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 cant 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 governors 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 campaigns 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 Pawlentys 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 Ive been giving a lot more headaches in Washington than Ive 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 were 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.
Bye Tiny Tim, you are through
I hope the good conservatives don’t even allow him to speak at the convention. What a weenie!
Michele will last longer than Tim P. She’s a survivor.
She’ll outlast Paw-Paw.
Pawlenty is flaming out, what a whiner.
Seems to me she has already survived a long haul of being a parent, and a super-star one at that.
projection.
michelle will outlast pawlenty.
Must be hard being campaign manager for Gomer Pyle lookalike.
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.
if Michele slapped Icabod Crane he’s cry like the girly man he is
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.
Tim who?
When Rollins bails then you know she fails.
Bull Obama!
It appears that conservative women wear the pants and have the cojones.
More so than any lib and most repubs.
I think she will be in it longer than Pawlenty.
Bingo...
It’s the campaign manager’s job to say such things.
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