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I recently posted an article suggesting that Mchele Bachmann's candidacy, and its impact on Sarah Palin, is reminiscent of the 1980 candidacy of Phil Crane, which Ronald Reagan considered a threat to his nomination: Is Michele Bachmann Sarah Palin's Phil Crane? LINKAs I point out in the article linked above, Crane never really thought he had a chance for the nomination, and he was content to have one of the moderates (Baker or Bush) get the nomination in hopes that they would install Crane as the Vice-Presidential nominee. I did not explore some of the reasons why Crane's belief was...

Bachmann’s newly installed political team has had its own battles with message discipline — typified by campaign manager Ed Rollins’ recent comments alleging that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin hasn’t been “serious” over the last few years. After the incident, Bachmann was “very firm” with Rollins, according to an adviser to the congresswoman, telling him this should not happen again and that there should be “no more press”. Bachmann also demanded that Rollins call the Palin people and apologize. “She is definitely not tone deaf,” the source added. Bachmann’s move to limit her exposure in the wake of her debate...

Just happened, very strange! Wolf Blitzer Interview with Michele Bachmann. Blitzer asked Bachmann 5 times do you agree with Tim Pawlenty that Mitt romney is disqualified from being the Republican nominee for president because he supports mandated healthcare.? She kept responding that she's against obamacare/mandates. Blitzer tried again to pin down some kind of answer. She evaded the question at every turn, didn't want to touch it and finally a frustrated Blitzer then says, "You obviously don't want to answer the question?" I know people say that nominees shouldn't attack other nominees yet but if not now, when? because Romney...

Around the time that President Clinton got into hot water with Monica Lewinsky in 1998, wife Hillary coined the phrase "vast right-wing conspiracy" to denote the supposed nefarious, political forces that were determined to bring her husband down and cause him to leave office. Personally I think Hillary was a bit off in her assessment of Clinton's enemies (personally I think Bill Clinton was his own worse enemy)but 13 years later I think we do have a vast right-wing conspiracy set up to derail the Presidential ambitions of Sarah Palin. In the past I focused more on the Left and...

Michele Bachmann adviser Ed Rollins' response to the sharp criticisms from Sarah Palin's world just now was to "let it go." But he didn't go quietly, telling me, "I haven't lived in Washington D.C. in 15 years, and I've been taken to the woodshed by the big boys." "As far as we're concerned, it's not" an ongoing fight, he insisted. "This was my one comment, which I shouldn't have made, at the end of the day this has nothing to do with Michele, Michele's campaign, or any of the rest of it. This was my transition from being an analyst...

An adviser to Rep. Michele Bachmann sends over this fairly ruffles-smoothing statement:   “The Congresswoman has nothing but admiration and respect for Governor Palin. The two enjoy a good friendship, and Rep. Bachmann looks forward to working with the Governor for the common goal of making sure President Obama is a one-term President.”

Michele Bachmann adviser Ed Rollins' response to the sharp criticisms from Sarah Palin's world just now was to "let it go." But he didn't go quietly, telling me, "I haven't lived in Washington D.C. in 15 years, and I've been taken to the woodshed by the big boys." [.....] Of Team Palin's call for a retraction, he said, "What's the retraction? I say she's serious?"

Earlier this week, what could be the first shots were fired in a potential rivalry between potential Republican presidential hopefuls Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. On Tuesday, Bachmann campaign manager Ed Rollins said Palin wasn’t a “serious” candidate for president and that upset many Palin supporters, who also tend to support Bachmann. In an appearance on Thursday’s syndicated “Hugh Hewitt Show,” columnist Mark Steyn asked the question – what is Bachmann doing with Rollins on her team in the first place? “Well you know, let me say it as bluntly as I can because I...

University of Virginia political guru Larry Sabato thinks that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's potential BFF in the race for the GOP presidential nomination could be no other than Rep. Michele Bachmann, the hard-charging conservative from Minnesota. The reasoning is that Mrs. Bachmann's possible entrance into the race could throw a serious roadblock on former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's perceived path to victory, which starts with a win or — at the very least — a strong showing in Iowa. Mrs. Bachmann "could torpedo Pawlenty's chances," Mr. Sabato writes in his latest rundown of the GOP field. "Bachmann has a...

I feel a certain sympathy for Michele Bachmann and if it came out that she ordered Ed Rollins to launch that premtive strike against Sarah Palin (or at least agree to it), I wouldnt blame her. The fact that Ed Rollins is leading her campaign is evidence that Bachmann is serious about making a go for the nomination. Up until this point Palin is still relying on sycophantic amateurs for serious political advice. There is no certainty that Palin is even running yet (although I'm thinking she will). If I were Michele Bachmann, I would be very resentful of Palin's...

His hire was also her first real campaign decision. If you’re not up to speed on the story, here’s what’s going on. Rep. Bachmann hired veteran Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins to manage her campaign. Campaign managers have to carry a few qualities, among them toughness, a bit of ruthlessness, communications and fundraising savvy (and there are many qualities packed into those two qualities), and a certain ability to provide useful leadership and simultaneously blend into the background. That last is because, while they manage the campaign, the campaign isn’t about them. It’s about the candidate. But Ed Rollins tends...

[snip beginning of article] ... Ed Rollins, dismissed Palin as “not serious” in a radio interview. He suggested in an interview with POLITICO that Bachmann would profit from the contrast. Bachmann will “be so much more substantive,” Rollins said. “People are going to say, ‘I gotta make a choice and go with the intelligent woman who’s every bit as attractive.’” “I’m not afraid of Palin,” he said, adding the strategy would have been the same for Mike Huckabee. Bachmann has been laying the groundwork for this argument for months, stepping away from some of the more dramatic rhetoric that brought...

Via the Daily Caller and Politico, if jabs like this are already being thrown before Palin’s even in the race, how brutal will things be in six months when the two of them and Herman Cain are battling for the grassroots vote in Iowa? Good lord. It’s going to be a long, hot, nasty summer, my friends. “Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years,” Rollins told Brian Kilmeade on his radio show, Kilmeade and friends. “She got the Vice Presidential thing handed to her, she didn’t go to work in the sense of trying to gain...

Not surprisingly, Bachmann has come under the same types of snide attack as Sarah Palin from the mainstream media, entertainment industry and left-blogosphere.  There is a special place reserved for conservative women in the Democratic toolkit of mockery and derision. But Bachmann just made a big mistake.  I'll repeat what I wrote when Mike Huckabee was considering whether to run again with Ed Rollins as his campaign manager: Run, don't walk, away from Ed Rollins and the others who think that demeaning Sarah Palin is the best way to advance your campaign.Sure enough, Rollins having just been hired by Bachmann, is at it again...