If Michele Bachmann is reverting to an Iowa-first strategy, as ex-manager Ed Rollins has suggested, some of the latest numbers out of the early primary state of South Carolina might recommend that she take his advice.
 
Bachmann has gone backwards in South Carolina, according to the results of the latest Winthrop Poll, taken September 11-18, mostly after the last debate in Florida.
 
The poll of South Carolina Republicans and independents who lean Republican found that Rick Perry—who entered the race for the GOP nod during an appearance in the Palmetto State —leads Mitt Romney by 30.5% to 27.3% -- within the margin of error.
 
Bachmann registered at 4.2 percent, behind Godfather’s Pizza guy Herman Cain, at 6.8 percent. (Undeclared Sarah Palin also did better in the poll at 6.3 percent).
 
The study’s authors note that Bachmann is polling back to where she was in Winthrop’s April 2011 Poll, when the two frontrunners were Romney and Mike Huckabee.
 
South Carolina, with its strong base of evangelical voters, was once seen as fertile ground for Bachmann. According to the Winthrop poll, almost 75 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaners there say the term “Socialist” describes the president well or very well; 36% say he was definitely or probably born in another country; and nearly 30% say Obama’s a Muslim.