Bachmann campaign waning as top level campaign staffers resign

Spread the love

Loading

Bachmann’s campaign setbacks are not limited to the decline of campaign donations. Now two top staffers – Ed Rollins, presidential campaign manager, and deputy campaign manager David Polyansky, appear to be bailing out of what they view as a ship, torpedoed by the Perry entry into the race for the Oval Office.

One of Rep. Michele Bachmann’s top political advisers is reducing his role in her presidential campaign in what appears to be a shakeup as the Minnesota congresswoman struggles to maintain her momentum.

Ed Rollins, a respected veteran of many Republican presidential campaigns — including the late president Ronald Reagan’s — is stepping down from his day-to-day duties for what he and the campaign say are health reasons. He’ll become a senior adviser. Rollins’ deputy, David Polyansky, is leaving the campaign.

In a statement released late Monday, the Bachmann campaign announced it is “executing a planned restructuring strategy,” likely in response to the entrance into the presidential race of Gov. Rick Perry, a candidate who appeals to the same populist, socially conservative constituency as Bachmann and who already has a national fundraising network.

Since Perry entered the race, he has rocketed to the top of the polls while Bachmann’s once meteoric rise has halted.

Perry’s entrance into the race “has slowed our money down,” Rollins acknowledged on CNN’s AC360 program Monday night, where he phoned in to discuss his changed role. “It took a lot of the momentum that we could have gotten out of the straw poll victory,” he added, referring to Bachmann’s victory in a symbolically important balloting of Iowa Republicans last month.

Of Bachmann, he said: “I think she is the third candidate at this point in time.” But he added that Perry has yet “to prove himself” and that Bachmann “is a good debater.” Rollins emphasized that he is remaining with the campaign. But at 64 and having survived a stroke, “I just don’t have the endurance to do 12-14 hour days, seven days a week anymore,” he said.

Continue reading here…

Related story at Yahoo News

Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart told Politico that the departures didn’t amount to a”shake-up,” and noted that Rollins’ move in particular wasn’t a surprise. “The plan all along has been to restructure things after the [Ames] straw poll.” Stewart described the moves as “restructuring” in interviews with other news outlets.

Bachmann on Aug. 13 captured first place in the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, staking her to an early top spot in the 2012 primary. But she has struggled since then to build on that momentum.

Rollins himself argued in a Washington Post interview published Sunday that Perry’s entry into the race blunted Bachmann’s momentum. Perry announced his candidacy on the day of the Ames straw poll, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty withdrew after his disappointing finish in the poll–and both moves, Rollins argued, undercut Bachmann’s bid to build a significant lead from her straw poll victory.

Rollins had also told the Post that Americans now view the 2012 GOP campaign as a two-way race between Perry and Mitt Romney. “The Perry-Romney race is now the story, with us the third candidate,” Rollins said. He predicted the upcoming presidential debates would afford Bachmann a chance to recapture momentum in the race.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of

7 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

I hope that she can hang in there till the initial honeymoon period is over with Perry at least. Who knows, maybe Perrys numbers will just keep going upward. But I wanted to see her in some more debates with the field whittled down some. And now that Sept 3 has come and gone and no announcement from Palin that leaves even fewer choices.

@MataHarley: You summed it up very well Mata. Thats my greatest fear right there. That we will get a weak GOP who will do some really bad damage in the next four years in social and fiscal policies. Then what in 2016? I don’t like it that we are being squeezed into a choice this early in the game at all. There were so many possibilities and so much excitement just over a month ago, but now it’s looking like the same old, same old all over again. I am already hearing the “Hold my nose, and pull the lever” and or “I will sit this one out.” Went to 3 different cook outs this past week-end and most people were really bummed out at the choices.

In Middle America, where I consult with my oil engineers from California, we are somewhat disappointed with the decline of Michele Bachmann. This little gal took on the savagery of the MSM, was one of the very few that has led the fight against Obamacare, was on board with Issa and King fighting the 2 billion dollar scam called Pigford, leads the elimination of the Dept. of Education and the Dept. of Energy and generally wants to reduce federal spending by 25%. She wants to defang the EPA and the Interior Dept. She backs Ryan to the hilt. This heroine has courage and is not done.
In the last election she was targeted by the DNC and won handily. Even Slick Willy campaigned against her. Little Michele has a profile in courage.

bachman continues to shoot herself in the foot. She’s against farm subsidies, yet co owns a farm that gets farm subsidies. She is agains medicare, yet she used to run a clinic that recieved payments from medicare. Does she really think she can say things like she does and no one will notice that she burns her candles from both ends. When a top politcal advisor and his assistant leave its a signal that the ship is floundering.