Free Republic

Des Moines-With her youthful wardrobe — platform sandals, polka-dotted toenails and skinny, low-cut jeans — Sarah Palin does not look like the buttoned-up, middle-aged Republican presidential contenders who've been traipsing around New Hampshire and Iowa for weeks. But here she is, just like them, sweeping into both states this weekend to give speeches on her way to, well, what? If she is to run for president, she said last month, she will have to decide by the end of September. Many Republicans with ample presidential campaign experience say her window is closing fast. Polls suggest that her indecisiveness may have...

Somewhere between 6 p.m. Saturday and his morning announcement of the end of his presidential campaign, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty must have had a very sobering conversation. Pawlenty had been trying to find a silver lining in his third-place finish, far behind Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul, in Saturday's Iowa straw poll. His first comment — a very brief congratulatory tweet: "Congrats to Rep. Bachmann on win. Our campaign needed to show progress and we did. I'm eager for the campaign ahead." That was followed by an e-mail message to his supporters. "As I said all along we needed...

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty continued his focus on reports that Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann suffers from serious migraines, saying Friday that his campaign is not “pushing” the story. “I checked with our staff,” Mr. Pawlenty said Friday. “They said they did not push the Bachmann story. In fact they reminded me that the sources for the story were her, apparently, her former staff.” Mr. Pawlenty’s comment comes just days after The Daily Caller reported the story, citing sources close to Ms. Bachmann. “All of the candidates I think are going to have to be able to demonstrate they can...

Yesterday, my blog partner Tina Korbe scolded Tim Pawlenty for making an argument that Michele Bachmann didn’t have executive experience or a record of Congressional accomplishment in her three terms in Washington as a comparison to his own experience as a governor in Minnesota. Even though Tina says that Bachmann’s record in Congress is “admittedly a little thin,” she writes that Pawlenty looked thin-skinned for pointing it out. My friend John Hinderaker wrote last night at Power Line that while he thinks that Pawlenty would make a better President than Bachmann, but that he “crossed a line” by pointing out...

A poll unveiled this week from American Research Group shows that three Republican presidential candidates -- U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska -- are gaining serious momentum in Iowa, site of the first presidential caucus. Bachmann, who declared her candidacy in June and has been surging in polls at both the national and state levels, topped the poll with 21 percent. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts placed second with 18 percent. Paul, who was the Libertarian candidate in 1988 and ran for the Republican nomination in...

A COUPLE weeks back, I argued that Michele Bachmann's lack of relevant experience makes it unlikely she'll win the Republican nomination. This elicited several thoughtful responses worth addressing, especially in light of Tim Pawlenty's recent digs at Ms Bachmann's lack of qualifications. Jonathan Chait suspects that "the Bachmann skeptics think she'll implode largely because she reminds them of Palin, when in fact she has a professional staff and is far more in control than Palin". Ms Bachmann does not in fact remind me much of Sarah Palin. I agree that her cannon is not as loose as Ms Palin's, and...

AMES, Iowa — Tim Pawlenty was first in line to enter the Republican presidential race. He is now fighting to avoid becoming the earliest major candidate to be shown the door. No contender for the Republican nomination has followed the conventional playbook more than Mr. Pawlenty, a former governor of Minnesota who began introducing himself two years ago during a prospecting trip to Iowa. Yet his path has been complicated by fresher faces, an unruly nominating contest and a handful of missteps that swallowed his summer momentum. The voting will not open for at least six months, but Mr. Pawlenty...

Not a fan of Ed Rollins, but you know that. I guess this qualifies as Part 3 of the “Hey Ed Rollins, you deal with it” series. More than not being a fan of Ed Rollins, I keep questioning why Michele Bachmann started her campaign by having Rollins attack Sarah Palin in very demeaning terms, and if it was not planned, why Bachmann did not fire Rollins on the spot. That question becomes important because as Bachmann rises in the polls and spotlight, the process of Palinizing her by the left-blogosphere and mainstream media also is rising. The disgusting Rolling...

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) made the first and only mention of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), praising her and saying she is qualified to be president. Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, was asked who made the better choice for vice president in 2008, Obama by choosing then-Sen. Joe Biden or Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) selection of Palin. The Minnesotan originally focused his comments on Biden, criticizing his Iraq policy, but then turned to praise Palin. "I think Gov. Palin is a remarkable leader, she is more than qualified to be president of the United States," he said....

I feel a certain sympathy for Michele Bachmann and if it came out that she ordered Ed Rollins to launch that premtive strike against Sarah Palin (or at least agree to it), I wouldnt blame her. The fact that Ed Rollins is leading her campaign is evidence that Bachmann is serious about making a go for the nomination. Up until this point Palin is still relying on sycophantic amateurs for serious political advice. There is no certainty that Palin is even running yet (although I'm thinking she will). If I were Michele Bachmann, I would be very resentful of Palin's...

Will Sarah Palin’s intensifying rivalry with Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) cause the former Alaska governor to run for president? The first female Republican vice presidential nominee clearly believes she is the one who has paid the heavy dues by bearing the brunt of the “liberal elite” attacks to help build the tea party, social conservative wing of the GOP. Palin’s bus tour had some of the hallmarks of a primal scream: “I built this constituency, not Bachmann, not anyone else,” she said. Looking at it through her eyes, she has a point. But in 1932, former New York Gov. Al...

His hire was also her first real campaign decision. If you’re not up to speed on the story, here’s what’s going on. Rep. Bachmann hired veteran Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins to manage her campaign. Campaign managers have to carry a few qualities, among them toughness, a bit of ruthlessness, communications and fundraising savvy (and there are many qualities packed into those two qualities), and a certain ability to provide useful leadership and simultaneously blend into the background. That last is because, while they manage the campaign, the campaign isn’t about them. It’s about the candidate. But Ed Rollins tends...

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....

As former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is generating a lot of media buzz with her bus tour despite her vagueness about a 2012 presidential run, what does this mean to the rest of the Republican field, particularly potential candidate Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann? On Tuesday’s “Good Morning America” on ABC, co-host George Stephanopoulos asked if the Republican field was big enough for both her and Palin. (h/t The Right Scoop) “Oh sure, I think there’s room for a lot of contenders,” Bachmann said. “I think there’s no question in 2012 the Republicans will field a wide bench of contenders...

BLUFFTON, S.C. -- Laura Sterling had never voted before 2008, much less been a political activist. But Friday night she was one of three self-described "little South Carolina moms" hosting a $175-per-couple reception for Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota firebrand congresswoman who is rapidly becoming the adopted favorite of many conservatives in the Palmetto State. Her latest visit, including a Monday Tea Party rally at the State Capitol in Columbia, is part of an effort to set up the possibility of strong showings in the early presidential nominating contests of her native Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. That trifecta would...

Tim Pawlenty implied Tuesday that there are some less-than-serious presidential hopefuls eyeing the race, with a quip that seemed to lump Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Donald Trump together with wrestling icon Hulk Hogan. "You're going to have, you know, Mitt Romney who will start out as the front-runner with the most name-ID and money..." Pawlenty told CNN’s Piers Morgan in handicapping the race. "And on the other end of the continuum, you'll have perhaps Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump, or I don't know, maybe Hulk Hogan will get in the race too. Who knows? But I think in...

Well it would seem that Republicans in Congress blinked agreeing to a last minute deal where they compromised everything and Democrats gave nothing. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is doing a victory lap, and President Obama was thankful that funding Planned Parenthood was avoided. "We protected the investments we need to win the future. At the same time, we also made sure at the end of the day this was a debate about spending cuts — not social issues like women’s health and the protection of our air and water. These are important issues that deserve discussion, just not during...

Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, who has revealed plans to run as Vice President with Ron Paul in 2012, is making his presence felt with news-making interviews and explosive statements on 9/11 attacks, President Barack Obama and President-hopeful Michele Bachmann. The former governor-turned-conspiracy theorist, who is currently promoting his book '63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read', said that he would run for Vice President if Ron Paul ran as an Independent. On ABC's Good Morning America with George Stephanopoulos, Ventura made light the idea of Michele Bachmann, often identified as the "un-Palin", running for President. "You've got...

Former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura, in an upcoming appearance on “Piers Morgan Tonight,” says former Alaska governor Sarah Palin will win the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. “She’s the type of person that certainly will be controlled by the status quo and the power structure. So she’d make a perfect candidate for them, she’ll do what she’s told,” Mr. Ventura says. The former Minnesota governor noted Ms. Palin’s reality show and her current contributions on Fox News, saying the Republican Party is “grooming” her. The former Alaska governor has yet to announce a presidential campaign. Ms. Palin has noted in the...

Speaking to a group involving policy talk on Latin America, Hillary Clinton said it’s about time the United States has a female president. Although she may be talking in the general sense, one can’t help but speculate whether she is talking about Governor Sarah Palin or Representative Michele Bachmann. Both women seem to have interests in 2012. When it came to Palin, Hillary never uttered a bad word about her, nor vice-versa. Via Politico: “I must say, I’m far enough away from my own career in electoral politics that I will not take too much heat for suggesting that these...