one of her closest advisers is a die-hard devotee of William F. Buckley, icon of the old-line Republican elite—and certainly owner of its most impressive vocabulary. Also noteworthy: this adviser happens to be her son.
According to a recent Star Tribune profile, Bachmann’s brain trust is anchored in-house. Her husband, Christian therapist Marcus Bachmann, and their 28-year-old son Lucas Bachmann, a recent med school grad, are among her most trusted advisers.
The younger Bachmann isn’t just a fan of the late Buckley, the legendary founder of National Review and longtime host of Firing Line; he appears to be a full-on Buckley fiend, namechecking the conservative lion every chance he gets. Lucas lists WFB—along with India—as one of his two interests on his Facebook page. He tells the Star Tribune that he is a “William F. Buckley libertarian conservative.” In December 2008, Bachmann wrote a tribute to the editor, eulogizing Buckley in a local newspaper, the St. Cloud Times.
“[M]ovement intellects such as Buckley are indelible,” Lucas Bachmann wrote. “Like the majority of conservatives, I watched and marveled at his eloquent didacticism drawn from a prolix lexicon that can only be described as Buckleyesque.” Mom wouldn’t be caught dead talking like that.
But more than mere verbal style would appear to divide mother and son. Bachmann’s stump speech includes a jab at “the arrogant elites in Washington D.C.” Buckley wore that epithet like a nicely tailored tuxedo.
