What I find interesting is how many are pointing their fingers here at RINO Romney as the source of this story.
Bachmann has traditionally been viewed by many at FR as a stalking horse for Romney, i.e. she’s been running for Romney’s Veep slot by trying to prevent Pawlenty from becoming the nominee. Her squishiness during the first debate (refusing to criticize Romneycare) reinforced that view.
Regardless, when it comes to motive, Pawlenty gains the most
Pawlenty gains nothing - his lack of charisma hurts him which makes his fundraising bleak (now he is trying to follow Palin with a bus tour of Iowa)
The DC has been very kind to Myth. They also take every opportunity to slam Palin and Bachmann. That is one reason there is some speculation as to who ginned this up. Pawlenty being the source for this also doesn’t seem to make sense since Mittens has a track record for dealing from under the deck and Paws is a seemingly nice guy. If Bachmann goes down, Myth and Cain will be the beneficiaries.
The only folks that think Bachmann and Myth are connected are a small but very vocal group of Palinistas. I don’t think it is a predominant thought here even though most Bachmann threads get highjacked within minutes with conspiracy theories.