Michele Bachmann’s visit Thursday to Iowa State was a well-attended event and gave students a chance to hear and ask questions of Bachmann in the Memorial Union’s Sun Room. There were some in attendance who wholeheartedly agreed with her conservative message and others who were a bit more skeptical.

What we did notice was the massive amount of statistics and numbers that spewed forth as Bachmann detailed her position on relevant fiscal topics. It was wonderful that she had so much data backing her speech, but after a while it seemed that footnotes may be necessary to be able to follow along fully.

Facts and statistics are important, but we need to make sure that we have all of the facts and keep all of the data in context. When a candidate spends his or her time simply flashing numbers at us in an attempt to impress us, it makes us wonder if these numbers are filling in for the person’s inability to think on their feet about more than planned talking points.

For a woman who spends much of her time in our state talking about her Iowa upbringing, Bachmann attempt to pass off her misquote of John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech on her early teachers in Cedar Falls was probably a mistake. She also got a little confused about the difference between Iowa and Iowa State and apparently has never been told that Iowa is south of our fair university (she mentioned going “up” to Iowa City).

It seemed like much of her talk detailed facts designed to incite fear and uncertainty into the public. At one point she asked if we wanted to pay 70 percent of our future incomes in various state and federal taxes. Where did that number come from? Are we to assume that as president, Michele Bachmann will be able to fix all of these problems, real and imagined?

Many of us can agree with Bachmann that the tax code is too complicated, that we should balance our national budget and that we have an unemployment problem. But can we really support a presidential candidate who, while working as a congressional representative, believes that Americans should protest against their federal government (rather than big banks)?

Can we truly believe a politician who decries politicians who change their policies to please big donors when she herself collected the majority of her 2010 re-election funds from sources outside of Minnesota’s 6th District?

We need a president who can take credit for his or her achievements and mistakes. We need a president who considers possible positive changes more than negative facts. We need a president who understands that quality of information is more important than quantity.

Remember these things the next time you stop in Iowa, Rep. Bachmann.