Michele Bachmann Adviser Ed Rollins Makes

Michele Bachmann Adviser Ed Rollins Makes Anti-Palin Gaffe

COMMENTARY | Ed Rollins, the venerable Republican campaign operative, has been hired by Michele Bachmann to run her potential campaign for president. Rollins went right out of the gate with a gaffe concerning Bachmann's main rival, Sarah Palin.
While on the Fox radio show "Kilmeade and Friends," Rollins led off with fulsome praise for his candidate, as befits a potential campaign manager. But then he laid in on Palin with a will, according to the Daily Caller.
"Sarah has not been serious over the last couple of years. She got the vice presidential thing handed to her. She didn't go to work in the sense of trying gain more substance. She gave up her governorship."
The slam against a woman who is not yet a candidate is a major gaffe for two reasons.
First, if Palin decides not to run, her endorsement will be the most sought after of any other politician in the Republican Party. It looks like Rollins has blown that for his candidate by alienating an important Republican player even before she decides to run or not.
Second,bjd dolls, if Palin does decide to run, Rollins has alienated a constituency that Bachmann and Palin share, very committed, tea party-oriented, conservative voters. While Rollins is pursuing the standard tactic of going after the main rival of his candidate, the gambit is likely to backfire. Supporters of one candidate would be more than disposed to vote for the other, given the chance. Now that may not happen.
Bachmann, by the way, considers herself a friend of Palin's. Palin stumped for Bachmann in the 2010 election when she was targeted by Democrats for defeat.
There is another reason that Bachmann might be rethinking the idea of employing Rollins. Mother Jones reports that before being hired to run the potential Bachmann for presidential campaign, Rollins did not think much of her either.
"Michele Bachmann obviously is a member of Congress and a representative of the tea party. But at the end of the day, we have to get our serious players out front and talking about the things that matter to be the alternative to the president and Democrats." In other words, Bachman was not a serious person either.
At least she wasn't until she brought Rollins on the payroll.