Michele Bachmann Campaign: All Over But the Official Announcement

A headline today grabbed my attention: Is Michele Bachmann's campaign in danger?

I paused, and thought: Is Michele Bachmann still running a campaign?

After winning the Iowa straw poll on the same day last month that Texas Gov. Rick Perry was in South Carolina announcing his bid for the Republican party's presidential nomination, Bachmann has shriveled like a Minnesota wildflower in late October.

Apparently, her Iowa victory was her one grand moment in the race, since she's been relegated to single digit numbers in recent polls -- especially now that the Congresswoman's campaign manager, Ed Rollins, and deputy campaign manager, David Polyansky, have moved on to other duties.

To be fair, Rollins says he will still serve the campaign in a senior advisory role, so it's not like he's completely bailing out on Bachmann's presidential run, while Polyansky says he's out entirely from a role in her race. Yet it's clear that instinct wasn't wrong, and the presidential run party for Bachmann is all but over.

Quitting is now just a formality.

By the time she officially quits, however, it will likely not even register on the political radar since between the late hours of that Saturday of her Iowa win and now, she's essentially been done anyway. Not only does Rick Perry carry more Tea Party clout, more economic clout, and more evangelical clout with conservatives -- he can also out talk the Minnessota House member.

She's known for some outlandish comments, for instance, but already none come to mind. Perry, on the other hand, is known for Perryisms, the Texans' unique, frank -- if not sometimes outlandish -- perspectives on the state of Washington, and America.

She said something a few weeks back that made headlines, but I can't remember what.

He suggested Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is treasonous.

You get the picture.

Bachmann's appeal is to the same audience that Perry appeals to, and he's so much more, from a presidential candidate perspective at least. That's why one recent Fox News survey revealed that Bachmann is the Republican presidential candidate choice of a mere four percent of voters.

She was tied in the poll with two individuals who aren't even running -- Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee. She did manage, however, to squeak past former House speaker Newt Gingrich in the poll, by one percent. But that's a paltry showing for a candidate who just three weeks ago won the Iowa straw poll -- called by some to be a make-or-break moment for a presidential campaign.

Bachmann did what even decent candidate would do, claiming the poll, in which she bested Ron Paul and seven other Republican candidates, as a major victory.

This is the first step toward taking the White House in 2012, Bachmann told a crowd in Iowa, after the win. And you have sent a message that Barack Obama will be a one-term president. This is a wonderful down payment on taking the country back -- and it started in Iowa.

The reality, however, is that it ended for Michele Bachmann in Iowa. Or maybe that was South Carolina, where Perry announced that day. Either way, she's done. Now, quitting remains is just a formality.