She just couldn’t strike, declare victory, and move on. She had to be too clever by half and go the anti-vaccine route.

As Stephan wrote, opposing mandated vaccines is fine. Admirable even. I support mandates for school children because they come in contact with other children, but I also understand apprehension to government mandating medicine. Bachmann was fine there.

But then she had to go the Jenny McCarthy/email chain hoax route and declare that Gardasil causes mental retardation. Her evidence? An unnamed woman supposedly came up to her and told her as much. That’s it. That’s all we get in the way of evidence.

Let’s understand something here: There’s absolutely no scientific evidence to link the Gardisil vaccination to mental retardation. None. It’s been approved by the FDA, it’s recommended by experts at the CDC, and children are given the vaccination every day without turning into vegetables.

Just like that *snaps fingers* Bachmann went from conservative opposed to mandated vaccinations to anti-vaccine crusader relying on non-existent evidence to bolster her claims. As my headline says, she snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It was a bad move on her part.