Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., rose with the Tea Party movement to national prominence, but now the leadership of a Tea Party organization that operates around the country is calling on Bachmann to end her presidential campaign.
Ned Ryun, president of American Majority (a Tea Party group that operates around the country) wrote on the group’s blog that “Bachmann’s floundering can damage [the] Tea Party.” Ryun said that “it is time for Michele Bachmann to go,” and he criticized her for “sticking to thin talking points and hanging on for dear life.”
“It is clear that the [Bachmann] campaign has become less about reform and more about her personal effort to stay relevant and sell books,” Ryun said, “a harsh commentary, but true.” (Bachmann wrote a book scheduled for release next month.)
The Executive Director of American Majority, Matt Robbins, concurred with Ryun, saying, “I think it’s pretty obvious that Michele Bachmann is about Michele Bachmann.”
Ryun argued that her low poll numbers will lead her to appeal increasingly to Christian conservatives, which could damage the Tea Party brand by distracting from “[the Tea Party’s] fiscal issues which attract Republicans, independents, and conservative Democrats alike” and have put President Obama “in a fight for his political life.”
Bachmann’s campaign countered with an apparently conciliatory statement that implicated Ryun’s motives. “Mr. Ryun, who supports Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is entitled to his own opinion,” Bachmann campaign manager Keith Nahigian said in a statement to CNN. “Michele Bachmann enjoys strong support from Americans across party lines and that certainly includes the Tea Party.” Ryun denies supporting Perry, although he has written favorably of Perry’s tax plan.
It’s not clear that a Bachmann drop-out would help Perry all that much. Her supporters might switch to him, but she’s polling at just 6 percent in Iowa, the state on which she has staked her whole campaign.
In theory, Perry will benefit as candidates drop-out and clears the path for him to emerge as the anti-Romney candidate. Perry had that position when he first entered the race, though, and he gave it away through his own mistakes.
