Tea Party missing Bachmann in N.H.
Few would be surprised if Karen Testerman endorsed Michele Bachmann for president.
Testerman is a former Republican gubernatorial candidate in New Hampshire, a social conservative who spearheaded a campaign to preserve traditional marriage.
Bachmann, a Republican presidential candidate and Tea Party favorite, has a long history of opposing gay marriage. Both women are strong fiscal and social conservatives.
“She’s very much on the top of my No. 1 list,’’ Testerman said.
Nonetheless, despite hosting Bachmann in her home for a Memorial Day event, Testerman has not committed to the Minnesota congresswoman.
“She has not been here for two months and it’s not looking positive,’’ Testerman said. “It’s disconcerting that someone who has such potential would think about skipping New Hampshire.’’
As most Republican candidates barnstorm the Granite State seeking votes in the first-in-the-nation primary, Bachmann has been campaigning in Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida.
On Memorial Day, Bachmann told reporters in New Hampshire that she considered the state “very important.’’
But her last visit was June 28, the day after she formally announced her candidacy. She cancelled a scheduled visit in August.
While her campaign insists Bachmann will visit in September, her early absence could cost her votes.
“It’s obvious from her actions that she hasn’t made a priority of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire primary process,’’ said Andrew Hemingway, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire.
Bachmann has strategic reasons for using her resources elsewhere.
She has strong appeal among social conservatives and evangelical Christians – groups that are mainstays of the Republican parties in Iowa and South Carolina. New Hampshire Republicans tend to be less religious and more socially moderate.
One index on her decisionmaking? Bachmann won the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, but has consistently trailed former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in polls in New Hampshire.
“Strategically, it makes sense for her to spend time in Iowa and South Carolina because her message resonates more with those voters,’’ Hemingway said.
Earlier this month, Mattheau LeDuc, Bachmann’s New Hampshire director of operations, said the campaign will be more active in New Hampshire as the primary gets closer. LeDuc said Bachmann’s schedule as a sitting congresswoman makes campaigning difficult, Bachmann is balancing family issues, and Iowa was her priority until the Ames Straw Poll.
“She’s getting pulled from so many directions,’’ said Leduc.
Yet Bachmann also has little infrastructure in New Hampshire, with no campaign office and just four paid staff, led by radio show host Jeff Chidester. Potential supporters say they don’t always get their phone calls returned.
Chidester did not return a call today.
When Bachmann visits New Hampshire, she easily draws enthusiastic crowds of over 100 to backyard events. Sylvia Smith, a Tea Party coordinator in Littleton, is among those who have heard Bachmann speak and are satisfied with her campaign.
“I admire her spirit,’’ Smith said. “She’s a real fighter, has the best interests of the country at heart.’’
That said, Smith is still deciding between the Minnesotan and Texas Governor Rick Perry.
But a handful of big events aren’t enough to convince voters like Linda Dupere, who chairs the Pemi-Baker Valley Republican Committee and has not decided who to support in 2012.
“What I want is one on one,’’ Dupere said. “I want to be able to ask questions to the candidates.’’
Former New Hampshire Republican Party Chairman Fergus Cullen wrote an op-ed column in the Union Leader this weekend blasting Bachmann for ignoring New Hampshire. Cullen noted that none of New Hampshire’s 300 Republican legislators has endorsed her.
Corey Lewandowski, a Tea Party supporter and New Hampshire director of the fiscally conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity, said potential Bachmann supporters could look to a candidate like Perry, who is also generating excitement among the more conservative wing of the Republican Party.
Perry, who announced his candidacy earlier this month, is making his third visit to New Hampshire this weekend. Romney, Jon Huntsman, and Ron Paul, who have made New Hampshire critical to their strategies, have been in the state frequently, for days at a time.
“People who would have been looking to support Michele Bachmann may now be finding other candidates who are in New Hampshire on a more regular basis,’’ Lewandowski said. “Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney – those are the candidates you’re seeing now. They understand the importance of retail politics in New Hampshire.’’
Wayne Lesperance, professor of political science at New England College, said he believes some Granite Staters are worried about how Bachmann’s absence will reflect on the New Hampshire primary.
“Whenever a candidate does not participate fully it threatens the institution,’’ Lesperance said.
But, he said others are potential supporters who feel cheated.
“They would argue there is fertile ground here,’’ Lesperance said. “There are state legislators waiting to endorse her, waiting for her to come, to give them the opportunity.’’
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