Michele Bachmann Not Ready To Be President: Former Staffer

WASHINGTON - A former chief of staff to Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) wrote Tuesday that his former boss is "decidedly" not ready to be president.

"She is a faithful conservative with great oratory skills, but without any leadership experience or real results from her years in office," wrote Ron Carey in an op-ed published in the Des Moines Register, Iowa's leading newspaper. "She is not prepared to assume the White House in 2013," he concluded.

Bachmann officially launched her run for the presidency in Iowa Monday.

Carey, who worked for Bachmann from February to July 2010, said that during his time on her staff, her campaign and congressional offices were "wildly out of control."

"Stacks upon stacks of unopened contributions filled the campaign office while thousands of communications from citizens waited for an answer. If she is unable, or unwilling, to handle the basic duties of a campaign or congressional office, how could she possibly manage the magnitude of the presidency?" Carey wrote.

Carey also served as chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party from 2005 to 2009, and said his experience with the state's former governor, Tim Pawlenty, convinced him that Pawlenty, who is also running for president, "possesses the judgment, the demeanor, and the readiness to serve as president."

Comments

[itzfatcat]

01:12 PM on 07/04/2011

I wonder how much liberals paid him to make this statement.

[Markymark73]

11:07 AM on 07/03/2011

I agree that Bachmann is not ready for office. But this guys complaining that during his time on her staff, her campaign and congressional offices were "wildly out of control."
- As chief of her staff wasn't that his job?

[WhoShotJR]

01:24 PM on 06/30/2011

sounds like another candidate from 08 who won the election. no legislative record to speak of, fair oratory skills, delusions of grandeur. yup, obachmann for president.

[RC81]

04:10 PM on 06/30/2011

I cannot believe you actually get paid for this kind of 'genius'.

Only in America.

[Rosie Green]

11:12 PM on 06/29/2011

I don't think Bachmann has great oratory skills at all. She doesn't seem to know much about anything.

[Radx28]

11:09 PM on 06/29/2011

Let me see, do I go for the organized political wacko, or the silver tongued messy wacko. Jessie Ventura is looking like a good alternative to me. Let's bring Jessie back!

[A Wright]

05:20 PM on 06/29/2011

Fraud, thy name is Bachmann!

[mdbeard41]

04:44 PM on 06/29/2011

Bachmann is nothing if not entertaining her propensity to give misinformation and double down on it is very concerning indeed. Just because you believe something and repeat it often does not make it true. I wonder why no one in the media is talking about the fact that she attended a law school that has been shut down due to the fact that it was substandard and did not meet accreditation standard. She claims to have a LLM from William and Mary but they do not offer a LLM and never did. It is true she never failed the bar because there is no record of her having taken it.

[GENE DEVAUX]

04:35 PM on 06/29/2011

She is not just loopy, she is stupid. She claimed that the president released all of the oil from the strategic reserve when he only releaed 30 million barrels of 727 million barrels, less than 5%. She thinks the way to solve the unemployment problem is to do away with the minimum wage. I helped to collect signatures to get a new minimum wage proposition on the Missouri ballot, that initiative passed with 70% of the vote. Missouri, unfortunately, has become a red state but that proposal passed with an overwhelming margin. Modern day republi-CONs are just out of touch with the common citizens.

[Rebecca Mocciaro]

02:27 PM on 06/29/2011

How can you have 5 natural children, 22 'foster' children, and be on top of the rest of your life? How many nannies did she employ? She is not competent.

[Catherine LantzDixon]

12:28 PM on 06/29/2011

Every time I read anything about this woman all I can think of is a post I did awhile back, that I will repeat:
“Republicans give God a headache.”

[1murillo]

12:16 PM on 06/29/2011

To anyone comparing Bachmann to Obama: Continue to do so if you wish (yet historically), a sitting Senator is a much better launching point for our Presidency than a sitting Representative. It's simple to agree that she qualifies - she's 35 years, etc - but that doesn't meant that she's "ready."

[Lets Drink]

09:58 AM on 06/29/2011

Turukano,

And what legislative acccomplishments did Obama have in the Senate? Almost zilch. He spent most of his time in the Senate running for President.

What a double standard....

[plzchuteme]

11:18 AM on 06/29/2011

No one ever stopped you from bashing Obama about his legislative record. Why would you want to stop people from bringing up Bachmann's record? It is what it is.

[Emmitt Langley]

01:05 PM on 06/29/2011

I agree...Obama wasn't nearly as experienced a Hilary yet he got the nomination. I thought they were supposed to be the party of women.

[thepoliticalcat]

01:32 PM on 06/29/2011

No, but he demonstrated much better management skills than Hillary did. I love Hillary, I always will, she's an incredible woman. But she made a mess of her campaign. Her top aides were constantly fighting openly with each other; she hired that incompetent dweeb, Mark Penn, who gave her terrible advice -- he didn't even know which states had "winner take all" primaries, for goodness' sake!; and she mismanaged her enormous funds (she outraised the unknown Obama by several times, since she had all the big money people from Bill's days in the WH all locked up), stiffing her small-business vendors and ending her campaign in debt -- a debt that President Obama graciously helped her pay off.

Obama ran a billion-dollar campaign with hundreds of thousands of volunteers as well as paid workers. He ended his campaign with a huge war chest, paid off all his bills, and enforced strict discipline throughout.

On a fiscal and managerial level, it was clear who the better candidate was, and that's who won. Hillary herself has put these issues behind her, and graciously accepted a post in the President's cabinet. Those who claim to follow her should certainly follow her example in this regard.

[bpomer]

08:41 AM on 06/29/2011

Bachman is disgusting. She sees no objective truth. If you say a lie and refuse to acknowledge it than it's true. She called for an investigation of un-American congress. She's a macarthyite. Shes doesn't believe effectively in democracy. Any other republican is more knowledgable prepared to be pres. Even plain who is not. Certainly Gingrich who I totally disagree with. Next shell be investigating you.

[BlueGirlRedState]

07:49 AM on 06/29/2011

This article is unfair to Bachmann. After all, she has a farm, two Christian mental health clinics, five children and raised 23 foster children. How can she be expected to also answer fan mail and deposit checks they enclose? Give the woman a break.

[editer]

10:33 AM on 06/29/2011

And don't forget being a tax attorney. Come to think of it, where DOES she find the time to do all this stuff? It almost looks as though she's inflated her resume'. Most farmers have plenty to do, tending their farms. A successful businessman would want to devote the lion's share of his time to running one clinic, even more for two. Most mothers would be pretty harried raising five kids, never mind taking on 23 more. I don't see how she could have done all this . . . unless she just dabbled and had surrogates doing the actual work. Well, that's how Ronald Reagan handled his presidency and he was clueless. Michelle would like to follow in his footsteps.

[wvmarv]

12:00 PM on 06/29/2011

Mexican farm workers and nannies?

[drjay79]

02:16 PM on 06/29/2011

She makes it sound like those 23 kids lived with her all at the same time. They came one or two at a time for different lengths of time. Like everything with her it was not how she makes it sound.

[misfitinpa]

10:50 AM on 06/29/2011

She wants to be president, if her current job is too much to juggle with her personal life, why should she be trusted with the country?

[Anubisdog]

07:47 AM on 06/29/2011

Can someone please inform Ms. Bachmann that bearing false witness, ie, lying, is prohibited by her God and is therefore incompatible with the Christian faith she has fashioned into a rhetorical club with which she beats and batters us daily???? Check out her politifact scores!!! This politician is a terrible, yet constant liar. And when she is called out on her lies, she refuses to correct the record and take "personal responsibility", the hallmark catch phrase of the religious right, who's policies consistently harm the poor, children, and the elderly, to the benefit of the rich and powerful. What Jesus is she following? She speaks of Him often, yet seems to know so little of his work. Why can't she just say what she is really for? Fundamentalist Christian Biblical World View Theocracy, you know, like the Taliban for God-fearing Americans.

[Lisa IngrahamMitchell]

08:43 AM on 06/29/2011

A-GREEEED!!!
F & F

[brian9573]

01:05 PM on 06/29/2011

Thou shall NOT lie!!