Advisors for Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann are now saying it is very likely she will announce her candidacy for President in 2012. Following Newt Ginrich’s run in with a GOP voter in Iowa, it is looking more and more like the field is dwindling down giving opportunities for some of the on-the-fence candidates to jump in. Furthermore, Mike Huckabee’s decision to forgo a run is also leaving a void.
Report from Fox News:
Get ready, Republicans. Hurricane Michelle is heading toward your primaries.
Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite and something of a surrogate for Sarah Palin, is getting ready to jump into the presidential contest. Her advisers put out the word on Monday that a run was “very likely” and a D.C.-based consultant tells Power Play that Bachmann associates have been shopping for services.
“This is now beyond speculation. They are doing this,” the consultant said.
While Bachmann is a polarizing figure in the party, her candidacy is quite logical. With Mike Huckabee bowing out of the race, Palin showing no outward signs of launching a campaign and Newt Gingrich seeming to burn up on entry into the race, that leaves former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum with an almost unobstructed view of the social conservative voters who dominate Iowa’s caucuses.
Bachmann’s candidacy is also helped by the fact that Donald Trump has renewed his contract with NBC and ended the most successful publicity stunt of his career. His appeal had been based on blunt, pungent attacks on President Obama, stock in trade for Bachmann. Plus, she gets similar attention from establishment media outlets that like to bring her on for bearbaiting sessions and then mock her afterwards.
Bachmann has some strong supporters and she will certainly bring some strong conservative credentials to the table. Her entrance could cause candidates like Romney and Gingrich to continue their apparent course down the middle hoping for the moderate Republican vote.
