From POLITICO’s Arena:
Question:
Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has fallen from the winner of the Ames Straw Poll to a candidate struggling to prevent a dead last finish in her home state of Iowa. Recently, her Iowa state campaign chairman defected to Ron Paul’s camp. Already low on cash, prospects for reelection to her congressional seat look less than assured.
Why did Bachmann’s campaign so rapidly implode? Is there any way she could make a surprise recovery?
Rodell Mollineau, President, American Bridge 21st Century
Michele Bachmann’s campaign imploded for exactly the reason that political experts in D.C. never took her campaign seriously to begin with and why many were so surprised by her victory at Ames.
As people who follow politics closely already knew, while her bombastic rhetoric may be ideal for riling up a crowd, her propensity for gaffes leaves her vulnerable once one stops and actually thinks about what she said. This is a candidate that actually told a crowd in South Carolina that the reason that she worked for the IRS is “because the first rule of war is ‘know your enemy.'” These type of outlandish statements and unforced errors may have helped her raise money as a backbencher congresswoman, but couldn’t hold up against the scrutiny of a national campaign.
Published: Dec 30, 2011