Politics
Michele Bachmann Seeks a Bounce in Florida on Weekend Swing
Around the State
Michele Bachmann | Credit: Gage Skidmore - Flickr
Beginning Friday in Jacksonville Beach, then on to Orlando and Sarasota, the Minnesota congresswoman will seek to parlay her Iowa straw poll victory into top-tier status in the Sunshine State.
Bachmann's visit comes at a crucial time. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is surging in the polls and on Wednesday picked up the endorsement of Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park.
Mitt Romney already has a state organization dating from his 2008 run and Ron Paul will garner votes from the party's libertarian wing.
Sarasota County GOP chairman Joe Gruters says the race remains "wide open" in Florida because none of the major presidential candidates has committed to waging a concerted grassroots campaign here.
"If [establishment] endorsements counted, Tim Pawlenty would be the nominee. Whoever resonates with the base, the grassroots activists, will win," Gruters said.
Gruters points to the party's Presidency 5 straw poll as a bellwether.
"Anybody who skips P5 doesn't deserve to win the Florida primary. It's a slap in the face of activists across the state. It's a slap in the face of our party," he said.
So far, only Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman and Herman Cain have committed to participating in the P5 poll, which will be held Sept. 24 in Orlando. Romney and Bachmann have said they will not compete, and Perry's campaign has not yet said what it will do.
Gruters, who will co-host Bachmann's appearance in Sarasota on Sunday, said he will press the congresswoman to participate in the straw poll of 3,500 GOP delegates.
"If you win P5, you can win the primary. If you win the primary, you will likely be the party's nominee," said Gruters, who added that he has no preferred candidate at this point.
Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart told Sunshine State News the candidate is not inclined to enter the straw poll "at this time."
As for the weekend tour, Stewart said Bachmann "will meet with Floridians to discuss the important issues facing our nation including the debt crisis, job creation and economic growth."
Bachmann is expected to draw a standing-room-only crowd at the Sahib Shrine in Sarasota on Sunday. The free event is co-sponsored by the Republican parties of Sarasota, Charlotte and Hardee counties, along with Taking Back Our Country (Englewood); Tea Party Manatee; Sarasota Patriots; and Venice 912.
The congresswoman, who founded and chairs the Tea Party Caucus in the U.S. House, starts her Florida swing at Angie's Sub Shop in Jacksonville Beach on Friday.
The shop made headlines last year when owner Ed Malin posted a sign declaring: “Bible thumpin’, gun totin’ capitalist pig owns this joint.”
On Saturday morning, Bachmann will appear at a Poinciana Town Hall. That evening she will be the keynote speaker at the Florida Family Policy Council awards dinner in Orlando.
On Sunday morning, the congresswoman will attend services at the Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, and then conclude her tour in Sarasota Sunday afternoon.
Brian Graham, who heads Dixie Strategies, a Florida-based political consulting firm, calls Bachmann a "good conservative," but he has reservations.
"I feel Republicans are looking for someone who can beat the president, but she suffers from the exact same lack of experience as Obama, and that’s executive experience," Graham said.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
Comments (8)
Seriously - How can you support someone whose first career choice was to BE THE IRS Tax Collector? Bachmann's job was to intimidate her friends and neighbors into paying more taxes, interest and penalties. Overnight she changed her conscientious? As for Perry, if you don't mind the Obamacare mandate, you will love Perry and his executive orders that benefit Big Pharma lobbyists.
If this is what the tea party has been co-opted to become, you are no different from the progressives in the Democratic and Republican parties.
Does it bother you, the million or more people that have died in the last 12 years, died for nothing? Does it bother you knowing that YOU could change it, but are too busy and can't be bothered?
Do you mind the trillion dollars that goes overseas each year, when it could be spent right here and cure the Depression? Do you mind the trade agreements that send our jobs over there? Do you mind the tax policies that prevent the trillions made overseas being used to create jobs here?
It's time to show YOUR spine and stand up for The Man With A Spine. He's done it for you these past 20 years - now it's your turn.
Vote Vertebrate - Ron Paul 2012!
Think about it... think really hard about it.
Your total disrespect for women is painfully obvious. Did it ever occur to you that you wouldn't be here without one. Your comments are one of the many reasons we need more women in political office. "Think hard about it". Good grief.
I hope the top opposition to Romney gets solidified so we can boot him back to MA the land of Ted Kennedy. The only candidates in this race that are worse than Romney are Santorum and the fraud in the White House.
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