As we all know by now, Ed Rollins is a heavyweight political operative that is part of the Washington ‘establishment’. Rollins is supposedly ideology-free and for some, his hiring by Michelle Bachmann to run her upcoming presidential campaign is a sure sign that Bachmann has ‘sold out’ to the GOP establishment and will be attempting to siphon off Republican primary votes from Sarah Palin, whom the GOP hierarchy loath and are determined to stop. Some have posted that Rollins is just a hired hand, as it were, and that Bachmann will dictate policy positions, etc. Like most Freepers, I’ve never run a national political campaign and so I can’t state with any credibility that Ed Rollins won’t be the real force in a Bachmann campaign, but somehow, I don’t see Rollins, a 68-year-old, longtime political ‘insider’ with a thick resume and, one assumes, plenty of money, signing on to a Minnesota congressional representative’s small-hope campaign for the Republican presidential nomination unless he has an ulterior motive. I suspect, based on Rollins’ past harsh criticisms of Sarah Palin, it’s to ‘use’ Michelle Bachmann’s candidacy to ‘stop’ Sarah Palin by taking away votes Palin would otherwise receive from conservatives. I hope I’m wrong. If not, I hope this ploy fails.
Good points.
Consider also the ton of money just to kick off a primary run.
Bachman made quite a few calls to Hannity and Levin pleading for money in her tight race. I seem to remember maybe $13 mil mentioned. Don’t know how much is left over.
So one of the first things Rollins is offering her is access to money and possible old line local ground troops, the second tier GOP hierarchy.
Bachman’s last few call to Levin and Hannity as overly unctous and distasteful. First niggling thing that caused me to step away.
How can you siphon votes from someone who isn’t running?