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Tim Pawlenty campaign manager: Michele Bachmann won’t last over the long haul
Hotair ^ | 07/24/2011 | Tina Korbe

Posted on 07/24/2011 7:13:36 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Tim Pawlenty’s campaign manager yesterday sent out an e-mail outlining Pawlenty’s accomplishments and assuring supporters that the former Minnesota governor’s fan club will continue to grow, while enthusiasm for other candidates — most implicitly, Michele Bachmann — will fade.

“In 2008, voters elected a member of Congress with no executive experience. We can’t afford the cost of inexperience any longer, and Iowans are getting that,” Ayers wrote. “[A]s more Republican primary voters start to tune in to the race, they are finding out that the governor’s record and message will stand the test [of] a brutal campaign. Other candidates’ records (or lack thereof), and plans for the future (or lack thereof) won’t.”

Even though Ayers never mentions Bachmann by name, it’s clear she’s the primary object of his statements.

Pawlenty’s persistent picking at Bachmann has drawn so much press attention that some even questioned whether the Pawlenty campaign planted the story of Bachmann’s supposedly “incapacitating” migraines. The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin explains how that insinuation — and the Pawlenty campaign’s failure to completely dispense with it — continues to plague Pawlenty’s prospects:

In essence, the campaign’s defense is that they let the press run with a story without effectively rebutting it. If that is the case, and there is no definitive proof at this point to suggest otherwise, this will only multiply concerns that Pawlenty’s campaign is not firing on all cylinders. In any event, the issue has now created another worrisome distraction for Pawlenty, who has failed to make a dent in the polls and needs to finish near the top of the pack in Ames.

Meantime, Bachmann’s own handling of the headache issue has actually served her well. This weekend, she even slipped in a witty quip about her “condition” during an Iowa appearance:

Michele Bachmann went beyond her prepared statement about her migraines during an Iowa appearance today, making a joke about the story that dominated the 2012 coverage for much of last week:

“This week, they were talking about me and headaches. All I want you to know is I’ve been giving a lot more headaches in Washington than I’ve been getting,” she joked to laughter and raucous applause. … “And as president of the United States, I intend to give those big power brokers a lot more headaches, because we’re going to give the country back to you.”

Pawlenty’s persevering criticisms of a competitor continue to betray insecurity. Ed eloquently defended candidates’ rights to question their competitors’ records — and I initially conceded Bachmann’s migraines to be a legitimate cause for concern (at least until her doctor settled the issue definitively) and praised T-Paw’s common-sense quote about the requirements of the presidency — but, at this point, if I were Pawlenty, I would steer as far away from any mention of Bachmann — explicit or implicit — as I could manage. He doesn’t appear to be hurting Bachmann, but he is denting the best shield he has against attacks against him: His reputation as a stand-up guy who’s running on his own merits, not money or a popular image. He’s at his best when he talks policy, not petty quibbles.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: backstabber; bottomfeeder; charimachallenged; creep; ethicalproblemos; globalwarmingpimp; mccainjunior; michelebachmann; milquetoast; mrexcitement; pawlenty; timpawlenty; toast; tpaw
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1 posted on 07/24/2011 7:13:44 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Bye Tiny Tim, you are through


2 posted on 07/24/2011 7:16:48 PM PDT by yldstrk (My heroes have always been cowboys)
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To: yldstrk

I hope the good conservatives don’t even allow him to speak at the convention. What a weenie!


3 posted on 07/24/2011 7:18:46 PM PDT by Terry Mross (I'll only vote for a SECOND party.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Michele will last longer than Tim P. She’s a survivor.


4 posted on 07/24/2011 7:19:47 PM PDT by unkus (Silence Is Consent)
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To: SeekAndFind

She’ll outlast Paw-Paw.


5 posted on 07/24/2011 7:20:00 PM PDT by Keith in Iowa (Hope & Change - I'm out of hope, and change is all I have left every week | FR Class of 1998 |)
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To: SeekAndFind

Pawlenty is flaming out, what a whiner.


6 posted on 07/24/2011 7:21:39 PM PDT by smoothsailing
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To: SeekAndFind

Seems to me she has already survived a long haul of being a parent, and a super-star one at that.


7 posted on 07/24/2011 7:22:35 PM PDT by Son House (The Economic Boom Heard Around The World => TEA Party 2012)
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To: SeekAndFind

projection.

michelle will outlast pawlenty.


8 posted on 07/24/2011 7:22:47 PM PDT by ken21 (liberal + rino progressive media hate palin, bachman, cain...)
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To: SeekAndFind

Must be hard being campaign manager for Gomer Pyle lookalike.


9 posted on 07/24/2011 7:23:53 PM PDT by DelaWhere (Better to be prepared one year early than one day late!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Nick Ayers? Any relation to Bill? Just asking.

As for long haul, I’m thinking someone only 10 yrs out of high school does not know all that much about the long haul.


10 posted on 07/24/2011 7:25:30 PM PDT by TheLawyerFormerlyKnownAsAl
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To: SeekAndFind

if Michele slapped Icabod Crane he’s cry like the girly man he is


11 posted on 07/24/2011 7:26:35 PM PDT by advertising guy (the world wide economy is now so bad, Kenyan's are saying Obama was born in the USA)
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To: SeekAndFind

It is very dangerous to attack your opponent using points that could easily benefit potentially stronger opponents (Palin and Perry).

He needs away to distinguish himself from all three of them, and he hasn’t done it. He may not be able to do it, because here may be no “there” there.


12 posted on 07/24/2011 7:27:01 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Tim who?


13 posted on 07/24/2011 7:27:01 PM PDT by cripplecreek (Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
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To: SeekAndFind

When Rollins bails then you know she fails.


14 posted on 07/24/2011 7:27:20 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper ("Don't Call My Bluff")
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To: SeekAndFind

Bull Obama!

It appears that conservative women wear the pants and have the cojones.

More so than any lib and most repubs.


15 posted on 07/24/2011 7:28:27 PM PDT by Da Coyote
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Boop A Cat! Don't Wake the Dragon!

If they wake him up trying to steal that fish
There is sure to be trouble


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16 posted on 07/24/2011 7:28:48 PM PDT by TheOldLady (FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list.)
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To: SeekAndFind

I think she will be in it longer than Pawlenty.


17 posted on 07/24/2011 7:33:26 PM PDT by prairiebreeze
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To: SeekAndFind
Pawlenty’s persevering criticisms of a competitor continue to betray insecurity

Bingo...

18 posted on 07/24/2011 7:49:35 PM PDT by FDNYRHEROES (It's 3 AM. Let me sleep on it. I'll get back to you in 16 hours.)
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s the campaign manager’s job to say such things.


19 posted on 07/24/2011 7:55:46 PM PDT by jimfree (In 2012 Sarah Palin will have more quality executive experience than Barack Obama.)
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To: jimfree

He's right , her poll numbers are drifting back to her pre debate numbers as details of her life and short resume and ofcourse her husband Marcus , come out. No pun intended.


20 posted on 07/24/2011 7:59:18 PM PDT by RED SOUTH (Follow me on twitter @redsouth72)
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