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Title: Bachmann's Campaign Starts To Fall Apart As Guru Quits
Source:
Independent UK
URL Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w ... art-as-guru-quits-2350258.html
Published: Sep 6, 2011
Author: By David Usborne, US Editor
Post Date: 2011-09-06 19:32:47 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 2640
Comments: 4
Wednesday, 7 September 2011 It could just be Rick Perry blocking some of her sunlight. Or perhaps it was what she said about God, Hurricane Irene and government spending. Whatever the causes, there are signs that the rocket that shot Michele Bachmann to near the front of the Republican nomination race is starting to sputter. Signalling trouble is news that Ed Rollins, the veteran Republican consultant who over his long career has advised Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, is leaving his day-to-day post as top strategist in Ms Bachmann's campaign, citing his health. While he has said he will still be available in a less hands-on capacity, his deputy, David Polyansky, is leaving her team entirely. Even as he was stepping down, Mr Rollins, who is 68 and suffered a stroke last year, made the rounds this week acknowledging that since her victory in last month's Ames straw poll in Iowa, the race has essentially become a two-horse affair between Governor Perry of Texas and Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts. That Ms Bachmann, the Minnesota Congresswoman who has carried the Tea Party banner into the contest, managed to snatch the straw-poll crown in Ames was put down largely to the presence on her team of Mr Rollins who gave her much-needed credibility. Replacing him with anyone as potent will be difficult. Even with him, the hurdles would have seemed high. As Mr Perry has vaulted straight to the head of the pack since announcing his candidacy last month, he has eaten into her Tea Party constituency and pushed her back down to single digits in most national polls. He is creating fundraising problems also; purses that might once have been open for Ms Bachmann are snapping shut. And certainly the "joke", as her campaign subsequently described it, that Ms Bachmann rehearsed to some Florida supporters about Hurricane Irene and the east -coast earthquake that preceded it being a message from God about over-spending politicians will have done nothing to close her credibility gap. "I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?'," she told the crowd. Staff turmoil is often seen as a sign that a campaign is in trouble. Other Republican hopefuls this season afflicted with it have notably included Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, and Jon Huntsman, one-time Governor of Utah. Both men have suffered large-scale defections, both are faring poorly. Attention is now focusing on tonight's televised debate at the Ronald Reagan Library in California. It will be the first in the series of encounters with Mr Perry in the mix. While the pressure will be on him to live up to his new front-runner status, Ms Bachmann will now also be hoping to recover lost momentum. No one will say Mr Rollins was fired or that he left piqued. Yet, it was hard to ignore the coincidence of his stepping down and his commentary in the media about Ms Bachmann's declining chances. "The Perry-Romney race is now the story, with us the third candidate," he told The Washington Post. On Monday, he also ceded that the Perry factor had not helped. "He has slowed our money down," he told CNN. "It took a lot of the momentum that we could have gotten out of the straw-poll victory."
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
I've said this since 2008... RINO Romey will win the nomination. He was second to McCain in 2008. It's his turn. It's how the GOP operates. Two questions remain: 1.) Who will come in second and therefore be heir apparent the next time the GOP needs a new candidate? 2.) Who will be the VP nominee (which may be a different person than the heir apparent)? Right now, it looks like Perry will be the heir apparent. Will Perry be Romney's VP nominee? Maybe, but it's very doubtful.
Paul Ryan isn't ruling out the VP slot if offered: Rep. Ryan leaves door open for VP run By Justin Sink - 08/31/11 04:15 PM ET Rep. Paul Ryan (R -Wis.) may have disappointed some conservatives when he ruled out a president bid earlier this month. But that doesn't mean that the chairman of the House Budget Committee wouldn't consider a spot on the national ticket. Asked during an interview with MacIver News Service if he would accept a spot as a vice presidential candidate, the Republican lawmaker declined to rule out the possibility. "Who knows? Like I said, I just cross bridges when I get to them," Ryan said. The seven-term lawmaker said that he decided against running for president both because he felt that a presidential campaign would be disruptive to his young family, but also because he believed he could continue to be effective in the House. Still, Ryan said that "with any other job [than president] in politics, you can have a good, balanced family life." Ryan went on to say that he hopes to support the eventual Republican nominee. "I want to help whoever the nominee is going to be to advance [Ryan's economic agenda] and win the election," he said. The congressman acknowledged that many Republicans were hopeful he would run. "I was getting a lot of different folks from around the party and around the conservative movement to encourage me to take a look," Ryan said. Ryan did emphasize that his position in the House as chairman of the budget committee - and second in line to chair the influential House Ways and Means Committee - meant that his best chance at making an impact on the federal budget may be to stay put. "I can do so much more there in the House," he said. Never swear "allegiance" to anything other than the 'right to change your mind'! Rubio. There's talk in neo-con circles of him being the next Reagan; he's hispanic; and his tea-party creds might offset some of the anti-Romney feelings of that faction. (If Romney is the nominee though I'll be voting 3rd party for sure.)
__________________________________________________________________________________________ The GOP has growing problems with Latinos. Latinos are now the biggest minority in the U.S. They are growing as a percent of the population. Latinos are NOT a solid voting block like blacks. Jesse Jackson and his ilk have tried to cement Latinos into his "Rainbow Coalition" for decades and it just hasn't worked. The GOP needs to really appeal to pro-life, pro-family, and pro-hard work Latinos. There is a potential super star in the GOP, in a swing state (Florida), who could help them with this. If the GOP were smart, they would put Marco Rubio on the ticket, no matter who winds up as the Presidential nominee. The question is whether or not the GOP is smart. We'll see.
The hippies wanted peace and love. We wanted Ferraris, blondes and switchblades. -- Alice Cooper
#2. To: jwpegler (#1)
#3. To: jwpegler (#1)
2.) Who will be the VP nominee (which may be a different person than the heir apparent)?
HA! The tea-party, INDEED! They're so . . . ah . . . common
#4. To: Brian S (#2)
(Edited)
Rep. Ryan leaves door open for VP run
The hippies wanted peace and love. We wanted Ferraris, blondes and switchblades. -- Alice Cooper
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