Having placed dead last in the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando on Saturday, the team behind Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmanns presidential campaign is regrouping and continuing to insist their candidate can win the Republican nomination.
After her poor showing in Orlando, Bachmann headed back Monday to Iowa, the home of the first presidential caucus. Having won the Iowa Republican straw poll in Ames last month, Bachmanns team left no doubt that her presidential ambitions rested on the Hawkeye State.
We made a decision to go after Iowa, said Keith Nahigian, Bachmanns campaign manager in a video released late Tuesday. She has to win Iowa and move on from there. ... By winning Iowa, she will be on a path to victory.
In the video, Nahigian said that the Bachmann team would downplay New Hampshire to focus on winning Iowa and South Carolina.
We are on the exact path we have designed and the exact path to victory, said Nahigian. Constitutional conservatives and others in the past have been asked to settle in order to win. This is not the year to compromise. This is the year to finally elect somebody who is on the right side of all the issues and has a unique position to put us on a completely different path to restore America. Michele Bachmann is that conservative.
According to a poll released Wednesday, Bachmann may have problems in Iowa. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who ignored the straw poll last month, moved ahead of her to lead the pack in the Hawkeye State.
With 21 percent, Romney led the American Research Group poll of likely caucus voters. Bachmann placed second with 15 percent, followed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry with 14 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Iowa, who placed a strong second in the Iowa straw poll, came in fourth with 12 percent.
The rest of the field trailed in single digits. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich took fifth place with 8 percent. Businessman Herman Cain came in sixth place with 6 percent, followed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has not entered the race, with 4 percent. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania took 2 percent, followed by two former governors -- Jon Huntsman of Utah and Buddy Roemer of Louisiana -- who were knotted up at 1 percent. Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico took less than 1 percent.
In a poll released by American Research Group in July, Bachmann led with 21 percent followed by Romney in second with 18 percent, Paul in third with 14 percent and Palin with 11 percent.
The September poll of 600 likely Iowa Republican caucus voters was taken from Sept. 22-27 and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percent.
Bachmanns schedule this week highlighted her focus on Iowa and South Carolina.
On Monday, Bachmann headed out to Iowa where her campaign held a rally in Cedar Rapids, the second largest city in the state. On Wednesday, the campaign trail took Bachmann to Liberty University, a conservative Christian school in Lynchburg, Va. At Liberty, Bachmann spoke about her personal faith and the importance of religion in her life. Later on Wednesday, she headed to Greenville, S.C., and she plans to visit North Carolina for a full day of campaigning on Thursday.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
