 BaCK in 2008, the big hype in right-wing american politics was self-declared Mama Grizzly  Sarah Palin. When she ran for vice-president on a ticket with John McCain, she caught the imagination of conservative Christians and Republican women. Last week in New Hampshire, another Mama Grizzly staked out her territory in a debate between seven Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential race, and it seemed like a rerun of an old story with just a slightly different face.  Here was another woman, Michele Bachmann, leader of the Tea Party caucus in Congress, who was also an evangelical Christian and known for outrageous political statements. Crucially, she also sold herself on a  family values ticket that made Palin s parenting of five kids look paltry. Bachmann raised five of her own children and fostered 23 teenagers. Commentators have declared each of these women as an american Margaret Thatcher. (Indeed, Palin has expressed a desire to visit her idol, Lady Thatcher.) One blogger for the Telegraph even declared, following the New Hampshire debate:  If anyone s looking like the new Mrs T, it s Mrs B.  In truth, however, the grand-matriarch-meets-hockey-mom presented by these women is almost the antithesis of the Thatcher persona. Margaret Thatcher might have raised two children, made breakfast for Denis and occasionally, in early interviews, talked about her sauces, but she certainly wasn t pretending that she was the essence of Mom   rather, she was the iron lady, and you don t get much more muscular than that.  There s a reason, however, that Bachmann and Palin play up the mama element of their grizzliness. It is key to their electability among their evangelical Christian supporters, many of whom believe that woman should not have leadership roles within the church but instead should be helpmeets to their husbands. This view is often described as  complementarian , emphasising God s creation of man and woman as complementary to each other.  Thus, if the prospect of these women assuming political power is to be made palatable to such evangelicals, each must be portrayed as the epitome of the good Christian wife and mother. Both draw attention to their pro-Life beliefs.  It s hard for us Brits to get our secular heads round this package, but for america s hard-right, social conservatism is the partner to their economic liberalism, creationist beliefs and conviction that global warming is a hoax. The Bible is everything.  Bachmann has even assessed appropriate tax rates according to Biblical tithing advice:  We render to God that which is God s and the Bible calls for   maybe 10%.  Yet at the same time, even to americans, the paradox is inescapable. It is the elephant in the room. Though chances still seem slim of either Bachmann or Palin (who hasn t entered the race) becoming president, their prospects are substantial enough to be worth contemplating.  If either were to achieve the ultimate political prize, then the first female president of the United States would have emerged from a patriarchal religious culture that pretty much believes that women should submit to their men.  When Palin ran for vice-president, that paradox was much debated, but at least she had a man, John McCain, as her superior. Now, however, Bachmann really is going for the top job.  It s easy to see why Republicans embrace these women   they have huge popular appeal, and, it could be said that they bring to the party a charm, charisma, and accessibility. But how do those evangelicals square them with their beliefs about a woman s place?  For Christian complementarians there has already been considerable theological debate to explain why it s OK to vote a woman into power. They do this, mostly, by saying that the Bible does not condemn women for taking political leadership, but for leadership within the church. Queen Esther and the Queen of Sheba, we are told, get a positive spin as power figures in the Bible.  For some more hard-line believers, however, this is not enough. Evangelical minister William Einwechter criticises those Christians wh 