Michele Bachmann Hires Ed Rollins to Manage Presidential Campaign

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) has hired pollster and political consultant Ed Rollins to run her campaign for president, if she does run for president. Rollins managed Ronald Reagan's 1984 re-election campaign, which ended in a landslide for Reagan. Rollins also managed Ross Perot's 1992 Presidential bid, and was campaign chair for Mike Huckabee's 2008 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. In 1993, Rollins managed Christie Todd Whitman's campaign for governor of New Jersey. The New York Times reported that in that campaign, Rollins paid out about $500,000 in "walking around money" to black ministers and Democratic party workers in exchange for  promises not to rally votes for Ms. Whitman's opponent, incumbent Gov. Jim Florio. In New Jersey, such "street money" is intended to cover incidental Election Day expenses to help get out the vote, like providing bus fare, cab fare or lunch for poll workers. The individual payments Rollins made in Whitman's campaign were small enough to evade campaign reporting requirements. Rollins' effort to depress the black, urban vote in New Jersey were pivotal in helping Ms. Whitman win a narrow victory in that election.