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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

And Then There Were Six...

Source: Wikipedia, Public Domain

Michele Bachmann announced she is dropping her bid for the Republican nomination. She won the Ames Straw Poll on August 13th, 2011, but finished 6th (effectively last since Jon Huntsman did not officially campaign in Iowa) in the 2012 Iowa Caucus. We wish her the best in her future endeavors. 

Some key questions remain: 

- What does this mean for the Tea Party? Bachmann championed herself as a Tea Party candidate but never seemed to get a foothold among the group's rank-and-file.

- What caused this? With no scandalous and few negative attacks against Bachmann, why didn't she capture that many votes?  Most importantly, what can the remaining candidates learn from her campaign?

- Does this mean the Tea Party express is slowly coming to a stop? Is it not as strong as it originally thought since Bachmann lost to other, non-Tea Party candidates? Is the Tea Party having a difficult time rounding up moderate conservatives? Perhaps Bachmann wasn't the Tea Party poster child they had been looking for. With polls showing Rick Santorum picked up a large portion of the Tea Party vote, did its preference shift? 

- What will happen to Bachmann's now former (small, but somewhat significant) supporters? Who will they throw their hats behind? When Cain suspended his campaign, we saw a rise in Newt Gingrich's numbers. Who will benefit most from Bachmann's departure?

I'm sure other questions will come up. Post them below. Thank you.

P.S. Who do you think will win in New Hampshire?



8 comments:

  1. Never had a chance, shouldn't have been in it in the first place. Good bye!

    Oh yah, Ron Paul will take NH.

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  2. She really could have been something. This is sad, but honestly, she never got her campaign going. It's all her fault. Oh well

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  3. LME....I believe with Bachmann out a lot of her supporters will most likely back Santorum.

    As far as the TEA Party goes, I believe they will still be a factor in the 2012 elections.

    I see where McCain is now endorsing Romney. That should jump his support from about 25% all the way up to about 25%, would be my guess. Romney has had about 25% support since day one and today has still about 25%.

    Everyone has "leap frogged" Romney at one point or another. Bachmann was gaining in August, Perry was leading in September, Cain led in October, then Gingrich, and now Santorum is neck in neck with him.

    Romney way win NH pretty handily but I believe SC will not be as favorable towards Romney.

    There is a long way to go yet.

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  4. Anonymous....nice post. Did it take you a while to come up with that insightful post?

    Weren't you little RuPaulites telling us RuPaul was going to win Iowa? How'd that work out for you? There's a big difference between FIRST and THIRD.

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  5. 32slim32 - Good morning! Thank you for your comment.

    I think you are correct about Bachmann's now ex supporters. According to the Iowa Caucus exit polls, Tea Party conservatives actually favored Santorum.

    And yes, the GOP field has bounced around. I tend to think this is a good thing. I think this means the GOP, unlike its democratic counterparts, are giving all their candidates a fair look without blindly picking one. This, to me, gives more credibility to republicans in the upcoming election. And yes, it's definitely a long way to go.

    With regards to Paul, a third but a strong third. His followers are very passionate and have chalked this up as a victory for him. I still think he will do well in New Hampshire, but after that, who knows.

    Thanks again!

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  6. I've liked Santorum from the git, with Bachmann a close second, as well as Cain - before the mutant media mullahs pounced.

    I think Cain was hammered - simply because he was black. The Obama camp and MSM would NOT have been able to press their ever popular (and deadly) race card against the GOP/Tea Party/Conservatives.

    And I'll be honest, I worried about Bachmann - simply because she was a woman. I know that sounds sexist... but remember back when Obama was elected - Opra wept! and he was NOT touted as the 'best man for the job'... but the 'first black president'

    People I've talked to expressed the same concern of the nation not being real receptive to another 'first (fill in the blank) president so soon.

    No matter what her message - the MSM could NOT allow Bachmann to gain the needed traction... in restrospect, I'd LOVE to see how those 'commentators' would treat say... Condelesa Rice! (I LOVE her spunk!)

    Mrs. Bachmann numbers were very low (6.5% I think) going into the IA caucus. My personal feeling is that she went on the attack in her ads, instead of just staying on message. What little support she had, probably went to the person closest to her message - and I believe that would have been Santorum.

    Unlike the last election we are vetting our candidates thoroughly, and that's a good thing.

    Whoever wins the nomination, Bachmann would be a great VP/Paul would be a killer Sec. of Treasury.

    'Laissez les bon temps rouler'
    (Let the good times roll : )

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  7. Bachmann didn't quit. She got shitcanned by her own state. That's pathetic. As to the rest of the "field," it should suffice to remind you of President Obama's new campaign slogan: "YOU. CAN'T. TOUCH. THIS. " The smackdown we will deliver to the GOP in november will be of biblical proportions.

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  8. Anonymous - I'm going to guess you're the same "anonymous" that commented on our post about the unemployment rate. Again, you are challenged.

    Yes, Bachmann did poorly in Iowa. Where you are challenged is your prediction that a "smackdown" of the GOP will happen in November. Like we said before, if we make a statement, we are going to back it.

    Here is one poll that shows it's no larger than an 8 percentage point differential. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-1171.html

    There are others, but since you provide no proof to back what you say, we only need to give one. Thanks!

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