DES MOINES, Iowa — Michele Bachmann has ended her presidential campaign — leaving her supporters up for grabs as Rick Santorum tries to become the conservative heavyweight in the Republican race.
Santorum’s near-tie with Iowa caucus winner Mitt Romney topped a rise from deep in the polls to contender for the presidential nomination.
Bachmann said Wednesday she has “decided to stand aside” but would continue fighting to overturn what she called President Barack Obama’s “socialist policies.”
Like Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry took a blow in the caucuses — finishing fifth. He flew home to decide whether to stay in the race. It appears the answer is “yes.” He tweeted Wednesday that he was bound for South Carolina.
Meanwhile, Romney jetted to New Hampshire to continue campaigning.
Eventhough I didn’t think she had the quaifications to be a serious contender, it’s unfortunate that about 150,000 people out of a country of 330,000,000 citizens had such a big say as to who is in and who is out. There has to be a better way to select our nominees for President.
The party nomination process is far from over. Iowa was just the beginning. Michelle Bachmann backed out for several reasons: prospect of not being able to raise sufficient funds, not wanting to take away support for a candidate or candidates that reflect her political philosophy, to assist re-redistricting efforts in her home state, focusing on her current position as a US Representative, among others.
There is only one compelling reason for any candidate to drop out at this stage and that is the money. No potential contributor is going to throw their money into a campaign that is going nowhere. Without money, there is no campaign.
The other three reasons you list are nothing but fluff, considering how much time she has spent in Iowa the last few months.
Running a campaign, especially one that doesn’t look promising, is costly not just in terms of money but also in personal energy expended that could prevent other worthy goals from being achieved. So, no, the other reasons are not just fluff. A candidate can have a lot of money to spare but choose not to spend it all on account of other factors. In Bachmann’s case money is just one factor among many others.
One world class nutter bites the dust on the national political stage. She devote her crazed energy to representing her district until they snap out of it.
That the republican party is even courting these buffoons is terrifying. With one exception, they (Romney, Paul, Santorum, Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich, and Cain), are nothing but a bunch of two-faced pandering publicity hounds only in this for their own self-aggrandizement.
That the ONLY republican candidate who ISN’T a lying lunatic/egomaniac (Huntsman), is currently polling at about 2% is mind-numbingly terrifying.
Sorry, republican voters…not one of the candidates in my first paragraph is either worth electing or is even electable. You want to beat Obama? You better wake up and check out Huntsman. And no, I don’t agree with everything he stands for and I PROBABLY WOULDN’T EVEN VOTE FOR HIM MYSELF, but he’s the only republican name out there who anyone with any sense could vote for.
Cain is a compulsive liar/borderline sex offender, Gingrich is an egomaniac who has some serious truth issues and will side with whoever pays the most on any issue, Bachmann is a borderling braindead panderer who personifies the statement that “empty barrels make the most noise”, Santorum is about a half step away from the NAZI Party, Paul is another who can’t seem to tell the truth about his past AND has a pile of plans that are all smoke and mirrors, Perry is another slick Willie in a Texas suit who will pander to the highest bidder, and Romney is such an empty suit that he won’t even admit that his mandatory health care plan in MA is the exact same thing as ObamaCare… Can people not see this???????
The GOP was pulled off the cliff to the far right when it got tangled up in a big, fat tea bag full of manure.
You must be very young. The Democrat party during the John F. Kennedy presidency was even more to the right than the current Republican party. It drifted so much to the left that it abandoned me.
No, I’m not “very young” at all. I’m a grandparent and you are full of malarkey if you think JFK was further right than the GOP of today.
Your perception has most likely been colored by the liberal media. The 1973 US Supreme Court was made up mostly by Republican appointees when it declared abortion the law of the land. Democrats then and before 1973 opposed abortion because of what it did to the most vulnerable of our citizens. Many GOPer’s today support abortion, especially in Maine.
In the 60’s Democrats generally opposed quotas on hiring gays. More than a few Republicans today support the idea of quotas.
Again in the 60’s, one would have been hard put to find a Democrat who supported making hate a crime. Today many Republicans believe the maximum penalty imposed for a crime motivated by hate should indeed be greater than that for the same type of crime motivated by some other factor, such as greed.
Need I go on further in support of my statement that Dems in the 60’s were more conservative than the Republicans are today?
dont forget, the dems were very much against, black voters rights, when johnson was prez. if it werent for the repubs. there would on never been anything passed during the 60’s for civil rights for blacks. you think robert byrd supported these rights for blacks, or al gore sr. fron tn? think again.
Back in the day of Rockefeller Republicans the Republicans were much like the Democrats of today. The conservatism was mostly fiscal while also embracing social justice and moderate to liberal leanings in that spectrum. Republicans today are socially conservative while spending like a drunken sailor and refusing to bring in the revenue needed to cover all their tax breaks for the wealthy. Thanks to the Tea Party the GOP has become the party of social injustice and hatred/bigotry and I cannot get behind that.
Taking JFK’s policies of the 60’s, and I have no idea if you are right or not, I wasn’t born til the second half of the 70’s, has no bearing on what JFK would do today. In his environment they were still fighting for everyone to be equal. The arguments of today would seem radical to anyone in the 60’s left or right. In the 60’s homosexuality was considered a mental disease. Today we know better, but imagine bringing up the issue of gay marriage in the 60’s… JFK would not have the same policies today that he held in the 60’s, so a comparison is just silly. It is akin to asking Washington what he would think of the government funding NASA.
My contention is and remains: the Democrat Party left me, not the other way around as someone other poster suggested.
Then your Democratic party must have been the Southern Democrats like Strom Thurmond and the like. They left the Democratic Party because they did not believe in civil rights and they joined the Republican party.
No, my educated opinion comes from my real world observations, and not political talking points I may or may not see on tv. Also, the fact that you accuse anyone of forming their opinions based on “liberal media” tells me that you get your views from political pundits rather than using your own brain.
Please tell me who these R abortion supporters are so I can support their candidacies.The far right screechers have lied their way into every facet of politics-and that include DINO’s like Ben Nelson.No loss there.Where was the media coverage of a reproductive clinic in FL burned to the ground on New Year’s Day-the same clinic where doctors and volunteers were also killed in the 1990’s?Oh that’s right-the conservative media (Viguerie,Scaife,etc) made sure that was ignored.
It’s all the Republicans’ fault. They burnt down a death camp. Shucks! We’ll make sure next time not a single one of them out of roughly half the U.S. population steps out of line.
What you consider stepping out of line I consider lawbreaking and arson as well as murder.And you failed to provide the names I asked for.
As to those names, if you lived in Maine for more than several months, Snowe and Collins should come to mind among many others. Also, to me murder is murder whether the one murdered is an abortionist, one who support abortion, or a precious unborn child. All of them never get to see the light of day after the misdeed is done to them.
I’m glad you see it that way.Some on the anti choice side were thrilled with Tiller’s death and openly support any acts of violence.I know that there are many who peacefully protest and that is always their right no matter their cause .Snowe and Collins have been targeted as RINOs for years but their positive numbers are still high.2012 will be interesting.
yes, and this is not the dem party of years ago. the present bunch of dems, in gvt., and the ones who support them, hate this country, as much as the politicians from dem party.
make no mistake, Obama and the dems are on a quest to destroy.
I generally agree with you that Obama and close supporters are on a mission to destroy this country. But I don’t think that’s necessarily what they intend to do in their misguided ways.
I guarantee that my family loves this country more than you do. How many wars has your family fought in for America? Mine has been represented in every war all the way back to the American Revolution and in each and every one since then, including the situation the movie Black Hawk Down was about. The radical right didn’t co-opt patriotism, thank you very much.
Why would Obama and the Dem’s want to destroy America??? Please explain, with your own words.
What is wrong with being to the right? Don’t worry I know, I just want to see you defend your number one issue.
I’m a firm believer in moderation. I have no use for extremism. It USED to be that the democrats had the higher percentage of extreme leftists but in the past few years the GOP has embraced the worst extremism I’ve ever seen in my nearing 50 years. So, this moderate who USED to vote for many Republicans will, for the first time ever, be voting exclusively democratic in 2012. The only way the GOP will come to their senses and snuff out the extremism is to refuse to vote for them until they smarten up.
Please explain to me what is extremism to you. I bet what is extreme to you was once mainstream .
Unfortunately these problems predate the TPers.If you look at Ralph Reed,Weyrich,Falwell,Bachmann,Perry,Santorum and the other American Taliban,they hate America and have done a fine job destroying it.
Speaking about lying, you need to check out your “facts” on just about all your statements. Right now I’m just shaking my head. Mind you opinion is not fact. You seem to confuse the two.
Get use to it , there will be a Republican president elected in November. President Obama had his chance, not only is he a disappointment to the social progressives he’s been a failure getting us out of the financial mess . The Dems need to stop blaming the Repubs, they had a president for 3 years and he shows he doesn’t know how to lead. He was put into a position he was totally unprepared for. He is a black man that was used by the liberals like they use all minorities. Minorities need to wake up and stop letting themselves be used by liberals who really don’t give a hoot about them.
I will not respond to some of your insane comments regarding the Repub candidates.
She got so many of her facts wrong in her speeches, that it would be hard to envision what she would do as president. Thank goodness she is quitting.
With Perry and Bachman gone, the seven dwarfs are now down to five.
“””Rumplestiltskin””””
POOFFF!
The whole Republican Party just went up in Smoke!
http://blog.markcz.com/grover-norquist-rumpelstiltskin/
Umm no it didn’t, you only wish it did. You are quaking because you know there was nothing to President Obama’s message of hope and change and the country is going to boot he and his ilk out of Washington.
LOL…and replace him with what, more big government hacks cloaking themselves as conservatives (e.g. Romney or Santorum)? Give me a break. I’m no fan of Obama but the way things are shaking out, I have serious doubts for the GOP actually kicking Obama out, considering they offer no real change when it comes to the economy and jobs.
Obama is done as president. He and his family will live very comfortably in HI. He and his lovely wife will do very well as much sought after speakers.
Keep your eye on the ball!
The Tax Pledge is a Ponzi Scheme!
The defecit that you guys are whining about was caused by your own Tax Greed and the lack of revenue from it and,
It’s Pay Day !
“””Rumplestiltskin””””
POOOOFFFF!
Could you please site which facts she got wrong, or was it the news media taking out of context what she said?
The shot heard around the world was fired in Concord, N.H. according to Mrs. Bachman, not Concord, Ma.. You can pray away being gay. There are others, but these are just a couple of Doozies from Michele Bachman.
Here’s more than a couple of doozies for you http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama-isms.htm
Yeah, it’s neverrrrrrr a Republican’s fault for anything they do wrong — instead, the media is to blame!
Check out; “Fact Check, Bachmann wrong on Social Security, jobs and debt.” by Lori Robertson, fact check.org. It was in USA Today 12/20/2011. These are just a few of the things where she misspoke.
Fact check Obama things there 57 states!!
Fact check that yourself, if was obviously a verbal gaff of a tired man. Either listen to him or read what he said verbatim and then make up your mind.
Don’t rely on the right wing haters to tell you what he said.
Well.
How about for something goofy): telling people that the revolution started in Concord, NH and not Concord, MA – where it actually happened;
For something serious: That a medical treatment caused retardation – it does not, but she made it up and said it to score political points; and,
Something stupid: that John Wayne was born in her hometown – he was not. His hometown was a 100 miles away.
She had a lie for every catagory.
You must have missed the post http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/barackobama/a/obama-isms.htm
She was a little bit better than Mr. Cain, she knew who the President of IDONTKNOWHEREASTAN is.
She could have done much better with her facts if she had a teleprompter.
She actually read a speech verbatim from an iPad just a few hours after criticizing Obama for using a teleprompter.
.. and almost certainly did not recognize her own hypocrisy.
Quit trolling. Obama did and does fine in debates. He’s also not the first man in existence to use a teleprompter. Come up with a substantive criticism next time.
She would have done much better if she had a brain that had not been carefully washed and fluffed for her …
She will still be around and I bet she’ll be making very good money as a speaker.
That’s fine, as long as she isn’t making speeches as president.
Unfortuantely.
Your basic Sarah Palin clone … you got that right, 207. Anyone seen the expected publication date of Bachmann’s book?
Good.
Maybe she can pray the crazies away
I don’t think the liberals would go away on just a prayer.
Good riddance – I’m looking forward to hearing Perry and Gingrich’s drop out speeches in the next week or so.
I wish I could ‘like’ this twice.
That’s too bad. This world would have been a much better place with Bachmann having access to nuclear weapons!
It certainly would be a less populated place!
One more extremist right wing ill informed nut off the TV news.
Why oh why, then, did that same GOP so enthusiastically embrace the Nixon era “southern strategy” designed to lure those disenchanted southern Democrats who felt abandoned by their own party’s support of the legislation which put the kibosh to segregation? Neither party of that time could claim sainthood based on race matters, but the national GOP decision to play the game they played in the wake of civil rights legislation makes one wonder whether some of them supported civil rights as a means of driving a final wedge between cracker Democrats and the ascendant progressive wing of the Democratic national party. It worked, and punctuated by the strange career of Strom Thurmond, they are the heirs of that good ole mossback tradition, albeit in different costume.
thank god!
I guess she was the better looker out of the Palin/Bachman pair, but was just as thoughtless. Were the republicans drawn to attractive middle-aged women….darn, there’s Perry too.
Funny that Hillary’s looks have never a been a big issue as she is actually an intelligent human. Maybe an IQ test of sorts ought to be a requirement before the next republican primary.
Best news of the day.Now every real American should make sure she loses her Congressional seat and her constituents get real representation.
Good for her, better for us.
Finally!