Karl Rove said today that he sees Representative Michele Bachmann’s decision to retire as “an opening for the Tea Party.” On ABC’s This Week, Rove said, “Michele Bachmann was the chairman of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus and in that position did nothing. Now the position is open. Someone will accept the chairmanship of it, and they may do something with it, and we’ll see.”
Rove also predicted that Bachmann’s House seat, which she narrowly retained in 2012, would now, with a new candidate, safely remain in Republican hands.
Former top Obama adviser David Plouffe mentioned Texas senator Ted Cruz as someone who could take Bachmann’s place as a tea-party leader.
“There’s others to replace her,” he said. “You’ve got Ted Cruz and others that will fill the bill.”