Bachmann loses key backer
Iowa campaign chairman announces move to Paul
DES MOINES, Iowa – In a surprise move, and a blunt reflection of the shifting fortunes of Republican presidential candidates ahead of the opening voter test, Michele Bachmann’s Iowa campaign chairman defected Wednesday night to Ron Paul’s campaign.
State Sen. Kent Sorenson, a “tea party” favorite, was hired as a Bachmann staffer in Iowa, even before she announced her candidacy. He helped lead her campaign to victory in the Ames Straw Poll in August. Ever since, however, Bachmann’s popularity has been in decline.
Recent statewide polling shows her running last among the six Republicans actively competing in Iowa. Paul, meantime, appears to be in a tight race with Mitt Romney for first place in next Tuesday’s caucuses, the opening vote of the 2012 Republican nomination contest.
“It’s difficult, but it’s the right thing to do,” Sorenson said, in announcing his decision before a crowd of several hundred at a Veterans for Ron Paul rally at the Iowa state fairgrounds in Des Moines.
Sorenson predicted that Paul would be the object of attacks by the Republican establishment in the days ahead, and said he wanted to help defend him here in Iowa.
Paul welcomed his newest supporter in understated fashion, thanking Sorenson for “stopping by. That was very nice.”
The defection of the well-known Republican lawmaker is a severe blow to Bachmann’s struggling campaign.
In a statement, Bachmann responded that Sorenson’s defection was “a deliberate move by the Ron Paul campaign to discredit our campaign and growing momentum.”
Bachmann went on to say that Sorenson “personally told me he was offered a large sum of money” to work for Paul.
Sorenson, speaking to several reporters backstage after the Paul rally ended and the candidate was posing for pictures with supporters, said he had “no idea” why Bachmann claims that he said he was offered a large sum of money to work for Paul.
Sorenson said Bachmann is no longer a top-tier candidate in Iowa and doesn’t have a chance to stop Romney in Tuesday’s caucuses.
Paul, he said, was the only conservative with that opportunity. “It was hard for me to do this,” he said. “I love Michele Bachmann.”