Share

Email Print Comments Share

DES MOINES, Iowa -- With the sudden departure of former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty from the GOP presidential calculus, the field has been winnowed down to three contenders who appear capable of winning the Iowa caucuses, and a fourth who has yet to declare. The three are Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The wildcard is former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is still mulling a White House run.

The inherent uncertainties in the race to win the nation’s first voting state still far outnumber the assurances. But after the Ames Straw Poll claimed its latest victim in Pawlenty, and with Perry’s entry into the race, one dynamic has become increasingly clear: the state that launched President Obama to the White House in 2008 will play a critical role in the race to take him on in 2012. But who will Iowa help this time?

MICHELE BACHMANN

While Romney has often been described as a relatively weak national front-runner for the nomination, Bachmann’s position as the newly installed favorite in Iowa is also tenuous.

Her rise to the top of the polls here, coupled with her straw vote victory in Ames, positioned her well for next winter’s caucuses. But a subpar performance at a Black Hawk County GOP dinner in her hometown of Waterloo on Sunday night highlighted deficiencies as a candidate that could cause her problems down the road, if she fails to adjust.

As Rick Perry was showing off his easy charm and affability in Waterloo, working the room before his speech and later sitting politely among Iowa activists to listen to Bachmann’s address, the Minnesota congresswoman isolated herself inside her campaign bus, which was parked nearby, until it was her time to take the stage.

Bachmann required two separate introductions and the dimming of the house lights before she finally burst into the room to deliver pre-scripted remarks that many of the activists on hand had undoubtedly heard before.

Afterward, Bachmann reached down to people in the crowd, looming above them from her perch on the stage, rather than coming down to their level. She then held an abbreviated media availability, in which she took just three questions from reporters who had been pre-selected in a manner usually associated with White House press conferences.

“My name is Michele Bachmann, and I’m running for president of the United States,” she declared to reporters, who didn’t exactly need to be informed of that fact.

After Bachmann took her last question, she strode back onto her campaign bus, stood in the doorway, and held up a local newspaper that touted her straw poll victory. She then gave a regal wave to members of the media and the few Iowans who were still on hand.

“Thank you!” she shouted in the reporters’ general direction, as if she were addressing a massive rally. “Thank you, everybody!”