Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann’s former Chief of Staff Ron Carey authored an incendiary op-ed published in the Des Moines Register Tuesday.
Carey wrote that the Republican presidential candidate is “without any leadership experience or real results from her years in office.”
Republicans caucus-goers in Iowa should avoid selecting an “unprepared and inexperienced” presidential candidate, Carey wrote, suggesting a parallel between Bachmann and the candidacy of President Obama.
“It is clear to me that while Tim Pawlenty possesses the judgment, the demeanor, and the readiness to serve as president, Michele Bachmann decidedly does not,” Carey wrote.
As chief of staff, the congressional and campaign offices that Carey managed were “wildly out of control,” he wrote. “Stacks upon stacks of unopened contributions filled the campaign office while thousands of communications from citizens waited for an answer.”
Carey continued, “If she is unable, or unwilling, to handle the basic duties of a campaign or congressional office, how could she possibly manage the magnitude of the presidency?”
Bachmann’s high staff turnover was cited earlier this month by National Journal correspondent Major Garrett as a significant obstacle to a successful presidential run.
(Alec Baldwin: Bachmann inarticulate, full of s**t, someone to be feared)
“She can’t keep anybody on her staff,” Garrett said. “They work for her for a little bit of time and they quit. She’s had five or six chiefs of staff – at least four at her time in Congress.”
Carey left Bachmann’s staff in July 2010. He was the congresswoman’s fifth chief of staff in four years.
In his editorial, Carey offered effusive praise for former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, writing that the presidential candidate “is a family man filled with faith and conservative convictions proven in action” who would “make a great president.”