Free Republic

Rep. Michele Bachmann, stressing her Iowa roots and appealing directly to Tea Party voters, came out swinging Monday as she formally launched her campaign for president. Buoyed by a strong showing in several recent polls, the Minnesota congresswoman cast her campaign as the voice for "constitutional conservatives" looking for a government that lives within its means while giving the private sector the room to grow. She launched a broadside against President Obama for racking up too much debt while stimulating too little job growth and vowed to make him a "one-term president." "We cannot afford four more years of Barack...

In today's issue of the Des Moines Register, Ron Carey, former chief of staff to Michele Bachmann, says that she isn't ready for the White House. He also endorsed one of her rivals for the GOP nomination: Having seen the two of them, up close and over a long period of time, it is clear to me that while Tim Pawlenty possesses the judgment, the demeanor, and the readiness to serve as president, Michele Bachmann decidedly does not. The Bachmann campaign and congressional offices I inherited were wildly out of control. Stacks upon stacks of unopened contributions filled the...

Michele Bachmann's claim that she has "never gotten a penny" from a family farm that's been subsidized by the government is at odds with her financial disclosure statements. They show tens of thousands in personal income from the operation. And, on a less substantive note, she flubbed her hometown history when declaring "John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa," and "that's the kind of spirit that I have, too," in running for president.

RAYMOND N.H. — With her trademark no-nonsense style, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann promised Granite State voters she’d run the White House with a “titanium spine” today while blasting President Obama for wasting tax dollars and kowtowing to the politically correct. “The American people have had enough. They’ve had it up to here,” a fiery Bachmann told a crowd of roughly 250 gathered in a back yard in Raymond, N.H. “President Obama, you are a one-term president ... We can’t afford four more years of millions of Americans out of work. We can’t afford it. It’s got to go.”

Michele Bachmann, looked polished and elegant as she announced her campaign to be the Republicans' Presidential candidate today. And while there is no denying that the Minnesota Congresswoman, 55, is an attractive woman, it appears she has stepped up her game when it comes to her style and beauty routine. As she launched her bid this morning, it was clear that her pale grey dress and matching jacket had been carefully considered. --snip-- Mr Mattie compared Mrs Bachmann to fellow Republican Sarah Palin, whose distinctive personal style came under heavy scrutiny in 2008 during her campaign for U.S. Vice President....

Who is the Tea Party candidate for president? If a gathering of about 100 Tea Party leaders in Washington on Monday gives any indication, it’s Representative Michele Bachmann (who just announced her candidacy), with Representative Ron Paul and Gov. Rick Perry vying for a close second (and probably edging her out on fervency of support). Leaders from Tea Party groups in about 40 states gathered in the Washington offices of FreedomWorks, the libertarian advocacy group that cultivated the Tea Party movement. (snip) A (completely unscientific) voice-vote straw poll of the (possibly unrepresentative) group, conducted by reporters, found almost no support...

For those who may have missed it, Bachmann answered the questions posed by Chris Wallace today on "Fox News Sunday" without any spin or ambiguity. This presents a stark contrast with Romney who's opportunistically all over the map with his reversals and changing ideological positions. Like Kerry, he supported something before he was against it. RomneyCare anyone?

Queen of the Tea Party The presidential campaign of Michele Bachmann Jul 4, 2011, Vol. 16, No. 40 • By MATTHEW CONTINETTI If she’d fallen backward, she’d have been killed. It was September 2009, during her second term in Congress, and a magazine had sent a photographer to shoot Michele Bachmann. He escorted her to the third floor rotunda in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, where he positioned a large orange crate next to the balustrade. He told her to stand on it. She reluctantly obliged. Behind her were three stories of empty air. The magazine had...

Michele Bachmann made her announcement to run for president this past week. The third-term Republican congresswoman from Minnesota had the full attention of Americans. That includes not only those who watch Fox News, but liberal CNN. Tea Party favorite The founder of the House Tea Party Caucus, Bachmann gives Tea Partiers a courageous, intelligent, extremely attractive candidate to get behind and support. It's fair to say she is adored by her supporters. She holds core conservative values and stands strong on social issues. Contrary to what her liberal detractors think, her political ideology is why she will win the Republican...

Fresh off her well-received performance in last week's GOP presidential debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann now tops the field of candidates in a new Zogby poll of Republican primary voters. The poll found Mrs. Bachmann garnering 24 percent of the vote, well-ahead of businessman Herman Cain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who each received 15 percent support.

What's with the hatred of Michele Bachmann at Free Republic lately? I've seen some psychotic paranoid drivel about her secretly working for Mitt Romney, but apparently there's more to it than that. Please help me out here, folks.

A new Rasmussen poll shows that following the Republican debate in New Hampshire, Michele Bachmann catapulted into the number two slot as a prospective nominee behind Mitt Romney. Bachmann’s performance at the debate, her national debut as a presidential candidate, may well be seen as “A Star is Born.” She was clear, focused, principled, and beautiful and became a focal point of excitement and surprise regarding her potential as a new Republican leader and star. Many see Governor Romney as a formidable and impressive man.  And much of conventional wisdom – considering his experience, organization, money, capability, and presidential persona...

One might be surprised to hear someone from the left-leaning Brookings Institution argue that Michele Bachmann shined in Monday’s presidential debate. But that’s exactly what Darrell West, governance studies director at the Washington, D.C., think tank, wrote on Politico. Michele Bachmann, GOP, candidates“The most articulate candidate last night was Minnesota House member Michele Bachmann,” West maintained. “She was clear and focused in her remarks and drew one of the strongest applause lines when she boldly stated that Barack Obama was going to be a one-term president.”

Romney 33%... Bachmann 19%... Cain 10%  In the wake of a dazzling debate performance earlier in the week, confirmation of the positive impression made on Republican primary voters has now arrived in the form of an almost fifteen-point move for Michele Bachmann , one that has her pulled-away from the second-tier pack and now growing larger in Flipper's rear-view mirror... ________________________________________________________________ A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely GOP Primary Voters, taken following the candidates’ Monday night debate, shows Romney earning 33% support, with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann a surprise second at 19%. Georgia businessman Herman Cain is in third place with 10% of the...

Michele Bachmann should have me ringing doorbells and doing conservative flips to get her elected but she isn’t and I don’t know why. She looks great on paper. She expresses conservatism clearly. She understands the dire situation we’re in and the remedies. She’s energetic and pleasant. She goes after the agent of our destruction. She can debate. She is attractive. She has a compelling life story. So what’s wrong? When Michele Bachmann is on TV or radio, or I read her words in print, she has my attention and I agree with her but as soon as she’s off the...

For evangelicals, Bachmann ‘speaks our code’ June 6, 2011 By DANIEL BURKE WASHINGTON (RNS) Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour warned several hundred Christian conservatives gathered here last week (June 3-4) not to expect a “perfect candidate” to emerge from the field of Republican presidential contenders. “There’s only been one perfect person that ever walked on this earth,” Barbour said, sounding as much like a preacher as a politician. “And there ain’t gonna be another one in this election.” None of the half-dozen or so rivals for the GOP nomination who addressed the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference walked on water, of...

It wasn’t an announcement, exactly, but an announcement of an announcement, which sounded pretty close to the same thing. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), whose flirtation with running for president has generated strong buzz among conservative activists in Iowa, told reporters Thursday night that she plans an “all-important announcement which will happen in the month of June, which I am pleased to tell you tonight will be made in Iowa. And I can also tell you that announcement will be made in the city where I was born, in Waterloo.” Announced or not, her 2012 campaign sounds like it is already...

Maybe next time he'll ride his unicorn.

Tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., is very close to tossing her hat in the ring for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination and may announce her candidacy in May rather than June, as initially expected. Bachmann also revealed Tuesday that she has spoken with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee since his decision not to run, but she would not disclose what they discussed. The recent announcements of Huckabee and business mogul Donald Trump that they would not run appear to have created a political void that a social and fiscal conservative such as Bachmann possibly could fill. A former...

Michele Bachmann won a straw poll held at a conservative conference this weekend. | AP photo Michele Bachmann scored a victory in a straw poll held at a conservative conference over the weekend. The Minnesota congresswoman won 23 percent of the vote from attendees of The Awakening 2011, a gathering at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Though she was scheduled to address attendees, Bachmann sent a video message instead while she remained in Washington because of the potential government shutdown. Mike Huckabee came in a close second place, taking 23 percent. Newt Gingrich, who actually spoke to the conference’s...