Free Republic

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, R-MINN./FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good evening, Greta. Good to talk to you this evening. VAN SUSTEREN: All right, well, things certainly have changed. So I know that it's no surprise that this candidate -- that this next phase of the election gets rolled out, you are going to see every sound bite you ever made saying something about Governor Romney. You're going to have to answer to it. It's going to be in every ad. And you're going to do it to the other side. So tell me, you called him a frugal socialist. Now what are you...

It's one thing to have a philosophical disagreement with the Texas governor on whether he should have mandated a vaccine for girls against a sexually transmitted virus. But it's an entirely different matter to spread false rumors about the vaccine, hoping to leverage parental fears for political gain. That's the depths to which Minnesota's Michele Bachmann has sunk in her bid to counter Rick Perry's surge in polls. It's conduct unbecoming a member of Congress, much less a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. Bachmann used the issue last week at the CNN/Tea Party Express debate in Tampa to land...

I recently posted an article suggesting that Mchele Bachmann's candidacy, and its impact on Sarah Palin, is reminiscent of the 1980 candidacy of Phil Crane, which Ronald Reagan considered a threat to his nomination: Is Michele Bachmann Sarah Palin's Phil Crane? LINKAs I point out in the article linked above, Crane never really thought he had a chance for the nomination, and he was content to have one of the moderates (Baker or Bush) get the nomination in hopes that they would install Crane as the Vice-Presidential nominee. I did not explore some of the reasons why Crane's belief was...

Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has made a deal to publish her memoir, selling a book to Sentinel, a conservative imprint at Penguin Group USA, two people familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday. Ms. Bachmann, a Tea Party favorite who announced her presidential candidacy during the Republican debate on Monday, has been shopping her memoir for weeks, meeting with several New York publishers to discuss a possible deal. The book is tentatively expected to be released this fall. John Fund, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, will assist with the writing of the book.

In his latest Time column, Republican super-strategist Mike Murphy outlines why the Michele Bachmann surge may be short-lived, and why it helps Mitt Romney for the time being: Finally, the billion-volt electron microscopes of the national media will soon be trained on Bachmann now that she’s the official Iowa front runner. I’ll bet dollars to Minnesota lutefisk that despite her new squad of professional handlers, we are in for more of Bachmann’s factual fumbles. Her latest mix-up, confusing the birthplace of beloved American icon John Wayne with that of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, hints that Michele’s next moves on...

There’s a lot I don’t know about Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota Representative who just announced that she wants to be the next President of the United States of America, but I do know she is great eye candy and, given the present occupier of the office, I would much rather look at her in the Oval Office than him. She is—and I say this with all due respect—a babe. Mitt Romney, with whom she is currently a “front runner” in the nomination sweepstakes, looks classically presidential. He is a handsome fellow with a winning smile. My guess, though, is that...

On Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace turned to his guest Michele Bachmann and asked her, “Are you a flake?” Later he apologized, explaining that he only meant to seek her answer to what others in the media and elsewhere were saying about her. But what Bachmann did in response helped establish the command she has in the Iowa caucus, and the growing respect of so many for her, including those who are her political enemies. Instead of complaining about the question, aside from saying that it was an insult because she is a “serious person,” she used the opportunity to...

Sarah Palin was in Iowa Tuesday. Michele Bachmann announced her candidacy there on Monday. For reporters, that's a coincidence impossible to resist; scads of stories are being produced comparing the two women. Comparisons between Palin and Bachmann are, at one level, apt. Both are women who align most closely with social conservatives. Both are outspoken defenders of their chosen causes whose rhetoric occasionally gets them into hot water. But over the past few months, Bachmann has proven she is different in important ways from Palin - differences that make her the more viable of the two when it comes to...

Election '12: CNN's John King dumbed down the GOP debate with his "deep dish or thin crust?" questions. Now, Fox News' Chris Wallace asks Michele Bachmann, "Are you a flake?" What she is is a heavyweight. How should a presidential candidate handle a snide, moronic question completely removed from the issues of the day? If you're Rep. Bachmann, you let the facts expose the questioner's stupidity. "I'm not only a lawyer," she told Wallace on "Fox News Sunday." "I have a post-doctorate degree in federal tax law from William and Mary. I've worked in serious scholarship and worked in the...

CBN's David Brody interview Michele Bachmann in Iowa tonight, where she insists she 'likes' Sarah Palin and downplays reports, including by POLITICO, about jockeying between the two women: Brody: “Set the record straight with us on your relationship with Sarah Palin because the media wants to pit you, if not pit you against Sarah Palin they certainly want to compare you two. And I’m wondering how you see it specifically as it relates to Governor Palin.”Bachmann: “I like her a lot. We’re friends. I have great admiration for her, great respect for her, and we’ve never had a cross word...

WASHINGTON, DC – A new Iowa poll, which shows the most recent leanings of likely Republican voters in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, has Michele Bachmann in a statistical dead heat with Mitt Romney. This morning Bachmann appeared on Chris Wallace’s Fox News Sunday and was asked “Are you a flake?” Was Wallace simply being a tough journalist, or is Fox News’ bias in favor of Mitt Romney showing? Would Wallace ask Romney, "Are you a socialist?" in reference to Romneycare. ....Romney is well known to voters because of his 2008 presidential run. Given that he has a higher national name...

After all Sarah Palin did last year to contribute to the GOP's historical 2010 win, and all that she has gone through to shine the light on true conservative values, I am amazed how some of those on the right still disparage her. Jeff Kuhner of the Washington Times, and a fill-in host for Michael Savage, echoed leftist reporters like Susan Milligan of U.S. News and Bill Keller of the New York Times. Mrs. Palin (should she run) may be able to win the GOP nomination. The presidency, however, is a bridge too far. The media will eviscerate her. Outside...

According to House expense reports, Bachmann and three conservative GOP colleagues — Reps. Tom Price (Ga.), Steve King (Iowa) and Todd Akin (Mo.) — each paid $3,407.50 that day, a total of $13,630, to a sound and stage company called National Events, apparently for the sound system used at the rally. The money came from the Members' taxpayer-funded office accounts, despite House rules prohibiting the use of these funds for political activities.

A recent poll shows a surge for the congresswoman, but her ultimate fate will be determined by whether Sarah Palin decides to run.Rasmussen Reports conducted the first poll of likely Republican primary voters after the New Hampshire GOP debate laR week. The survey appeared to show a breakout for Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, as she vaulted into second place in the GOP race with 19% support from Republican voters, trailing only Mitt Romney at 33%.The survey, conducted among 1,000 likely GOP primary voters across the country, was taken one day after the debate at Saint Anselm College, one in which...

Just happened, very strange! Wolf Blitzer Interview with Michele Bachmann. Blitzer asked Bachmann 5 times do you agree with Tim Pawlenty that Mitt romney is disqualified from being the Republican nominee for president because he supports mandated healthcare.? She kept responding that she's against obamacare/mandates. Blitzer tried again to pin down some kind of answer. She evaded the question at every turn, didn't want to touch it and finally a frustrated Blitzer then says, "You obviously don't want to answer the question?" I know people say that nominees shouldn't attack other nominees yet but if not now, when? because Romney...

Yesterday's column on Tim Pawlenty's feebleness in criticizing Mitt Romney's version of ObamaCare prompted several readers to write with the suggestion that Pawlenty is pursuing the vice presidential nomination. We doubt it. We've met with Pawlenty twice in recent months, and he has a well-considered (if, thus far, not so well-implemented) plan to win the presidential nomination. Further, if he was sucking up to the former Massachusetts governor Monday night with a Romney-Pawlenty ticket in mind, that would represent a one-day change in strategy, since it was only Sunday morning when Pawlenty referred to "ObamneyCare." Furthermore, if Pawlenty were angling...

Mitt Romney easily survived his first debate of the 2012 primary with barely a nick to his early frontrunner status. Tarred as a flip-flopping phony during his 2008 White House bid, Romney looked at ease during the two-hour live forum, and none of his lesser-known rivals made him squirm. Eager to make pleasing first impressions on a national audience, they all passed when handed opportunities to attack Romney. A picture of the former Massachusetts governor and corporate executive in an open-collared shirt and tie -- posted on Twitter just minutes before the debate in an obvious attempt at campaign image-making...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, an outspoken Republican with close ties to the tea party, announced Monday that she is running for president, a candidacy that could further shake up a volatile fight for the GOP nomination. The first female contender to enter the 2012 race, Bachmann announced her bid during a Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire.

University of Virginia political guru Larry Sabato thinks that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's potential BFF in the race for the GOP presidential nomination could be no other than Rep. Michele Bachmann, the hard-charging conservative from Minnesota. The reasoning is that Mrs. Bachmann's possible entrance into the race could throw a serious roadblock on former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's perceived path to victory, which starts with a win or — at the very least — a strong showing in Iowa. Mrs. Bachmann "could torpedo Pawlenty's chances," Mr. Sabato writes in his latest rundown of the GOP field. "Bachmann has a...

His hire was also her first real campaign decision. If you’re not up to speed on the story, here’s what’s going on. Rep. Bachmann hired veteran Republican campaign strategist Ed Rollins to manage her campaign. Campaign managers have to carry a few qualities, among them toughness, a bit of ruthlessness, communications and fundraising savvy (and there are many qualities packed into those two qualities), and a certain ability to provide useful leadership and simultaneously blend into the background. That last is because, while they manage the campaign, the campaign isn’t about them. It’s about the candidate. But Ed Rollins tends...