Ed Rollins is the only Republican operative in the country who I kind of like. It’s probably his blue-collar roots and his history as a boxer that makes him seem like a regular dude. He’s a mercenary, like almost all the other great American campaign managers. But he also has a tendency to offer some blunt criticism of his own party. His 1984 “Morning in America” effort set the standard for great campaigns until David Plouffe came along in 2008.
I was a little bit disgusted with Rollins when he accepted Michele Bachmann’s offer to run her campaign. He doesn’t need the money and he knows better than to think she’d be an acceptable president. Rollins quit as H. Ross Perot’s campaign manager when he figured out that Perot had a screw loose. So, why was he going to help Bachmann?
Maybe he does need the money. He took the job and led Bachmann to victory in the Ames Straw Poll. I guess that was the extent of his plan for Bachmann, because he just stepped down as Bachmann’s campaign manager. Perhaps Rick Perry’s decision to announce his candidacy the same day as the Ames Straw Poll was successful in preventing Bachmann from gaining any positive momentum, and now Rollins’s whole plan has blown up. Yesterday, he told the Washington Post that it is a battle between Perry and Romney, which is not the kind of thing you’d expect a Bachmann advocate to say. Of course, he’s creating a facade that he’s resigning for health reasons and will remain a senior adviser, but that doesn’t explain why his assistant is leaving the campaign.
Mrs. Bachmann’s campaign cited health reasons for the abrupt change in the role Mr. Rollins, 68, will play in the presidential campaign.
“Ed is moving away from the demanding day-to-day operations of the campaign and into a senior adviser role,” said the spokeswoman, Alice Stewart. “He is fantastic and will continue to be invaluable on the campaign.”
Politico reported the change in Mr. Rollins’s role. The Web site also reported on Monday night that Mr. Rollins’s deputy, David Polyansky, would leave the campaign. “I wish Michele nothing but the best, and anyone who underestimates her as a candidate does so at their own peril,” Mr. Polyansky told Politico.
It sounds to me like Rollins had a plan and things went according to plan, and yet it still didn’t work. So, he and his team are cutting their losses. It’s unlikely that Bachmann will regain her former numbers. She’s already peaked.
Or, as someone on Twitter noted: “Michele Bachmann’s campaign team pulled out faster than Marcus Bachmann after breeding duty.”
Oh, that’s harsh.
Hmmm, well, looks like it doesn’t matter how Perry does in the debates tonight then. He will probably sail to the nomination now. I always added a caveat to my Bachmann prediction (if Perry entered, then all bets were off), but I still didn’t think he’d enter because I don’t think he’s got it. I’m not saying Bachmann has it necessarily, but she’s Palin with the ability to be focused and actually run without quitting (plus her fundraising in the House was incredible, so that was a huge added bonus).
debates tomorrow*
It seemed remarkable to me that once Rollins joined the team there was a distinct change in Bachmann’s campaign messaging discipline.
Now the question will be whether she reverts to character or remembers his lesson. It will be interesting if Rollins returns to CNN or rests up and moves into another campaign.
It is highly likely that Rollins left because she wouldn’t have the message discipline to avoid looking crazy.
This was my thought, too. Rollins doesn’t have much tolerance for either crazy or undisciplined. Methinks he went in thinking she was crazy like a fox, took a look around, and dropped the “fox” part.
As a political mercenary he saw a battle he could get some worthwhile exposure for himself; he’s always known she was crazy, that was a given, but his presence did take Bachmann further up in the polls than she ever would have gotten without him. Before Perry she was knocking on Romney’s door. And now his exit is to declare himself untangled.
Rollins could read the writing on the wall. It was obvious that there was no way that corporate America was going to let Bachmann win. She was getting absolutely savaged by the MSM with one disclosure after another. I saw a little of her on the TV yesterday where she was confronted with her statements that the earthquake and the hurricane were God’s way of sending a message. She really failed at her response.
Rollins got out while the getting was good.