Bachmann Ignores New Hampshire

Following Michele Bachmann’s Ames Straw Poll victory in Iowa last month, many of the candidate’s New Hampshire supporters are asking: Where is she?

Politico reported on Thursday that Bachmann’s campaign has put very little effort in campaigning in the Nation’s first Presidential primary state.

Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, Herman Cain and Ron Paul — the rest of the serious contenders for the White House — have all made stops in the State, but Bachmann has not returned since she kicked off her campaign two months ago. Reportedly, a scheduled stop in New Hampshire was cancelled after the candidate’s victory in the Ames Straw Poll.

“Iowa is our main focus right now, secondly is South Carolina,” Bachmann spokeswoman Alice Stewart said in an email to Politico. “We do plan to build on our efforts in New Hampshire in due time.”

Former New Hampshire GOP chairman Fergus Cullen wrote a column in the Union Leader last weekend addressing the candidate’s refusal to acknowledge the State as an important political stopover.

“Once New Hampshire voters perceive that a candidate isn’t competing to win the primary, it becomes that much harder to earn support. Local activists are reluctant to sign up with a campaign that seems half-committed. Just ask Rudy Giuliani or Fred Thompson,” he wrote. “Bachmann is already paying a price for her lack of presence here. Not one of the more than 300 Republican state legislators has publicly endorsed Bachmann. For comparison, Ron Paul has 10 state reps and a senator on board. Mitt Romney’s supporters include three state senators.”

Bachmann has campaigned heavily in Iowa since the Ames Straw Poll, and she has campaigned in Florida and South Carolina this week; meanwhile, New Hampshire residents wait.

“Candidates demonstrate what they think is important by how they use their time. Iowa and South Carolina are important to Bachmann. New Hampshire, not so much,” concluded Cullen in his column.