Posted on 06/08/2011 7:33:12 AM PDT by perfect_rovian_storm
This week, Republican campaign veteran Ed Rollins signed on to run Rep. Michele Bachmann's presidential operation, ahead of what is expected to be her official declaration later this month in Waterloo, Iowa, the city where she was born. Rollins is a seasoned political consultant who knows conservative GOP politics. He worked on Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election bid, and in 2008 he steered Mike Huckabee's campaign to an upset victory in the Iowa caucus. So it's significant that Rollins praised Bachmann, a tea party favorite, on Tuesday as a contender who can appeal to the religious right and be "a very strong candidate in Iowa." But not too long ago, Rollins had a very different appraisal of the Minnesota Republican.
In late January, Rollins appeared on CNN, where he's been a frequent commentator, to discuss the Republican Party's response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. After praising Obama's speech and the GOP's official rebuttal, given by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Rollins dismissed Bachmann's poorly produced "tea party response." In doing so, Rollins questioned Bachmann's role as a credible Republican leader. Moreover, he suggested Bachmann ought not be representing the Republican Party.
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"Michele Bachmann obviously is a member of Congress and a representative of the tea party," Rollins told CNN viewers. "But at the end of the day, we have to get our serious players out front and talking about the things that matter to be the alternative to the president and Democrats." In other words, he did not consider Bachmann a "serious" GOP player. (Just this week, Rollins bashed another tea party leader, Sarah Palin, as someone who "has not been serious over the last couple of years.")
More recently, Rollins dismissed Bachmann's chances in the 2012 presidential race. In April, weeks after Bachmann revealed her plan to form a presidential exploratory committee, Rollins appeared on MSNBC's Hardball and offered his two cents about what kind of politician would win the GOP nomination:
At the end of the day, you know, we're going to have a candidate who has been a governor, I assume. There's no Washingtonians in this mix. It ain't going to be Donald Trump. I don't think it's going to be Congresswoman Bachmann.
Asked by Mother Jones to explain his recent criticism and dismissal of Bachmann, Rollins quipped in an email, "That was before she hired me! There are great downsides to having been a political analyst with hundreds of appearances over the years. And that is there are quality journalists out there...who pay attention and return to haunt us with our own words." Rollins went on to say, "My comments regarding the [State of the Union] rebuttal wasn't meant that she wasn't serious, it [was] just she wasn't part of the leadership or a committee chairman and for that reason the mainstream media wasn't going to carry her message." That's not bad spin, but clearly at the time Rollins was characterizing Bachmann as a marginal figure in the Republican Party.
In his email, Rollins added, "Not being part of the establishment and DC crowd could now be a great advantage" for Bachmann. As for his claim that Bachmann (like Trump) couldn't win the GOP nomination, Rollins said he'd changed his mind because the Minnesota Republican "now has a campaign team and a more open field."
Even so, Rollins clearly understands at least one of Bachmann's weaknesses. In an interview after announcing his job with Bachmann, Rollins acknowledged her track record of making controversial (some would say untrue) statements. (As Bill Adair, the editor of the fact-checking site PolitiFact, recently said, "We have checked her 13 times, and [found] seven of her claims to be false and six have been found to be ridiculously false." Adair noted that Bachmann is "unusual" among politicians in that "she has never gotten a rating higher than false." ) But Rollins said there was no need to worry about Bachmann on the presidential campaign trail; he would "have a good team around her and we'll basically make sure that everything is 100 percent fact-checked." But Rollins' past remarks about Bachmann raise another question: Who will be vetting the campaign manager?
Further proof that the woman is out of her depth.
Dirtboy to Bachmann - you are not serious in your run for president, seeing that you are allowing your attack dog to knife a large portion of your base.
“Waterloo” what an appropriate place for starting her campaign
Michelle has done serious damage to herself, at least in the eyes of this TEA Partier.
They are scared out of their minds for a President Bachmann. I love it! Go Michele! You are a wonderful person who deserves to be President. Don’t let the RINOs and scardy cats let you down. You keep up with those pro-life principles and you will win!!!!
Ohhh. So apparently Ed defines “serious player” as “willing to write me big checks for my ‘wisdom’.”
But Bachmann does pass one important test. She drives the far left absolutely crazy.
Mother Jones is a liberal, whacko group and has been for many, many years. I don’t trust anything they say.
Seems like Ed isn’t very creative. He just uses the same script till he gets to the part where it says “insert name” where then continues on with his ridiculing of whomever he is being paid to damage.
The video/audio of Ed R putting MB down,would make for a good commercial?
Saying someone is a “fake” tea partier because they feel betrayed by Bachmann hiring Ed Rollins?
Good grief.
Do you know who Ed Rollins has run the campaigns of?
He ran Ross Perot’s campaign in 1992 for a while, he ran Christie Todd Whitman’s campaign, he ran Michael Huffington’s campaign, and he ran Mike Huckabee’s campaign in 2008.
So he has run the campaign of a spoiler, a pro-choice governor, a closested gay man, and, well Mike Huckabee.
I reside in Minnesota. Yes she raises the bar but she is not presidential, she wouldn’t win the general. We need someone who can beat Obama. It’s the first priority point in choosing our ticket.
West, Cain, DeMint, Pence …
Further proof that campaign managers are just paid political hacks.
Her hiring him proved that he was right, incredibly destructive and nasty turn for her reputation.
I thought Michelle had some brains behind those looks. Not the first time I have been wrong.
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