Rollins questions Bachmann's ability to go past Iowa

With allies like this, who needs opponents? Ed Rollins, apparently still on a retainer with Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign after a staff shakeup earlier this month, has returned to the airwaves today to… well, it's hard to tell what the strategy might be. Asked by MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell about a USA Today editorial calling it "appalingly irresponsible" and unworthy of a presidential candidate for Bachmann to spread fears about the HPV vaccine and link it to mental retardation, Rollins responded: "Absolutely fair criticism." "We tried to vet everything that was told to her," Rollins continued. "That obviously wasn't vetted." Rollins, an advisor to Presidents Ronald Regan and George H.W. Bush, also suggested that the Minnesota Republican isn't quite ready for prime time, saying "her entire political career has been really in one area of Minnesota." In the big arena, with heightened national media scrutiny, Rollins averred, "sometimes you say things that are inappropriate and you shouldn't say, and to a certain extent that's been part of her history." So what does ex-campaign manager make of Bachmann's chances in the GOP primary? (The latest CBS/New York Times GOP national primary poll puts her at 7 percent, behind Rick Perry at 23 and Mitt Romney at 16). "She doesn't have the ability or the resources to go beyond Iowa at this point in time," Rollins said, "where Perry and Romney with lots of money can go into South Carolina, Arizona, Florida and other places." Here's the MSNBC video: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy