Bachmann 'Didn't Want To Be In The Room' With Perry
WATERLOO, Iowa (Texas Tribune) – Michele Bachmann may have won the Ames Straw Poll, but Rick Perry got the rock star treatment at a packed fundraiser in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa.
And Bachmann couldn't stand it, said one of the organizers of the event.
Judd Saul, head of the Cedar Valley Tea Party and serving as spokesman for the Hawk County GOP fundraiser, said Bachmann showed disrespect to Perry and Rick Santorum, both of whom stayed for dinner and did a meet-and-greet with voters. He said Bachmann didn't want to come in while Perry was speaking. She did not enter the room until he was done speaking.
"I was really a big fan of hers up until how I saw her come into this event," Saul said. "Her coming in, not eating dinner with us, showing up with a grand entrance with a big song playing … it's not what it's about here."
Saul also said Bachmann, who brought in her own stage equipment, including lights and a microphone, did not allow Perry to use her studio lighting set up in the Electric Park Ballroom.
"She didn't want to be in the room when he was talking," Saul said. "And if you noticed, it got brighter when Michele Bachmann got in because she didn't want to share her lights with Rick Perry." Perry's former legislative director Dan Shelley, said he noticed it got much brighter when Bachmann walked in.
Bachmann did not take questions from the audience but she told reporters after the event that she welcomed Perry to Iowa but was too busy campaigning to get to the Waterloo event in time. Saul, however, said one of Bachmann's aides kept texting a Black Hawk County official to find out if Perry had finished speaking.
"We had a full day today," Bachmann said. She said spent time."We're just grateful that we were able to work this in to be able to come tonight."
Perry was all but mobbed by reporters — from Iowa and around the nation — when he arrived at the event.
It comes only a day after Perry officially leapt into the 2012 presidential race — and a day after Bachman won the Straw Poll. Some Iowans were miffed that Perry staged his announcement speech on the same day of the non-binding referendum.
Perry, working the crowd, seemed to relish meeting Iowa voters. Perry could be heard telling reporters over the din that he knew he would be spending a lot of time here.
"He loves retail politics, loves talking to real people, shaking hands," said spokesman Ray Sullivan. "He really likes this part of campaigning and for those of us tagging along it's fun to watch. Some people have that personality trait — I don't."
Sullivan is leaving his state job as Perry's chief of staff so he can he become the communications director for the campaign.
Another Texan, Perry's former legislative director Dan Shelley, was also in the crowd. He's formed both a "Super PAC" and a candidate-specific committee to drum up support independently from the campaign. He said the response in Iowa has been positive for Perry so far.
"My goal is to organize vets, get them excited, get them to the polls," Shelley said.
