Posted on 06/07/2011 9:42:05 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
This could be some of the early shots in the contest for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
On Tuesday’s “Kilmeade and Friends” on the Fox News Radio network, former Huckabee campaign manager Ed Rollins, who signed up with potential presidential candidate Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann on Monday, explained why he decided to join the Bachmann camp.
“Well I’m going to work for Michele Bachmann if she runs,” Rollins said. “That’s the one that intrigues me the most at this point and I think to a certain extent she’s articulate, she’s a conservative. She’s got a great story to tell. She’s on the Intelligence Committee. You know, she’s unknown to the national audience, but she’ll become known and that’s the candidacy that I’m going to work for if she runs.”
But Rollins, with his own history of playing offense in presidential campaigns, took a few shots at former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who could be a potential rival for Bachmann.
“Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years,” Rollins said. “She got the vice-presidential thing handed to her. She didn’t go to work in the sense of trying gain more substance. She gave up her governorship. You know, I think Michele Bachmann and others have worked hard. She has been a leader of the Tea Party, which is a very important element here. She’s an attorney, done extraordinary things with family values and what have you. So I think she will connect. She’s a great, great communicator and I would say in the race right [now] today, she is probably the best communicator.”
(AUDIO AT LINK)
Just a guess. Same as those guessing Bachmann is a stalking horse for Romney or wants to be on a ticket with him.
She doesn’t think she can win, never thought she could win.She’s not that stupid. She is in this race to help defeat Sarah Palin and for whatever carrot Romney has dangled under her nose for doing it.
I’ll have to come clean and admit I’ve always had reservations about Bachmann. In my gut, she’s always reminded me of Bob Barr—who was a local guy that let his ego get the best of him and melted down in his primary race with John Linder.
Barr jumped districts, thinking he could defeat a sitting GOP congressman John Linder in the primary. His initial theme was “John & I hold the same positions, so you should vote for me, because I’m a step up from Linder”. When that didn’t work, he went negative against Linder. When that didn’t work, he went nasty—running ads that were clearly outright lies against Linder, and making nasty verbal attacks in speeches that made you wonder “who is this guy, and did I ever really know him?”
Barr lost anyway, but he exposed himself as having a huge ego and a pretty slimy underside.
It may not be fair to compare Bachmann to Barr, but at this point in her career she strikes me as being errily similar to Barr in the mid-90s when he was leading the Clinton impeachment effort.
>> She hired him and she either has no control over him or she stands by everything he said. Either way that makes her too weak or aligned with him or vice versa. Usually the candidate calls the shots.>>
You are right, and yesterday some MB fans were saying it didn’t matter what Rollins believed, that he was simply a guy to raise money and handle logistics and so on. But as we see, yes, philosophy matters with campaign managers. These are not behind the scenes perfunctory positions. They are part of the messaging machine and that includes positioning yourself against opponents.
How do you know she hasn’t privately admonished him? I checked a number of conservative blows (NRO, Townhall, Red State, American Thinker, American Spectator, Powerline, Commentary, etc.) and none of them are reporting on this. I don’t see it on Drudge’s site either. I’ve primarily seen it reported on Politico and Daily Caller - both known for pot stirring and neither fans of Bachmann or Palin. Why make a public apology or admonishment if the majority if the public isn’t even aware Rollins made these comments? Heck most people probably don’t even know who Ed Rollins is or that he works for Bachmann. That wasn’t widley reported either.
Yep, I think that maybe Romney has promised MB the VP slot. Mitt needs the Tea Party support and MB would be his way to get it.
Mitt is a total slime. He is definitely pulling out ALL the stops to destroy Sarah. Sarah is enemy #1 to Mitt and his idiot supporters.
Oops meant to say blogs not blows. Stupid phone.
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If it's a private conversation, exactly how would I know?
Of course we wouldn’t. That’s my point. Bachmann very well may have told him to keep his mouth shut and we’ll never hear about it.
Crossed Michele of my list.
Hugh Hewitt just spanked Bachmann on his show. But then he quickly pivoted to Romney beating Obama. He’s a Romney stooge who thinks his comments on global warming were smart.
Human Events has it...
You would do well to take a step back and look at what is at stake here. I don't support Michele Bachmann for President and never have. However, I have supported Michele Bachmann financially in the past several elections for her congressional seat.
Either she straightens this situation out or I'll no longer support her. Period. I doubt I am alone in that. I was already disenchanted with her recent waffles, but this is beyond the pale.
Well, thanks for the update.
Word is getting around about this and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Mark Levin weigh in on it.
If she doesn’t know how to properly handle this situation, then that disqualifies her right there as far as I’m concerned.
what waffles?
it depends if it becomes a big deal or not. as I said up thread most conservative blogs haven’t reported it. it doesn’t mean they won’t, just that they haven’t yet. in fact it wasn’t widely reported that he was going to work for her. if I was bachmann I would privately take him to the woodshed or fire him but I don’t know that she needs to say anything publicly right now.
Way back in Jan or Feb, some Bachmann staffer had bad words for Sarah that was reported on FR. I remember that because before then I supported both of them but my esteem for Michele plummeted after that. I spent some time this p.m. trying to find the post with no luck.
Unless she boots Rollins, Michelle is out of it as far as my support is concerned.
She’s being cagey on ethanol and she didn’t take a stand on the Patriot Act.
“and I think to a certain extent she’s articulate, she’s a conservative”
That’s a resounding endorsement if I ever heard one Ed.
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