With a strong June behind her, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann garnered additional traction Sunday when a new poll showed her overtaking former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts to lead in Iowa, home of the first caucus battle. But there was another sign that the first-term congresswoman is gaining momentum: She is starting to draw some of the fire from former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
Pawlenty appeared Sunday on NBCs "Meet the Press" and used it as an opportunity to attack his fellow Minnesotan.
I like Congresswoman Bachmann, said Pawlenty. I've campaigned for her, I respect her. But her record of accomplishment in Congress is nonexistent. It's nonexistent. And so we're not looking for folks who, you know, just have speech capabilities, we're looking for people who can lead a large enterprise in a public setting and drive it to conclusion. I've done that, she hasn't.
Congresswoman Bachmann and I are -- you know, share many of the same issue positions, added Pawlenty. We're both conservatives. I think the main difference is this: I've got executive leadership in a public setting, with a record of accomplishment and results under difficult and challenging circumstances, and she has served in Congress. And in that regard, her record of accomplishment is, you know, like I said, nonexistent.
Bachmann responded Sunday by stressing that she stands with conservatives against the Obama administration. But she did not directly attack Pawlenty.
"I have fought the cap-and-trade agenda, rather than implement it, and I will work to end cap-and-trade as president of the United States. I stood up against President Obama's support of the $700 billion bailout rather than defend it, said Bachmann. "I was a leading voice, fighting against Obamacare and the unconstitutional individual mandates; I did not lift my voice in praise of it. My message brought tens of thousands of Americans to Washington, D.C., to oppose Obamacare. As president, I will not rest until Obamacare is repealed. And I will not vote to raise the debt ceiling.
The Pawlenty camp responded Monday by unveiling the endorsement of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who served two terms in the U.S. Senate. In his endorsement, DeWine stressed that Pawlenty was a true conservative with meaningful experience.
Governor Pawlenty is the right man to serve as president, DeWine said. As a two-term governor, Pawlenty understands what it takes to be a leader, knows the importance of supporting state and local governments, and has shown time after time a dedication to protecting children and families.
Throughout Governor Pawlentys career, he has a record of fighting for the conservative ideals that he believes in without alienating those who disagree," insisted DeWine. In a political environment where it is increasingly hard to get things accomplished, Governor Pawlenty brings the right balance of experience, knowhow, and dedication to move America forward.
DeWine tried to assure conservatives that Pawlenty was with them on two key issues -- opposing the federal health-care laws backed by President Barack Obama and fighting against abortion.
"As attorney general, Im fighting to repeal Obama health care.Governor Pawlenty understands how to reform health care without unconstitutional mandates, said DeWine. I especially respect Governor Pawlentys commitment to preserving and protecting the sanctity of life. He is a champion for the most vulnerable among us.
With Minnesota right across the border from Iowa, both Pawlenty and Bachmann, who was born in the Hawkeye State and has been playing up her roots there, could be finding the water too shallow for the two of them. Both candidates need to do well in the straw poll the Iowa Republicans are having in Ames next month, and in the caucus -- especially because Romney is expected to cruise in New Hampshire, which holds the first presidential primary.
Bachmann and Pawlenty are in the uncommon -- but certainly not unknown -- position of facing a rival for their partys nomination from the same state. Sometimes a politician can brush off intrastate rivals; Al Smith and Samuel Seabury could not stop fellow New Yorker Franklin Roosevelts march to the Democratic nomination in 1932.
Sometimes intrastate rivals are irrelevant. Many factors prevented Jesse Jackson from getting the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988, but the candidacy of fellow Illinois favorite son Paul Simon was not one of them. While Phil Crane and John Anderson were from opposite wings of the Republican Party, neither of them came close to winning the GOP nomination back in 1980.
But there are times when politicians seeking the presidency have been tripped up by intraparty rivals. Both James Buchanan and George M. Dallas were possibilities for the Democratic nomination in 1848 and 1852, but the two Pennsylvanians continued to get in each others way. Almost every observer expected the president of the Confederacy to come from Georgia -- but while Jefferson Davis was the only presidential hopeful from Mississippi, three possibilities from Georgia (Alexander Stephens, Robert Toombs and Howell Cobb) slit each others throats.
William Gibbs McAdoo looked like a political star on the rise. He was a businessman who served as Woodrow Wilsons Treasury secretary and even married the presidents daughter. But when McAdoo sought the Democratic nomination in 1920, he was tripped up by a fellow Georgian in the Wilson administration -- Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. The same year saw two California Republicans -- Hiram Johnson and Herbert Hoover -- cancel each other out for their partys nomination.
While it is tough for a presidential candidate to overcome a rival from the same state for his partys nomination, it is not impossible. Bachmann and Pawlenty can draw some inspiration from a Minnesota political legend. Hubert Humphrey was able to obtain the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968 despite the opposition of Eugene McCarthy who was also from Minnesota. Richard Nixon also had to hold off a fellow Republican from California -- Ronald Reagan -- in the same election cycle. Yet another candidate running in 1968, Nelson Rockefeller, not only had to confront two fellow Republicans from New York for the presidential nomination in Jacob Javits and John Lindsey, but his little brother Winthrop, then the governor of Arkansas, was also in the presidential mix.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
