National primaries have a way of bringing out the darndest things from the mouths of politicians.

To wit:

Gov. Rick Perry has begun taking aim at Social Security, despite the fact that polls show that even younger voters favor the program.

During a campaign stop in Ottumwa, Iowa, over the weekend, Perry said that Social Security “was a retirement program, and actually it’s turned into a tax now,” and added that, “It is a Ponzi scheme for these young people. The idea that they’re working and paying into Social Security today, that the current program is going to be there for them, is a lie.”

Meanwhile Michelle Bachmann, appearing at a campaign stop in Florida, implied that the earthquake and hurricane were the result of God fed up with federal spending.

I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’ Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we’ve got to rein in the spending.

Bachmann wasn’t finished there however:  She told another group in Florida that she would be open to lowering the minimum wage, and also suggested that the U.S. should drill in the Everglades.

So in short term at least, the winner of the race to the right appears to be Bachmann.

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