Bachmann Wins, Perry’s In

14 August 2011 |permalink | email article

Despite the distraction of Gov. Rick Perry of Texas announcing his candidacy for president the same day in South Carolina, Iowa’s native daughter, Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.), won the Ames Straw Poll on Saturday with 4,823 votes. But she defeated Ron Paul ((R-Texas) by a mere 152 votes. Declaring victory Bachmann said the poll was the first step to the White House by winning the Iowa Caucuses in winter and reining in wasteful spending and keeping taxes low. In fact, there were few philosophical differences in the debate between the candidates.

The Huffington Post’s astute Howard Feinman offered his impressions of the Ames results: Bye-bye T-Paw; Perry, a last minute write-in, got more votes than write-ins for Romney; Romney supporters argue that results will help Romney by pitting Perry against Bachmann for the evangelical, Tea Party vote; and Paul is about to become a major headache for the GOP (withdrawing from foreign wars, etc.) Today, Bachmann appears on ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC, and it will be a serious test of whether she’s over her head or not. Look for David Gregory, on “Meet the Press,” to ask the toughest questions.

Perry, whose candidacy shakes up the dynamics of the race, offers the Republican Party a versatile candidate who appeals to Tea Party fiscal conservatives and can also rally the evangelical base. Unlike Bush 43, he’s a fiery hardliner never giving to compromise.  Perry’s battle with Bachmann for the religious right vote will be epic, but he’s far more likely to face off with Mitt Romney for nomination.

Quotable

“He either gets in and gets through the gantlet of the first month or so and consistently moves forward and wins the nomination, or he’s got this terrific flameout.” – Matthew Dodd, a former strategist for President George W. Bush.

“He’s cutting services in order to maintain really low tax rates, and some many of the jobs he’s created are these minimum-wage jobs, not these living-wage jobs. I think he has, as they would say here in Texas, plenty of ’spraining to do about his positions.” – Rep. Lloyd Doggett, (D-Texas)

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