Ed Rollins Goes Rogue on Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry

With the entry of the equally deranged Rick Perry into the GOP presidential nomination contest, Michele Bachmann has seen her polling numbers drop like a stone. In some ways it's no surprise. Even in the fantasy world of today's Republican Party, Bachmann is a nutcase and on top of that she's woefully lacking in any credible experience that would equip her to be president. Truth be told, Bachmann should never have been a candidate (or a member of the House of Representatives for that matter). Now, her former campaign director has been enticed to let loose with frank commentary on Ms. Bachmann and it is not pretty. Indeed, it is so much fund to see the fanatics turn on their own. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post:

Andrea Mitchell enticed Ed Rollins to go on a tear yesterday, ripping Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), whose campaign he previous ran, as well as Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Not only does he tell us that Bachmann is essentially toast if she doesn’t win Iowa, but he hints that “coming out of the House of Representatives” she hadn't really been prepared for the media scrutiny of a presidential contest. He deemed the ferocious criticism of her “absolutely fair criticism.”

Rollins, not willing merely to undermine his own candidate, also went after Perry, suggesting there are “a lot of things that went on” in Texas and promising that instances of cronyism will be revealed as time goes on. He’s only a bit kinder to Mitt Romney, saying “he’s made the evolution slow but sure to [being] more conservative, to fit the primary voters.

Is there some method to his spasm of criticism or is this simply Rollins popping off? . . . Rollins, despite taking the Bachmann gig, has always been an establishment Republican. He now appears to be offering himself as the town crier, attempting to warn the Republican voters of the dangers that lie ahead in electing either of the candidates who shoot from the hip.

It’s not clear that a majority of GOP primary voters agree with . . . Rollins . . . . . But a Romney advisor may have been right earlier in the summer that Perry’s best day would be the one on which he announced. Since then he’s helped crush Bachmann, but he hasn’t won over the skeptics. Romney may be the beneficiary of this, or Perry’s shortcomings may induce another Republican to get into the race. Stay tuned.

Top Bachmann Campaign Staff Are Fleeing

It's no secret that I want to see Michele Bachmann's GOP presidential campaign effort crash and burn (hopefully, Rick Perry will follow a similar downward trajectory soon). Thus, I am hardly saddened to hear that Bachmann seems to having an exodus of top advisers from her campaign. Admittedly, things can change, but one can only hope that Bachmann's campaign will ultimately transform itself into a irreversible death spiral. The woman is toxic and an idiot. Politico looks at Bachmann's staffing problems. Here are some highlights:

On the heels of our report that Michele Bachmann campaign manager Ed Rollins is stepping back into an advisory role, citing health concerns, comes word that his deputy, David Polyansky, is leaving the campaign.

"I wish Michele nothing but the best, and anyone who underestimates her as a candidate does so at their own peril," Polyansky told POLITICO.

But a GOP source familiar with the situation said that Polyansky had "strategic differences on the path forward" with the candidate, who has struggled to gain traction in the last few weeks.

Bachmann is known for having had an unusually large number of staffers from her congressional office depart in a short time frame, although a campaign spokeswoman said they'd always planned on restructuring.

Republicans Increasingly Attack Each Other

I remain optimistic that Obama will pull off the election and save the country from four more years of the failed Bush/McCain economic plan. However, I will not relax until November 5th when I know the outcome for certain. In the interim, it is becoming increasingly entertaining watching conservative pundits and other members of the GOP attack one another and/or jump ship as it increasingly appears that the Party is going to founder after hitting the same iceberg as John McSenile and Bible Spice Palin. With numerous conservatives announcing that they intend to vote for a Democrat for the first time in their lives, the fruitcake lunatic Party base continues to engage in deranged prayers such as the following:

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I would also pray, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god — whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah — that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons. And Lord, I pray that you will guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and election day.

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Somehow, I seriously doubt that God is finding much honor in the lies, racial bigotry and hate mongering that have become the principal hallmarks of the McCain/Palin campaign. Meanwhile, who served as political director for President Reagan, is tearing apart McCain's campaign. Here are some highlights from CNN (Note how Rollins links McCain to lobbying class even though McCain pretends that Obama is the one with such ties):

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A campaign at war with itself cannot fight its opponent effectively. We have seen two major campaigns this year that could be described as internally divided -- Sen. Hillary Clinton's losing primary campaign and now Sen. John McCain's general election effort. And while chaos and disarray reigned supreme in Sen. Barack Obama's opponents' campaigns, the steady, disciplined and strategically driven Obama campaign marches forward toward likely victory.

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In the end, it's not relevant who holds what title in the McCain operation, because it is not being run by campaign professionals, but by the Washington lobbying class. And no one seems to be in charge, least of all the candidate. The end result is a campaign suffering from "schizophrenia." John McCain is saying one thing on the stump, his running mate another. But the worst sin is that his advertising campaign is incoherent and putting out multiple and inconsistent messages. What McCain and his campaign need to understand is that whatever happened in the past is no longer relevant.

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Attacking Obama for his association with Bill Ayers . . . The problem is that few voters care about what happened 40 years ago when in the last few weeks they have seen their savings and retirements and possibly their jobs and homes going up in flames. If you don't talk to voters about their concerns they will not spend one minute listening to you in the closing days of a campaign. Government is not working. President Bush's leadership has failed the country and Congress has not done much better. How are you going to be better? That's the question voters want answered.

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Accept Obama's challenge issued last week: "The American people aren't looking for someone who can divide this country. They're looking for somebody who will lead this country." Tell us how you will lead this country through the greatest crisis we have faced in modern times. And Sen. McCain, remember your own words of last week about Obama: "He's a decent family man -- citizen -- that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues." Tell us what those disagreements are. Then, at least voters can make their final choices on things that matter to them now.