POLITICO.COM : Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann as candidates : "there isn’t enough room for the two to occupy the same political space in 2012" - Collision of Two Crazy Trains - Jockeying for Power

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POLITICO.COM -
Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann size each other up -
By BEN SMITH & MAGGIE HABERMAN -
May 27, 2011 -


Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann size each other up



Some excerpts :

But despite – or perhaps because of – what they have in common, there are signs of tensions between the camps. And the iron-clad laws of politics suggest there isn’t enough room for the two powerful personalities to occupy the same political space in 2012.

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Already, their interests are coming into conflict as Palin makes moves designed to reclaim some of the media sparkle she’s ceded to Bachmann during the spring.

The timing of Palin’s announcement Thursday of a weekend bus tour up the East Coast overshadowed what appeared to be Bachmann’s final steps toward a presidential bid, a “moneybomb” raising $250,000 in a day and a planned speech in Iowa.

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But each camp views the other with a level of suspicion, with some of Palin’s supporters seeing Bachmann as a B-list version of their icon, and some in Bachmann’s camp regarding Palin as a short-timer without Bachmann’s record or tenure.

Palin “doesn’t seem like a credible candidate,” said Iowa state Senator Kent Sorenson, who will reportedly serve as Bachmann’s political director in the state. He said he thought Bachmann would beat Palin there head-to-head if need be. “She has not made any inroads at all to people in Iowa.”

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Bachmann’s flood of fundraising email this week, meanwhile, was met with irritation by the online supporters who compose Palin’s semi-official political operation.

“Way to win [people] over Michele. Bug the crap out of them at work,” wrote Stacy Drake, a blogger at Conservatives4Palin, hub of Palin’s online support.

“I’ve unsubscribed to your email list TWICE,” tweeted the founder of Palin Promotions, a grassroots support group, Martha Cano, adding, “#Notinterested.”

Prominent Republicans speculated Thursday that Palin’s bus tour timing is not unconnected to the Minnesota congresswoman’s efforts.

“Every time Bachmann gets some press, Palin will get herself out there a little more,” said one well-placed observer. “There’s a little jockeying going on.”

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However she’s going about it, Bachmann, is on track to launch an actual campaign – something that is far from clear with Palin, despite her sudden spurt of activity.

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