WASHINGTON — Republican presidential contenders Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann were fighting Sunday to win over voters looking for an alternative to Herman Cain.
“A lot of Herman Cain supporters have been calling our office and they’ve been coming over to our side,” Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman, said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’
On the same program, Paul, a Texas congressman, said, “I’m optimistic we’ll pick up some votes from there.”
The lawmakers are acting on an assumption that the Tea Party element of the Cain base remains a potent political force and is in play after Cain suspended his campaign Saturday following allegations of sexual harassment and a long-running affair.
“People see that I’m the Tea Party candidate in the race,” Bachmann said. “They saw Herman Cain as an outsider and I think they see that my voice will be the one that will be most reflective of his.”
Paul said his campaign was “paying a lot of attention” to Cain supporters “because obviously they’re going to go somewhere in the next week or so” and he hopes to “pick up some votes.”
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