Veteran Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins, who signed on to steer Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann’s looming presidential bid, said his recent criticism of Sarah Palin is not part of an electoral strategy…

“I don’t think Palin runs and if she does we will deal with it. There obviously is a trend in the media to link them,” Rollins told CNN. “In the long run we want Palin and her people as our allies.”

In an interview with POLITICO, Rollins said the Bachmann campaign will be “so much more substantive.”