Michele Bachmann Losing Steam in Iowa
Michele Bachmann isn’t sounding so sure of herself and her campaign these days, during an appearance on an Iowa radio station this week she was asked if she had to win Iowa’s caucuses to keep her presidential campaign alive, a question she danced around until asked the third time at which point she responded in an uncertain voice:
“No, no, no, no,” while adding, “Not necessarily; we might go on.”
It was one of those rare occasions when Bachmann wasn’t her cheery self when discussing her campaigns path.
In the meantime her “late competitor” Rick Perry has gained steam along with fellow GOP member Mitt Romney who have pushed Bachmann out of the debate spotlight while much of Bachmann’s original Tea Party supporters have shifted their focus to Perry who’s religious views are not seen as far outside of the mainstream.
One longtime Iowa GOP operative told the L.A. Times:
“She’s a great candidate but has turned into a really bad campaigner,” while adding, “She has not gone to northwest Iowa, to the heart of where her support would be. Of Iowa’s 99 counties, she’s only visited a handful, most of which are urban counties. She needs to go out to the rural counties — she would be well received.”
Adding to Bachmann’s demeanor is likely the fact that crowds for her most recent outings have dwindled while valuable airtime on major networks and cable stations have been handed off to her competitors.
In the meantime Michelle Bachmann is claiming that her drop in the polls is related to the “flurry of excitement” over Texas Governor Rick Perry entering the race, telling a reporter:
“We’re very grateful for where we’re at right now,” while adding, “We think we are positioned perfectly right now.”
Bachmann’s own campaign manager Keith Nahigian wrote about the importance of Iowa in a fundraising appeal to supporters.
“It’s extremely hard for any candidate to win both Iowa and New Hampshire,” and “Thus for Michele, the early state is Iowa — and we plan to run aggressively and to win decisively.”
Do you think Michelle Bachmann stands a chance?
