Thursday, May 26, 2011

Matt Lewis: Bachmann loses if Palin runs

Two conservative women may show the GOP's boys how to fight like girls
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Matt Lewis wrote an opinion piece May 18 making the case that Sarah Palin could not only run for the GOP nomination, but she could actually win it. Matt complains that his argument "was largely ignored." But not by us. We wrote about it here. But today, many of his fellow pundits are conceding that Gov. Palin may well get into the race and, Lewis writes, wondering which of her potential rivals for the Republican presidential nomination stands to win or lose from a Palin candidacy. Some think Mitt Romney would benefit, though others may want to argue that point. But the "obvious loser" in the event of a Palin presidential campaign, Lewsi says, would be Congresswoman Michele Bachmann:
Nathan Gonzales, a political analyst for The Rothenberg Political Report, tells me the two conservative ladies would be instant competitors. Both would have to win Iowa, and “they occupy a similar place within the Republican Party,” Gonzales says (noting they would compete for the votes of Tea Party conservatives and Evangelicals).

The Des Moines Register’s Kathie Obradovich seems to agree, writing: “One potential landmine for Bachmann is Sarah Palin’s renewed overture toward a potential candidacy. Bachmann’s not a clone of the former Alaska governor, but she would face continual comparisons that could make it tougher to establish herself with voters.”
Since Rep. Bachmann has said that Gov. Palin's decision will not affect her own, this could get a lot more interesting.

- JP

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