Bachmann Needs to the Pull the Knife Out of Palin’s Back

   After hiring controversial veteran Republican strategist Ed Rollins, it is expected that Minnesota Congresswoman and Congressional TEA Party Caucus Chair Michele Bachmann, will at any time announce her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. If she does run, while Bachmann could very well prove to be formidable in early nominating contests like Iowa and South Carolina, her plight to become the Republican presidential nominee will be far from easy. Now, thanks to her new loose cannon political operative, Ed Rollins, that plight has just gotten much harder.

On a radio show hosted by Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade, Rollins took the opportunity to trash Sarah Palin.

In addition to claiming “Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years,” Rollins stated “She [Palin] 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.”

Rollins who was up until recently an operative for Mike Huckabee, claimed that now that Mike Huckabee’s not in the race, in terms of the Republican running for President, Bachmann is “probably the best communicator” He also added “Michele Bachmann and others 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.”

And Sarah Palin hasn’t?

At 68, perhaps Rollins is losing what good judgment he has left. His claim that Palin “has not been serious” is not only an utterly ludicrous charge, it is a very politically dumb and strategically damaging statement for him to make. Millions ….. “millions”… of Americans take Sarah Palin quite seriously and they take her efforts to elect limited government, family values oriented, fiscal conservatives who have an appreciation for the U.S. Constitution, very seriously.

As for the charge that Palin can’t be taken seriously because she was, as he argues, simply handed the vice presidential

Ed Rollins

nomination in 2008 and then gave up her governorship, perhaps Rollins memory is slipping. I guess he forgets all the legitimate reasons why Palin was picked to run for Vice President. Some of those reasons include her willingness to oppose and defeat a popular sitting Governor from her own Party after rooting out corruption and standing up for justice. Another reason includes her defense and promotion of family values and her ability to govern as a Mayor and a Governor in a way that was fiscally responsible and legislatively efficient.

As for her giving up the governorship, Rollins should really avoid using the propaganda of liberals to promote one conservative and denounce another. As unbelievable as it may seem to Rollins, Palin is not your average politician. She brings to her politics a level of sincerity that is rarely seen in the D.C. beltway that Ed Rollins is familiar with. And it is that sincerity which forced Palin to decide that stepping down was the best thing for the state of Alaska because it would have allowed her very capable Lieutenant Governor to continue the business of the state, unhindered by the ridiculous number of expensive, time consuming, frivolous lawsuits that liberals were relentlessly attacking Palin with.

Ever since she was nominated for Vice President and delivered some energy to the lackluster campaign of John McCain, the left lost all self control and could not give up on trying to tear Palin apart. She embodies everything the left fears in a conservative. And so they undertook an assault on Palin that she believed was not in the best interest of the people Alaska. So instead, she allowed Sean Parnell, the Lieutenant Governor, to take the reigns of power and run with the agenda she set, but to do so unincumbered by the liberal effort to take Palin down. Palin could have easily thought of what might have been best for her personal political career. But she didn’t. Instead she put the people first. And when it was all said and done, what new responsibility did Palin undertake? She set out on a mission to help insure that in 2010, true conservatives got elected to positions as Senator, Congressmen and Governors.

Rollins may not want to see it that way. But it is obvious that he doesn’t want to see the truth. The truth makes Sarah Palin the greatest threat to Michele Bachmann’s popularity and success that there is.  So instead Rollins resorts to trash talk.

But that’s Ed Rollins. For as good as he once was….and he was good, Rollins has also shown a penchant for putting his foot in his mouth.

In 1993, after working on the upset victory of Christine Todd Whitman over New Jersey Governor Jim Florio, Rollins deposited himself right into in the middle of a scandal that involved political campaign payoffs to New Jersey ministers. He told Time Magazine

“We went into black churches and we basically said to ministers who had endorsed Florio, ‘Do you have a special project?’ And they said, ‘We’ve already endorsed Florio.’ We said, ‘That’s fine, don’t get up on the Sunday pulpit and preach. We know you’ve endorsed him, but don’t get up there and say it’s your moral obligation that you go on Tuesday to vote for Jim Florio.'”

He later tried to backtrack by claiming his original statement was an exaggeration.

This latest gaffe, only enforces the perception that Rollins is losing it.  For someone who was hired to promote Bachmann, in just a few moments of air time, he has hurt her far more than he has helped.  One need to go no further than Michele’s Facebook page to see evidence of that.

In just a matter of hours since Rollins comments came out, hundreds of Face book “Fans” have begun to turn on the Congresswoman. For instance there was this from Allen Pishotta:

“Why have you stabbed Sarah Palin in the back after all she did for you last year? Why have you forsaken the Tea Party Movement in order to become a “stalking horse” for Mitt Romney and yes we all know that you are working for the RINO Romney campaign so it is no secret. What was the political bribe needed to become a “Judas” and sell …conservatives out? I once heavily supported you now I will never give you another dime after this. You nickname is now Michele “Backstabbing” Bachmann because that is what you did.”

And this from Doreen Graney:

“Hey, Michelle, the last time Ed Rollins was part of a winning campaign my oldest son was a newborn baby. Today is his 30th birthday. Hope you’re not paying him much. You won’t be getting any support from me, financial or otherwise.”

Sue Lynn writes:

“Lost my support….Your just another politician…Backstabbing a good friend that helped you get re-elected…So much for that Christian talk you talk about…sure don’t practice it…I will never support you in the future because of your actions to a good friend”

Jolyn Colon demands an apology and states:

“Ed Rollins has a reputation for being a bomb thrower. Did you know that when you hired him? You need to step up personally and 1.) issue an apology to Sarah and 2.) fire this idiot before he steps in it again. Anything else is not good enough.”

And Gary Jackson was particularly mad:

“Michele, Sarah Palin and her millions of supporters have ALWAYS had your back. ALWAYS! Now you go hire one of the biggest scum bags on earth to run your campaign and the first thing he does is trash Sarah Palin.

You realize you have effectively ended any chance you ever had at ever being elected, right?

Good luck winning your House se…at again without any Palinista support and $$$$

What a pathetic loser you are.”

Most offhand comments usually have a short political shelf life. So very often statements like those made by Rollins,  which inspired the type of anymosity seen in the words above, are normally healed by time. But that is not the case here. Unless Michele Bachmann makes some very substantial overtures to Palin  and isnure that not only are Rollins’ remarks are retracted, but that she in no way shares his thinking about Palin, Bachmann will be seriously hurt by this. As Republican red as Palin supporters are, they are also true blue to Palin and quite defensive of her.  After witnessing over two years of endless, unfair, attacks on her and her family, Palin’s supporters have a right to be defensive. And they especially have a right to defend her against one who is suppose to be on their side.

Ed Rollin’s remarks were incredibly stupid, in every way. Politically, he alienated Palin supporters, the very people who could have easily been backers of Bachmann if Palin does not run, and cost Bachmann that potential support .  And there was absolutely no reason for that. Just this past Sunday, when Sarah Palin was asked by Fox News’ Chris Wallace, if there was room for her and Michele Bachmann in the 2012 Republican presidential race, Palin gave Bachmann credit for having stregths of her own that she would bring to the race, and went on to say that Bachmann would be a welcome addition to the race…. “the more the merrier” said Palin.

Unlike Rollins, who claims that Palin is “not serious”, in that answer, Palin proved to be more politically savvy than Rollins, a so called political expert. Well now it is time for Michele Bachmann to show how politically savvy she is. Does she have the ability to correct the wrong done to her by her own political consultant? Short of firing him, Palin supporters may not ever believe so.

On Monday, Sarah Palins website, Sarah PAC, was spruced up and transformed from a rather bland, one page, lackluster site occupying web space, into a multimedia platform with information, news and links. The move is prompting many to believe that Palin is in fact readying for a run for President. The revamped website comes on the heels of what was a battle cry of a speech for commonsense conservatism that she gave in Wisconsin on Saturday. That speech alone, prompted many to change their minds about what they though Sarah would do. But the combination of the two has really upped the speculation about a presidential candidacy.

From the previous lack of coordinated moves that would usually signal one preparing to run for President, I had begun to think that it was slightly more than likely that Sarah Palin was not running for President in 2012. Yet Palins desire to continuously make sure that she stakes a high visibility position on every major issue of the day has me too unsure to place any bets against her running. But with Palin you just never know. I have even thought that she could possibly be working on her own time schedule because she never intends to run in the Republican primaries and caucuses. I have thought that Palin could possibly be preparing to build herself up as the ultimate anti-establishment candidate and run for President as an independent candidate. Maybe even running as a TEA Party candidate. I still dont put it past her to do that, but it is not very likely.

But therein lies the intrigue that is Sarah. You can never quite be sure what Palin is going to do. This is a woman who as Governor, kept her pregnancy a secret until the baby was practically born. This is the same woman who stunned the political world when two years in to her term, she abruptly resigned from the office of Governor of Alaska so that the business of Alaska could proceed without the interference of endless frivolous lawsuits that came with the spotlight she after being nominated for Vice President. And to most people even that was a surprise. So Sarah Palin is full of surprises. She likes it that way. It allows her to make decisions and think them through long before the media pounces. Those surprises also make it possible for Palin to completely own entire news cycles and push all other events off the front page. In many ways she is a PR genius.

Polls currently have Palin in the middle of the pack and tracking shows that her approval ratings have been making a U-Turn in the wrong direction. But one should not assume that such things will deter Palin from running. Those numbers can easily be turned around. And if she sees a field of Republican candidates that does not have an electable prospect who does not say it like it is and doesn’t shares her anti-establishment beliefsand desire for a truly limited government, with less spending and less taxes, than she will run. Sarah will jump in to fill that void. At the moment, with no truly clear favorite in the running, that void is there and so long as it remains, so will the potential for a Sarah Palin presidential candidacy.

Palin Proves To Be Powerful at Madison TEA Party Rally

“Madison, I am so proud to be with you today. Madison, these are the frontlines in the battle for the future of our country! Those were the words used by Sarah Palin as she began a fiery speeech on the steps of the state Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin for a TEA Party rally that was held on Saturday. Palin’s speech proved that she still has what it takes to fire up the Republican base as well as the anti-establishment, limited government, less spending state rights, Taxed Enough Already movement. Hundreds joined in the type of boisterous cheers for Palin, that are usuallreserved for rock stars or stars of the silver screen. But Palin earnedthose cheers with a speech that struck every nerve of the anti-governemtn, anti-obama,crowd and she do so in a way that makes it impossible to not think of her as a potential candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. (see video below)

As cold as it was in the sleet and snow of the Madison rally, Sarah’s speech heated things up as she spoke of her family of union members and teachers who understand that a pension is a promise that must be kept but that a government must also remain solvent inorder to have the ability to keep that promise.