Cain Lights Up Internet, Bachmann Goes Dark

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GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain's surge since winning the Florida Straw Poll last month has caught fire on the Internet and almost all the buzzing and blogging about him is positive, setting the stage for him to join Mitt Romney and Rick Perry in the top tier of White House hopefuls.

Cain's turnaround from never-was to front-runner also has newcomers to his candidacy suggesting that he's a winner, leader, and the inheritor of President Obama's promise of "hope," according to a new review of over 200 million blogs, tweets, and social media posts conducted for Whispers by Zeta Interactive, the New York-based digital marketing firm.

"Herman Cain is riding a crest fresh from the latest debate and straw poll win in Florida. Words that dominate his buzz focus on 'leader', 'winner,' and 'intelligent'. Cain has jumped to the head of the pack," says Zeta Interactive CEO Al DiGuido. For the Zeta Buzz report, his firm mines online media and uses a scientific algorithm to measure the volume and tone of the presidential race.

[Read:Herman Cain Says He's a Big-League Player.]

Cain, he says, is the biggest surprise, experiencing a huge boost in his tonal rating from 79 percent positive to 85 percent positive, tops of all presidential candidates. Other words people use to describe Cain now include "like," "hope," "smart," and "business."

And as he releases his biographical book this month, This Is Herman Cain!, many surprised GOP insiders believe that Cain's start will continue to rise.

[Read: Cain Sees Fundraising Uptick Off Debate, Straw Poll.]

But despite his surge politically and in Internet buzz, DiGuido notes that Cain still isn't the talk of the town. Romney and Perry still gobble up most of the Web's space, or volume. Of all the buzz on the Internet about the candidates, Cain is receiving just 5 percent compared to Romney's 37 percent and Perry's 35 percent.

And while dominating the Web, the duo also still have positive ratings, both at 81 percent positive.

DiGuido gives Ron Paul his due, telling Whispers that the libertarian's positive rating ranks second, at 83 percent. And Paul is consuming 12 percent of the Internet buzz volume. Words people associate with Paul include "underdog," "surprise," and "could win."

[See who's in and who's out of the 2012 GOP race.]

But the latest buzz report is bad news for Rep. Michele Bachmann. Her share of the Internet volume has crashed 20 percent, to just 11 percent. And her positive rating is a meager 64 percent. Words associated with her in social media include "over" and "crazy."

"It appears that the frequency of the Republican debates can be a blessing and a curse for some potential candidates. Iowa straw poll winner Michele Bachmann is dropping fast in terms of tone and share of buzz volume. While during August, her cluster words were 'winner', 'victory' and 'Tea Party.' Just 30 days later words that dominate her buzz are 'excessive', 'finished' & 'won't win'," says DiGuido.

"Romney and Perry continue to duke it out and there are signs that all that public infighting isn't doing too much to hurt either one. They are currently running neck and neck with similar share of positive and volume rankings. Ron Paul is being cast by bloggers as the true 'underdog' in the field. The rest of the debate club is not even close to making a real run at the leaders in the pack. Right now with a potential Chris Christie run being rumored, the race is tightening between Perry and Romney. Only time and future debates will tell if Cain's recent rising can be sustained," he tells us.

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Bachmann and Irene Approach Florida Simultaneously

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Home > Politics & Policy > Ken Walsh's Washington > Bachmann and Irene Approach Florida Simultaneously

August 25, 2011 Print

As one hurricane grazes Florida, another is going to hit it straight on. Michele Bachmann's campaign recently announced a weekend of stops in Florida, perfectly timed to coincide with the arrival of Hurricane Irene. The Minnesota representative has her first stop at Angie's Sub Shop in Jacksonville Beach on Friday afternoon, right around when the outer rings of Irene will be pelting the Florida coast with rain and high winds. [See photos of Michele Bachmann.]

Bachmann campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart told U.S. News in an E-mail that the campaign currently has no intention of changing its plans in light of the impending storm. Indeed, the campaign trail—even on the Florida coast—is arguably a better place to be this weekend than Washington, which could see significant rain and damage from Irene.

Tags:Florida, 2012 presidential election, Michele Bachmann, politics

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Bachmann must out swinging

Home > policy & politics > Ken Walsh Washington > Bachmann has to come out swinging print 12 September 2011

Michele Bachmann must reaffirm Republican presidential debate in the present or it is always a risk competitors.

[See political cartoons about field GOP 2012.]

Bachmann, a Congressman from Minnesota, the GOP rose to a minor role in the past week debate of national front runner Rick Perry the Governor of Texas, and Mitt Romney, the former Governor of Massachusetts,. Not even today, Bachmann claim an afterthought, they could quickly.

[Photos by Michele Bachmann.]

GOP analysts expect Bachmann attack Perry, in an effort to his attempts the tea party conservative activists that an important force in the Republican nomination are politics, to thwart. She will also create the most important national competitor to Romney. Who has considerable support among business-oriented and establishment Republicans but is gaining traction among tea of party activists have problems.

Bachmann won the Republican Iowa straw poll last month, but since then steal their thunder on the right side Perry.

It is expected to Perry attack on several fronts, including a critique of his condemnation of social security as a "Ponzi scheme" and a "monstrous lie." Bachmann told Radio Iowa Friday, not to mention of Perry the name that politicians are wrong, "nervous" make dependent on programs that they have come, seniors.

What many of their followers and potential contributors are looking for in the debate tonight in Florida, is evidence that Bachmann has resumed its role as a feisty, strong advocate, who seemed to be next up in the campaign.

Tags: 2012, elections, politics, Republicans

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Bachmann Changes GOP Staff, Not Strategy

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After a busy and bumpy weekend, Michele Bachmann's campaign is looking the worse for wear. The congresswoman spent the weekend campaigning in South Carolina, doing a Sunday-morning segment on CBS's Face the Nation, and on Monday night participating in Republican Sen. Jim DeMint's Republican presidential candidate forum. But the campaign arguably grabbed the most attention on Monday night, when it announced that Ed Rollins would step down as campaign manager to the role of senior adviser. Politico reported that Deputy Campaign Manager David Polyansky would be leaving as well. The chairman of Bachmann's Iowa campaign says that he foresees no major strategy changes, but can the Minnesota representative win by simply staying the course?

[Read about the fallout surrounding Bachmann's Hurricane Irene comments.]

The campaign's statement characterizes the shift as a "planned restructuring," with the 68-year-old Rollins leaving for health reasons. Rollins is a veteran of helming Republican campaigns, having worked as campaign director for President Ronald Reagan as well as for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in his 2008 run for the presidency. The campaign is clearly downplaying the significance of the shift. Kent Sorenson, Bachmann's campaign chairman in Iowa, says that Rollins was always intended to be focused mainly on the Ames Straw Poll, which Bachmann won last month. And though the campaign says that it is "expanding its focus on winning the Iowa Caucuses and early primary states," Sorenson says that the campaign's overall approach is remaining unchanged.

"I don't see any major strategy changes," says Sorenson, pointing out that the campaign has always been primarily focused on winning states like Iowa and South Carolina, which have early nomination contests.

"I was always under the impression that [Rollins] was never going to run the day-to-day operations," says Sorenson. "He's still a part of the campaign. I can call him any time. [But] this is a young man's sport."

Whether or not the staff shakeup was unexpected, there is no doubt that Bachmann's strength is slipping. Rollins even went to far as to tell CNN on Monday, "The Perry-Romney race is now the story, with us the third candidate." That fact was borne out by an NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll released this morning, showing that the candidate garners only 8 percent of support among Republican primary voters, behind Texas Gov. Rick Perry's 38 percent and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's 23 percent, and nearly even with Texas Rep. Ron Paul's 9 percent. This is half the amount of support that Bachmann had in the same poll in July.

[See how Perry's candidacy might hurt Bachmann's chances.]

With these signs of stress, it appears to be all the more important that Bachmann perform well in Wednesday night's Republican debate. Many watchers perceived her performance in a June debate as strong. If she can build on that, it may help her regain some of the ground she has lost.

Bachmann may also be able to boost her place in the national spotlight with Congress' return from its August recess. Unlike Perry and Romney, Bachmann (and likewise Paul) has the advantage of being a member of Congress at a time when contentious policy debates are taking place, giving her the opportunity to further advance her campaign's narrative of the congresswoman as being at the forefront of the conservative movement to fight President Obama's policies.

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Bachmann Takes Aim at 'Perrycare'

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The suffix "-gate" is used to signify scandal (see Travelgate, Climategate, Weinergate). In similar fashion, "-care" is becoming the suffix of choice for criticizing healthcare policy decisions. First there was Obamacare, then Romneycare (also known as Obamneycare). Now, Michele Bachmann is criticizing "Perrycare."

[See how Bachmann and Mitt Romney are losing the media battle to Rick Perry.]

In a no-frills video with strangely poor audio quality, the Republican presidential candidate and Minnesota representative and takes aim at Texas Gov. Rick Perry's 2007 executive order mandating that sixth-grade girls receive the vaccine against HPV (the legislature later blocked the vaccination program from taking place). "Whether it's Obamacare or whether it's Perrycare, I oppose any governor or president who mandates a family's healthcare choices and in turn violates the rights of parents on these issues, especially if the decision-making process occurs behind closed doors, bypassing legislative action, and instead favors campaign contributors over the rights of families," she tells the camera.

Bachmann attacked Perry for that executive order in this week's Tea Party debate, and also linked the order to the governor's ties to and contributions from Merck, which manufactures the vaccine. "The question is, is it about life, or was it about millions of dollars and potentially billions for a drug company?" she asked Perry.

[Read about the latest shakeups on the Bachmann campaign staff.]

The video escalates the battle between the two candidates over the vaccine. Interestingly, however, the most damaging blow Bachmann has sustained in the fight was self-inflicted, when she made comments linking the vaccine to mental retardation. The medical community has responded with strong criticism. O. Marion Burton, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, released a statement countering Bachmann's claims: "The American Academy of Pediatrics would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement."

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Bachmann, Romney Losing Media Battle to Perry

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Tea Partyers helped put Michele Bachmann on the national map, so tonight's CNN/Tea Party Republican presidential debate could be an excellent place for her to regain lost ground. Polls show that Bachmann has lost substantial support over the last month, while Texas Gov. Rick Perry's popularity has skyrocketed. At the same time, data also shows, Bachmann andformer Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have lost ground to him in the mainstream media.

Data compiled by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism shows just how much Perry has taken over the national debate, at the expense of Bachmann and Romney. From the moment he announced his candidacy, Perry has received far more media attention than his fellow candidates. In a broad sample of news stories from print, broadcast, and online media studied by Pew, Bachmann and Romney have appeared nearly equally often as lead newsmakers in 2011 (through September 4), with 151 and 153 stories, respectively (in Pew's analysis, a "lead newsmaker" is a person present in 50 percent or more of a news story). Perry has received moderately less coverage, with 126 stories. However, Perry declared his candidacy on August 13, far later than Bachmann or Romney. Since his entry, he has been the lead newsmaker in 90 of Pew's stories, more than four times Romney's level of coverage (20 stories), and nearly seven times Bachmann's (13 stories).

See who Tim Pawlenty has endorsed in 2012

Media coverage of new presidential candidates tends to follow "an almost natural progression of events," says Mark Jurkowitz, associate director of Pew's journalism program. "The candidate explodes onto the scene, they essentially generate a significant amount of coverage if they show certain indices of viability," like successful fundraising and polling. "So the first thing the media tries to figure out if his person is a serious candidate or not, or has potential to be a serious candidate." After that, says Jurkowitz, "there kicks in another process, and that's the vetting process, particularly for candidates who aren't particularly well-known."

This process has played out differently for the biggest Republican candidates, and Bachmann's trajectory seems to have suffered the most during this process. Perry is still only one month into his candidacy and is only beginning to feel the in-depth scrutiny of media vetting. Romney, meanwhile, did not burst onto the scene in the way that Perry did, but as a 2008 top-tier Republican candidate also may not require the vetting that Perry will. "The press doesn't feel like it has to introduce Mitt Romney to the American public," says Jurkowitz.

Bachmann, however, was relatively well-known on a national scale prior to her presidential campaign, having made a name for herself as key Tea Party fixture and conservative firebrand. That image may have put her at a disadvantage in the current campaign. Much prior media coverage of Bachmann had focused on her propensity for making outrageous statements espousing what some consider to be extreme viewpoints. That preconstructed narrative, says Jurkowitz, is hard for the media to shake. "That would create the impression in many people, in many media quarters, that she's not going to be a likely successful presidential candidate, simply because of where she is in the ideological spectrum," he says.

Read about the economic battles that await Congress this fall.

And this is where the damaging circularity of media coverage and popularity comes in. "I think clearly the news media does have the effect of priming the attention that voters give to candidates," says Christopher Arterton, a professor of political management at The George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management. "The press both follows and leads what's happening both in the polls and other indicators of candidate success."

In other words, to some extent, any publicity is good publicity. So Bachmann's key to regaining her footing with voters may be regaining her place in the spotlight. She does have a proven ability to attract the news media's attention, and with numerous economic battles awaiting on Capitol Hill this fall, Bachmann may have plenty of opportunities to make a media splash. For example, she seized on President Obama's jobs speech last week, as well as the lack of a formal Republican response, to hold a press conference at which she delivered her own reaction.

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