charismatic and excited politicians with a demonstrated capacity to act independently of their party's leadership.
Both have courage to impose themselves on the political scene and become, despite a lack of political experience, serious contenders.
Both are outspoken defenders of their chosen causes whose rhetoric occasionally gets them into not-so-clever-but-I-do-not-care category.
Bachman and Palin are good looking, even similar types of beauty.

What are the differences? In the space of just a few months, Bachmann has become the new republican darling and the media has started to look at her as a serious contender. Republican public have become more receptive to her than to Palin. Bachman is less known to people in comparison to Palin, who is almost global celebrity. By now Bachmann has shown a willingness to acknowledge mistakes she makes on the campaign trail. Palin would rather pull back from campaign or cut her hair short than recognize mistakes. She usually blames a biased media for not telling the whole story. Palin still has decidedly narrow inner circle and is on a bit of a strategic island. They say that her husband Todd is still her closest political adviser. Bachmann is much more serious; she brought in longtime GOP operatives to manage her presidential campaign and hired a well-regarded pollsters she hadn’t worked with before. To be on a safe side she still has some longtime loyalists in her inner circle. So, Bachman’s willingness to look outside of her comfort zone for people with know-how at the presidential level is something Palin has never exhibited. Palin has never squared off with other top Republicans in a debate format. Bachmann has shined in the New Hampshire debate. Palin likes or prefers to communicate with her supporters via Facebook and Twitter, two decidedly one-way conversations. Bachmann has shown a willingness to put herself on the line and is more at ease standing in front of her audience.

While Palin first rocked the political scene and portrayed herself as a strong woman, someone who could relate to the everyday American, she also ridiculed herself by exposing her lack of geopolitical knowledge and poor understanding of foreign policy. Bachmann on the other hand, while still committing gaffes, appears to have learned from Palin's mistake. Bachmann’s camp believes that the same voters will choose Bachmann if she presents herself as a more seasoned, reliable, and serious conservative than her high-profile rival. Bachmann is trying to be much more substantive, stepping away from some of the more dramatic rhetoric that brought her to prominence in the early days of the Tea Party movement. She has been tightening her focus as Palin offers herself as an increasingly high-profile cultural celebrity with an East Coast bus tours and a laudatory new movie. Palin is somehow refusing to reach beyond her core supporters. The result is that people who love Palin really love her but that is not a large enough group to win her a single state much less the GOP nomination. Bachmann has support among those who identify themselves as very conservative politically but understands the need to grow beyond that base. Talking about the movement she said “It’s made up of disaffected Democrats, independents, people who’ve never been political a day in their life, libertarians, Republicans. We’re people who simply want America back on the right track again.”

Of Sarah Palin everyone has an opinion. Republicans know her but they do not necessarily like her. Bachman is not that well known but on the other hand, Republicans who know her mostly like her as well. Bachmann has room to grow as she gets better known to GOP voters, Palin is now where she will end up by the time people start voting. Her image is hardly going to change over the next months. Some say that the media does not take Bachmann and her views seriously. It might be true but it is also true that Bachmann has the ability to engage the mainstream media on issues in a way Palin never could. That might be one of the most valuable lessons Bachmann gained from Palin: a republican woman running for election should no how to deal with mainstream media. Bachmann sounds more competent than Palin. She’s made some bad gaffes on American history, but she’s still holding down a congressional office. Palin didn’t bother to finish her term as governor of Alaska.

Compared with Bristol and others, the Bachmann family looks picture perfect. Bachmann has a law degree. Palin finished college in six years after switching institutions four times. So what does all of this mean for the electoral season? Bachmann could profit from the contrast but Palin remains broadly popular with the conservative voters who will decide the Republican nomination; she’s still a super star.