Left-leaning PPP is showing GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann ahead by a point nationally now with 21% to Romney's 20. Interestingly, undeclared Rick Perry is in third with 12%, followed by Cain with 11% with Ron Paul (9%), Newt (7%) and T-Paw (5%) rounding it out...
Funny then the timing with the big headache story, looks to me like Team Mittens might be in panic-mode... they surely see and feel the momentum going against them has grown to a swell. But while fervent Herman Cain supporter Stacy McCain thought he was witnessing a Bachmann "implosion" as the dubious migraine narrative hit the wire -and understandably found it difficult to condone Rep. Bachmann's Gestapo-like security detail- he did post an interesting bit from Bachmann's son -a medical resident at the University of Connecticut- who says the story is nonsense and she's nothing like "incapacitated" by the episodes .
My brother has migraines, and all I know is that he works right through them as a diesel technician- it's not pleasant, but he is able to function fine in a dangerous and stressful occupation... fwiw.
Then a WSJ/NBC poll released yesterday as well has Romney still up at 30%, with Bachmann setting at 16%... I haven't looked into the methodology of that one, but consider the trend: Michele Bachmann was at 3% in this same poll just a month ago.
Here Rep. Bachmann weighs-in on the Obammunist-orchestrated faux-debt crisis...
Although Bachmann’s lead is narrow and within the poll’s margin of error, the best news for Bachmann is her “favorable” number is ten points higher than Romney’s.
Interestingly, her “unfavorable” number is 14 percentage points lower than Romney’s, giving her an incredible 65-favorability margin.
She's clearly surprising a lot of people... and against the expectations of most, rising in New Hampshire now, too. The MSM has of course taken notice, and immediately commenced with appalling smear attacks, as is their custom. But even the far-left LA Times can see that Bachmann is running circles around them... and the money is pouring in.
In my opinion a strong Bachmann campaign -like we've seen thus far- keeps Sarah Palin on the sidelines, and perhaps running for the open (Kyl) AZ Senate seat from her new Scottsdale base. The Arctic Fox has even endorsed the idea of Rick Perry entering the race, making her appear uninterested in running herself from where I'm standing.
Alas, if Perry and/or Palin do enter it could all change overnight for Rep Bachmann, so she needs to continue to build maximum possible momentum leading up to those possibilities. But so far, so good for this talented, principled TEA Party firecracker.
Increasingly unlikely to pull off a victory in Iowa, Mitt Romney is also slipping as Bachmann gains in New Hampshire... where Romney is said to own a house.
I don't know how many people care about where his various pads are, but Flipper's political support is shallow... tepid... and fickle: this man will never be the Republican nominee for president, imho- just doesn't seem like the Man of the Hour, I can't see it.
And consider that if I'm wrong, and Mittens pulls it off: here comes Trump as an independent, a worst-case scenario for the GOP... but they'll have brought that on themselves by not running a conservative in a TEA Party era that demands it.
Tim Pawlenty isn't impressing anybody by turning on Bachmann early in an attempt to stunt her ascent in Iowa- this guy has the personality of a (broken) parking meter, and looked like a two-faced worm for not confronting Mittens on RomneyCare when presented a golden opportunity to do so in the first debate.
It was probably over that night for "nice guy" T-Paw- fundraising efforts have gone nowhere. His proposals are largely sound, but to me he comes across as frustrated and charmless, lacking the confidence, grace, and charisma necessary to ensure the removal of Obama from power and lead this country back to greatness.
How can you not love Herman Cain- a cool guy, a real patriot- and what a story. But his lack of campaign experience, staff turmoil, and shallow understanding of international affairs in a perilous world has this real conservative unable to gain support outside of a fervent base, and thus also unable to break into the upper tier with Bachmann and Romney.
He now sits at around 9% in Iowa, basically tied with T-Paw. But with Team Cain in disarray, he's having a tough time raising money after an initial burst online- it appears that a bit of Bachmann's rise is coming at his expense.
The others?
Well, Newt is out of money and unloved-- and Santorum, Huntsman, and Ron Paul are not -and will never be- first tier candidates for the Republic nomination... forget it.
Leader of the TEA Party caucus announces candidacy...
then proceeds to show 'em what she's made of
Besides the fact that Romney escaped the evening unscathed (candidates were agreeable, introducing themselves and only attacking Obama) the evening's other winner clearly seems to have been Michele Bachmann...
The Minnesota Congresswoman definitely made the most of the opportunity, announcing that she's filed to run and will soon make a formal announcement. In debate, Bachmann came across very well -sharp and extremely well-informed on the issues- tearing into the Obammunist regime while charming the audience with an empathetic, folksy charisma and clear, concise arguments:
"As President of the United States, I will not rest until ObamaCare is repealed... you can take it to the bank and cash the check."
"What could the President be thinking, passing a bill like this (ObamaCare)... knowing full well it will kill 800,000 jobs...?"
Unlike how the media has tried to wrongly portray the TEA party... the TEA Party is really made up of dissaffected Democrats, independents, people who have never been political a day in their life, libertarians, Republicans, it's a wide swath of America coming together- I think that's why the Left fears it so much. They're people who simply want to take the country back, they want it to work again...
We're going to win, make no mistake about it. So I want to announce tonight... Barack Obama is a one-term president
This election will be about economics: it will be about 'how will we create jobs' - 'how will we turn the economy around'- 'how will we have a pro-growth economy'. That's a great story for Republicans to tell: President Obama can't tell that story, his report card has a big, fat failing grade on it. But Republicans have an awesome story to tell-
I've voted against raising the debt-ceiling in the past, and unless there are serious cuts, I can't.... but I'd like to speak of someone far more eloquent than I- someone who said "Just dealing with the issue of raising the debt ceiling is a failure of leadership". That person was then-Senator Barack Obama: he refused to raise the debt ceiling because he said President Bush had 'failed at leadership'.
And I just see now that Eric Erickson at RedState was put back in his chair by Bachmann's performance...
The surprise last night was Michelle Bachmann.
If there was a winner of the anti-Romney coalition, Michelle Bachmann not only won, but won by a wide margin. Suddenly, for many, the flirtation toward Herman Cain and others will go in Bachmann’s direction.
Bachmann’s stellar performance also contrasted with Tim Pawlenty who could have sealed the deal, or taken substantial steps toward sealing the deal, of being the anti-Romney candidate.
Michele Bachmann's been languishing at around 5% in the primary race so far, so with this under her belt and the campaign official it will be interesting to see the next poll... and then if Perry and/or Palin are getting in. Erickson thinks -as do I- that now we'll see Rick Perry come in, as anti-Romney factions join together and back him... did I hear somebody say 'Perry-Bachmann 2012'...?
