I thought it was kind of a odd choice for someone who wants to claim the TEA Party mantle. Well today, Ed Rollins takes a swipe at Palin and proves to me that he will be a very odd fit with Bachmann.
Politico: Michele Bachmann's new top consultant, Ed Rollins, began his tenure with scathing criticism of potential Bachmann rival Sarah Palin.
"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 more substance, she gave up her governorship."
He suggested that the contrast would favor Bachmann.
"Michele Bachmann and others [have] worked hard, she has been a leader of the Tea Party which is a very important element here, she has been an attorney, she has done important things with family values."
"She is probably the best communicator [in the GOP field] now that Mike Huckabee's not in there," he said.If Rollin's strategy is to elevate Bachmann by stepping on Palin, then I am afraid that Bachmann's 2012 chances are ruined before they begun.
Rollins has long been skeptical of Palin, but his new role with Bachmann suggests that criticism will become part of her campaign, though she has publicly praised the former Alaska governor.
While it is true that Bachmann and Palin share the many of the same voters, Palin's fans are beyond fiercely loyal. Should Palin not run, these Palin fans will beat a path to Herman Cain rather than support a Republican who condoned bashing Palin.
Rollin's strategy also shows he is clueless about how Bachmann matches up to Palin. If any of these early polls are to be believed, then it should be obvious to Rollins that Palin has the greater support among the base, because Palin consistently polls higher than Bachmann. Again, how does it serve Bachmann?
It is almost like Rollins want Palin and Bachmann voters to make their choices now rather than later. That will certainly happen if Palin fans feel that their gal is under attack. I cannot see how that ends well for Bachmann.
If I were Bachmann I would can this clown immediately and in the most public way. Keeping Rollins on will only doom her chances with the very people who would be her most enthusiastic supporters.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: The Daily Caller
Via: Politico
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24 comments:
Yea, but who says there's logic in politics.
Fiercely loyal? Not exactly how I would word it.
Yup. Anyone beating up on Palin, who is not even runny, is a douche.
Second Anonymous.
I don't think Palin will run but why would anyone considering a run allow one of their people say anything negative about her. She will be able to help any candidate a number of ways. One of the most important is raising a lot of money for someone's campaign. I would want her on my side.
I still like Cain and hope the media will give him a chance to get out his message. If he is not the candidate, I will support anyone against Obama.
Palin supporters aren't only loyal, but fanatical. They're nearing the level of Ron Paul supporters.
It is a terrible move by Bachmann, but in all honesty, it will hurt both significantly by exposing Palin supporters as mindless drones incapable of seeing any flaw in their "queen", and Bachmann, who never really had a shot will take enough damage to make her irrelevant.
Palin still has a very important role to play, and it is almost necessary for her to run to push the field of potential candidates to the right, and hopefully reset and center on a decent conservative while pushing the establishment types to the extreme that would be indistinguishable from the Dems. If Palin comes in and destroys Romney/Gingrich/Huntsman, but leaves shortly after, it will leave us with a better shot of getting a real conservative without the baggage, and since Palin would be out of the picture, the effect would be that moderates and independents would feel relieved and comfortable voting for a Republican.
Of course, it could backfire, and split the right/tea party people and push an establishment guy to the forefront---- timing would be very important.
madmath1:
Sadly logic and common sense have taken hiatus in politics.
JACG:
How about extremely devoted. You cannot really blame them. The woman has been give such an unfair shake, even from the establishment. It does cause folks to get their shackles up.
2nd Anony:
It is silly to attack Palin before she announces. It it stupid too, because if she doesn't run, she can then retaliate as brutally as she pleases. I do believe Palin has all the skill necessary to sink any budding campaign.
Kartman:
If Rollins keeps up his attacks on Palin and Palin does not run, Herman Cain will certainly be the beneficiary. Palin fans would abandon Bachmann and throw their support behind Cain. With supporters like that, Cain will go very far.
Ozzie:
Very astute analysis. I too believe that Palin is running in 2012. The question is, will she run to win or just run to shape the field. Stepping on Romney's toes is just a sample of what she can accomplish.
In a Palin/ Bachmann dust up, the key is for Palin to neutralize Bachmann early. If such a dust up drags on, both will be damaged.
As far as the party splitting, the establishment will see to that. They are not going to accept any outsiders like Cain or Palin. This is why, I think we conservatives might have to start warming up to the idea of a conservative/Rino ticket (e.g. Palin/Romney, Cain/Pawlenty you get the picture).
Reagan had to do it and the 2012 winner might have to too. While it sounds awful, the truth is we can always ditch the RINO eight years later.
Cain looks like he will be the pick IMO. I can wait for West....
Since early this year it felt like Rubio was being positioned for the VP spot (I thought Romney was going to be the top spot) in order to placate the tea partiers.
We can only hope that the influence is strong enough that it's the other way around and we do end up with a Cain/RINO-
I know the last time I heard your opinion on Christie things had changed, but in the VP slot, he would lend so much financial credibility and general acceptance to any newcomer to the political stage.
Cain/Christie can be a winner.
I'm a Giuliani guy. But I don't think there is enough acceptance from the social conservatives to allow him to advance through the primary process.
Then, the rest of the field. Who has the priors necessary for my support? I look at Sarah, Michelle, but if I couldn't go for The Donald, I'm not sure I could go for Herman. For toughness I could look at Rudy, Sarah, Michelle, Representative West and Governor Christie. For working together as a team? Rudy, Sarah, Herman, Allen and Chris. Even with their variances in certain policy views.
Why the attack on Sarah?
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abc - solid
Supported mb candidacy, but this business from the mb camp is an anathema – snarky comments/”closet attacks” are the purview of the slimes on the left (no, not all on the left are slime – those not of the muck are free to show themselves): conservatives should be about compare/contrast policy differences, ideological variations, implementation ideas, demonstrating power of “positive persuasion”, etc (plenty of room to be smarmy there as well, but oh well)
mb must own the er spouts – he was her choice and the buck must stop with her: not only “must” she dismiss but also genuinely disavow such comments/tactics – otherwise, her candidacy is doa (at least for me)
btw, your kind analysis of oz/jacg notwithstanding, find it interesting that some take the opportunity to “pig-pile (ref li)" on sp vs addressing the nature of the mb tactics against "our own kind"
Michele Bachmann just moved from the top of my list to the bottom. I'm not particularly fond of Cain, but if Bachmann's strategy is to join the establishment RNC and DNC by bashing Sarah Palin there is no way in hell I can support her.
I thought she represented the real America, but I guess she is just another beltway elitist after all.
How about as blind and rabid as the Paulites and Obama followers? Yes, she has been unfairly attacked on many many occassions. But you can't even critize her in any way or you end up getting attacked as a bad conservative. She has a cult like following. It scared me 3 years ago and it scares me now.
Some of the things that she does you have remarked on and found funny or a positive. I find those same things as proof of someone who is thin-skinned. What she did to Romeny in New Hampshire was wrong. I am far from a fan of Romney's, but he has every right to enter the race and let the voters decide. I didn't find her showing him up as an attractive attribute of hers.
Ozzie:
Yes, please count out West, it just isn't realistic to consider him for 2012.
Cain could very well be our guy, if Palin doesn't make a run for it, look for her to get behind him. Palin has been very complimentary of Cain.
Rubio in the VP spot is too a wee bit of a stretch, but much more reasonable than West for POTUS. Look for the establishment candidates to go ga-ga over Rubio, not because of his TEA Party cred but because he is a Latino (yeah, the establishment is that shallow).
The more I see the establishment's hostility towards true conservative candidates the more I think we will have to take a conservative/RINO ticket. Especially if the conservative is Cain or Palin. Both of them do not have strong ties to the establishment and the establishment will not allow themselves to be removed from power.
Re: Chris Christie, let just say the bloom is off the rose. That helicopter stunt was it for me. He would make an attractive VP, but everyone should know this guy is establishment city.
Ten Mile Island:
In 2008 Giuliani was my second choice, in 2012 I hate to say he is off my radar. He is a very tough and effective chief executive. One of his best traits was he could not care less how much is opponents howled at the moon. The danger for us is that the same ability could easily be used against us when he decided to go left on a certain issue.
There is just no reason for Rollins to open fire on Palin. There is just no upside to it for Bachmann.
bd:
Thanks. You are right, Bachmann has to get in front of Rollins, but I think it maybe too late. In my new post on this topic, I think Rollins gave Sarah what she was looking for.
The pig piling on Palin has a lot to do with some people putting beating Obama over getting a quality candidate. What they don't realize is that without the right person as Pres, we might as well have another term of Obama.
Greyhawk:
I don't think you are alone in your thinking.
"But you can't even critize her in any way or you end up getting attacked as a bad conservative. "
When all criticism is 'she is a stupid, illiterate, ignorant, snowbilly twit who cannot speak properly and is only in it for fame, money and brand' yet the facts dispute such criticism expect an attack back.
Tell us 'conservative girl' what are your issues with her conservative policies and public service record?
And if you use 'she quit' as your only argument then I would respond with the fact that should Chris Christie decide to run in 2012 and not finish his term, his action would be dignified with the word 'he resigned'
When it comes to criticism, double-standard arguments cannot be applied.
Susan
JACG:
Ok I will give you that some of Palin's followers are over zealous. But remember that zealotry, is the stuff that wins tough fights. I have always said that Ron Paul's crazy supporters are every bit the match to take on the deranged left.
Regarding, Palin stepping on Romney being a thin skinned move, I don't think so. I think Ozzie is closer to the truth. Palin was probably trying to cull the #1 RINO in the field. Why don't we wait and see if she steps on any other RINO toes before we judge.
Susan:
I could care less that she quit as governor. That isn't an issue for me. She did what she thought was best at the time.
I don't think she is stupid either. I just don't think she can win a general election. It has nothing to do with her. When you have people who still can't distinqinsh between her comments and Tina Fey jokes, there is a serious problem. It has been almost three years, if it isn't cleared up by now it never will be. I live in an area that leans to the left, they will not give her a chance. They will not look at her resume, their minds are made up. If she can't pull independents she can't win.
What type of president she will make is irrelevent if she can't win an election.
Your reaction is exactly what I am talking about. You make assumptions that have no basis in what I said. I like her. I just won't support her run for the presidency.
The cult like following she has is not healthy. She isn't a saint nor is she a saviour. She is flawed human being just like the rest of us.
I wouldn't support Christie either. My first choice has decided not to run. (Mike Pence)
Clifton--
Eighty percent of the time he's where we want him.
As an update to my previous comment, I had a chance to watch a conversation between Beck and Cain yesterday.
There's a reason why the MSM won't cover Republican candidates. They make too much sense.
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JACG:"I don't think she is stupid either. I just don't think she can win a general election. It has nothing to do with her. When you have people who still can't distinqinsh between her comments and Tina Fey jokes, there is a serious problem. It has been almost three years, if it isn't cleared up by now it never will be. I live in an area that leans to the left, they will not give her a chance. They will not look at her resume, their minds are made up. If she can't pull independents she can't win.
What type of president she will make is irrelevent if she can't win an election.
Your reaction is exactly what I am talking about. You make assumptions that have no basis in what I said. I like her. I just won't support her run for the presidency.
The cult like following she has is not healthy. She isn't a saint nor is she a saviour. She is flawed human being just like the rest of us."
If I had a nickel for every time I had to defend myself for criticizing Palin...but I haven't done it quite as neatly as you just did because it is frustrating to even try to make those points.
I would still support her if she gets the nomination, but I am not confident in her ability to win.
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