Free Republic

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.”

Washington (CNN)– A top adviser to Sarah Palin fired back at Ed Rollins, the longtime Republican operative tapped to run Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign, after Rollins dismissed Palin as "not serious" in a radio interview this week. Rollins also told Politico on Tuesday that Bachmann will "be so much more substantive" than Palin, and said he is "not afraid" of the former Alaska governor. Michael Glassner, the chief of staff for Palin's political action committee, issued a rare public statement Wednesday rebuking Rollins as a Washington relic. "Beltway political strategist Ed Rollins has a long, long track record...

[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...

Today Michele Bachmann’s spokesman, Ed Rollins, whom she recently hired, had some rather nasty things to say about Governor Palin. In order to give Bachmann the benefit of the doubt, we respectfully request that she either affirm her support for the long-time beltway fossil’s idiotic comments…or refudiate them. Update: (h/t Jim R) Via the Star Tribune, another of Bachmann’s employees, Andy Parrish, attempted to rationalize the comments of her newest employee, Ed Rollins: Bachmann aide Andy Parrish said Rollins was not speaking as a Bachmann adviser. “The Congresswoman and Ms. Palin have an excellent relationship,” Parrish said in an e-mail. “Rollins was in his media analyst role.” People can judge for themselves...

Bachmann vs. Palin feud hits Twitter By Matt Lewis A few weeks ago, I pointed out that a prominent Sarah Palin blogger had turned on Michele Bachmann. On Fox News Sunday this week, Palin pointed out that she, unlike Bachmann, had executive experience (though added that Bachmann had strengths, too). The feud was taken to a new level, however, when Bachmann’s new “celebrity” campaign manager, Ed Rollins referred to Palin as “not serious.” This was too much for Palin supporter and talk radio host, Tammy Bruce who took to her Twitter feed. Bruce, who also appears in the new film...

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...