Michele Bachmann And Tim Pawlenty Go Head-To-Head

Tim Pawlenty acknowledged Friday that he “may not have any choice” but to dramatically scale back the size of his campaign organization if he falls flat at the Iowa straw poll this weekend.

Continue Reading

In response to a question from Jonathan Martin at POLITICO’s Playbook Breakfast in Des Moines, Pawlenty said he was “confident” his efforts in Iowa would pay off in Ames.

“We’re seeing some nice movement in the numbers. I can’t tell you that we’re gonna win it tomorrow or that we need to win it,” he said. “I think it’ll be a good result.”

Still, Pawlenty said that he’d “probably” have to cut back on his national campaign organization if he fails to score the kind of straw poll result he’s looking for.

“Would we have to retrench in some fashion? Probably, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” Pawlenty said. “I think we’re gonna do very well.”

The key exchanges were between Bachmann, a congresswoman from Minnesota, and Pawlenty, Minnesota's former governor, who are in a battle to see who can come out ahead of the other in a key straw poll vote Saturday in Ames.

For weeks, the two had been bashing one another, mostly on the campaign trail here in Iowa. Bachmann has claimed the title of Iowa frontrunner, while Pawlenty has been playing catch up in advance of Saturday's straw poll. Fox News' Chris Wallace was quick to give the two an opportunity to fight it out in person.

Pawlenty, whose argument has been that he has the executive experience as a governor that Bachmann lacks, said the congresswoman has "done wonderful things in her life, absolutely wonderful things, but it's an indisputable fact that in Congress her record of accomplishments and results is nonexistent. That's not going to be good enough."

As Pawlenty, whose fiber was questioned after he failed to take on Mitt Romney in the last debate, delivered his rebuke, he turned to face Bachmann, but turned away after a few moments. Bachmann, in her response, faced Pawlenty the entire time she spoke. She blasted his record as governor.

The two went back and forth for a few more minutes, with Bachmann lauding her own record of fighting Democratic proposals, such as President Obama's health care overhaul as well as cap and trade legislation. But Pawlenty, growing more animated, said that she had failed to stop the health care bill, as well as increases in spending and the 2008 bailout of Wall Street banks, which was actually implemented under Republican President George W. Bush.

"She said she's got a titanium spine. It's not your spine we're worried about, it's your record of results," Pawlenty said. "If that's your view of effective results and leadership, then please stop because you're killing us."

The two sparred again minutes later over a cigarette tax passed in 2005 that Bachmann voted in favor of and Pawlenty signed. Bachmann said she voted for it only because it was attached to an anti-abortion measure. She accused Pawlenty of cutting deals with special interests, while Pawlenty said her statements were "illogical."

The consensus afterward among the pundits and campaign operatives was that Bachmann came out on top, in part because her response was so strong and in part because Pawlenty came across as too negative. Kent Sorensen, a Republican state legislator who is supporting Bachmann, certainly felt that way.

"She exposed [Pawlenty] for the phony that he is," Sorensen said. "He came out with the first punch and she came back with a roundhouse."

Moments after each exchange, Bachmann campaign staff circulated through the press room, handing out detailed press releases attacking Pawlenty's record and detailing why Bachmann voted for the cigarette tax.

Clearly, Bachmann was prepared for the incoming fire. She entered the night in a dramatically different position than she had nearly two months ago at her first debate. That night, in New Hampshire, she announced her candidacy, introduced herself and her biography to voters and impressed observers with her poise.

Thursday night she had a large target on her back and much more to lose.

Before the debate began, some Iowa Republican insiders expressed doubt about the extent to which she has had time to organize for the straw poll, and said expectations for her performance Saturday may be too high. Her debate performance will likely do nothing to dampen her support and could give her more.

However, even if she wins the straw poll, or finishes a close second, she will face a newly-formed threat in the form of Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Perry's impending entry into the race was confirmed several hours before the debate by a spokesman in Texas. It was timed in such a way that it was almost impossible for the moderators of the debate to avoid asking the eight candidates on stage about the soon-to-be candidate.

But Bachmann was the only frontrunner asked about him, and that was only in passing.

"I think there is room in the race for Sarah Palin, Rick Perry or even Bret, you too," she said to Fox News' Bret Baier.

Perry has registered in second place in some national poll numbers out just this week, behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Some have speculated that he will immediately become the frontrunner in the race, displacing or threatening Romney, who had a shaky moment on the stump at the Iowa State Fair earlier in the day on Thursday. Questioned aggressively by Iowans during his appearance at the Des Moines Register "soapbox," Romney grew agitated. His line that "corporations are people" was the moment that headlined news dispatches, but it was the level of emotional volatility -- the picture of him yelling at voters -- that might prove just as damaging.

At the very least, Perry has the potential to steal Bachmann's thunder with grassroots conservatives and Tea Party voters. He can match her charisma. And he has a lengthy track record in Texas that is certainly full of vulnerabilities but also boasts a topline achievement of having created more than a third of all new jobs in the U.S. since 2009.

Bachmann had already signaled earlier Thursday, before Perry's office made his entry semi-official, that she sees him as a direct competitor. Her campaign announced that she would attend the same Black Hawk County Republican dinner in Waterloo on Sunday afternoon where Perry is scheduled to make his debut in the Hawkeye State.

Perry's entrance, as complicating as it might be for Bachmann, is probably more troubling for Pawlenty -- another candidate who has been trying to catch up to Bachmann in Iowa and must do well in the straw poll Saturday to even sustain his campaign, at least in its current form and size.

It was the first debate for Jon Huntsman, the former U.S. ambassador to China and Utah governor. He entered the night needing, at the very least, to make a memorable first impression with Republican primary voters. But he did little to stand out.

Romney was in some ways an afterthought, in part because he has downplayed the importance of Iowa, and as a result expectations for him here are lower. But the other candidates were often so busy fighting with one another that, again, he went unscathed. Afterward, his campaign immediately announced that he had "won the debate."

Pawlenty was asked whether he still believes Romney's health care reform in Massachusetts was similar to Obama's federal plan, but the exchange lacked punch. It did spark a fascinating exchange about how each candidate views the extent to which states are sovereign and have the ability to impose things on their citizens. Paul, a Texas congressman, stated a broad view of states' rights, while Santorum, a former senator from Pennsylvania, said that the 10th amendment discussion had "run amok."

Santorum said that if a state wanted to make polygamy legal, that should not be allowed.

"I respect the 10th Amendment, but we are a nation that has values," he said. "States don't have the right to tramp over those because of the 10th Amendment."

One of the other most intense exchanges was an extended back and forth between the same two men.

Paul said he did not have a problem with Iran trying to obtain nuclear weapons.

"Why wouldn't it be natural that they might want a weapon ... Why should we write people off?" he asked. "What's so terribly bad about this?"

Santorum was aghast.

"Iran is not Iceland, Ron. Iran is a country that has been at war with us since 1979," he said.

Paul said that the U.S. has meddled in Iran since the CIA was involved in the 1953 coup of Iran's democratically elected prime minister.

"We just plain don't mind our own business ... that's the problem," Paul said.

The two went another round, which ended with Paul nearly screaming about the "trillions" of dollars spent on foreign wars. As usual, a loud contingent of fans cheered him on.

Gingrich, the former House Speaker from Georgia, was also animated in denouncing the so-called "super committee" appointed by Congress to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion, calling it "as dumb an idea as Washington has come up with."

He also didn't like some of the questions thrown his way about the departure of large numbers of his staff earlier this year, and told Wallace so.

"I took seriously [fellow host] Bret [Baier]'s injunction to put aside the talking points. I wish you would put aside the gotcha questions," he said, to some ooos and ahhhs.

Gingrich then went on to compare himself twice to Ronald Reagan, who had staff departures during his run for the White House in 1980.

Wallace didn't take it lightly. "If you think questions about your record are Mickey Mouse, I'm sorry," he said, with disdain. "I think those are questions people want to hear answers to.

Bachmann, Pawlenty tensions boil over in Iowa debate

Preamble: Welcome to tonight's Republican presidential candidates debate in Iowa – or, if you prefer, the competition to decide who will get beaten by Rick Perry for the 2012 Republican nomination.

On stage at Iowa University in Ames tonight are the eight people battling for the nomination. But not on stage – and looming over proceedings like that guy in No Country For Old Men – is Perry, the governor of Texas.

It now appears certain that Perry will announce that he's a candidate as of Saturday in Charleston. And that changes everything, since Perry is a bigger presence than any of the puny earthlings at tonight's debate.

So it kind of makes you wonder what the point of this is. Except that for the eight on stage, it's their last chance to make an impression before Perry enters the race. They should, therefore, go at it like rats in a sacks. (And by that I mean fighting, not having sex.)

Apart from Perry there is another absent figure haunting this debate like Banquo's ghost – St Sarah of Wasila, the patron saint of pipelines. The former governor of Alaska was said to be running for the nomination. But then during a bus trip across America in June she disappeared and has not been seen since.

Mitt Romney, meanwhile, faced questions about the universal health care plan he enacted as governor of Massachusetts, but for the second debate in a row, the Republican frontrunner escaped without suffering a campaign-altering blow.

The nationally televised forum, sponsored by Fox News and The Washington Examiner and held in an arena at Iowa State University, took place only hours after news broke that Texas Gov. Rick Perry plans to officially join the presidential fray on Saturday.

With a respectable jobs record, deeply-held Christian beliefs and an ability to raise millions for his campaign, Perry has the potential to fundamentally alter the shape of the Republican race.

The eight candidates on stage - Romney, Pawlenty, Bachmann, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and businessman Herman Cain - were largely complimentary when questioned about Perry.

The kind words were a departure from a series of sharp exchanges between Bachmann and Pawlenty that dominated the first half of the debate.

Pawlenty, a former two-term governor, said Bachmann's record in the House is "non-existent."

"She has said she has a titanium spine," Pawlenty said. "It's not her spine we are worried about, it's her record of results."

He went on, calling her an ineffective member of Congress, naming several laws that President Barack Obama and Democrats have passed since taking 2009.

"If that's your view of effective results, please stop," Pawlenty said. "You're killing us."

A stone-faced Bachmann shot back, accusing Pawlenty of having abandoned his conservative principles while serving in St. Paul.

She said he supported a cap-and-trade plan to cut carbon emissions and once expressing support for a mandate that individuals purchase health insurance, though neither idea became law during his administration.

"That sounds a lot more like Barack Obama if you ask me," Bachmann said.

The two Republicans have engaged in long-distance sniping for weeks as both have raced across the state hunting for votes ahead of the potentially pivotal Ames Straw Poll on Saturday.

Bachmann has surged to the front of Iowa polls by appealing to a coalition of tea party activists and social conservatives, while Pawlenty has struggled to gain traction despite staking his campaign on a strong showing in the caucuses, the opening act of the 2012 Republican nomination fight.

Pawlenty's aggressive posture was an eye-opening departure from the last Republican debate in June, when he shied away from attacking his opponents, subsequently raising questions about his toughness and ability to take on President Obama in a general election.

His performance Thursday was an acknowledgment that his campaign needs to do more to raise doubts about his rivals if he hopes to boost his standing among Republican voters and donors.

Palin's supporters have been out in force and many claim that she will appear among them in Iowa, for so it has been prophesised on Palin's Facebook page.

So who is actually on stage tonight? Here's a quick run-down:

Mitt Romney: currently the Front-Runner In Name Only (FRINO), the former Massachusetts governor leads the polls. But if you've got a poll, throw it away, it's worthless. After Saturday the polls will just say: "Rick Perry. The end."

Michele Bachmann: Bachmann was said to be the winner of the last debate, which was roughly a million years ago in June, so no-one cares. Currently on the cover of Newsweek looking a bit mad.

Jon Huntsman: A first appearance for the former governor of Utah, who graciously left his governor's mansion to serve his country as the US ambassador to China. Naturally he's as popular as anthrax.

Newt Gingrich: Less popular than anthrax.

Ron Paul: Iconic, veteran congressman, principled, intelligent. He has no chance. Quite the libertarian, except for abortion and gays. Then he's not. Seriously, he would win the nomination but for a secret alliance of the Mainstream Media, Wall Street and Republican voters who insist on not voting for him in large numbers.

Rick Santorum: Is he still running? I forget.

Herman Cain: Pizza guy. Meh.

Gary Johnson: According to NPR: "the former New Mexico governor will be a curiosity since most people still don't know who he is". I know he was governor of Mexico. Sorry, New Mexico. (Actually, he'd have more chance of becoming president of Mexico. Maybe he should try?) In fact Johnson is smart, sensible, was a very good governor and seems like a nice guy. Obviously: zero chance. Update: No, Gary Johnson's not in this debate. Whoops. I blame the internet.

Tim Pawlenty: Still running. May as well not bother. Seriously, have you seen his latest poll ratings? He's now less well-known than when he started. That's quite an achievement: negative publicity.

But Romney dismissed the charge and offered a familiar response, arguing that his health care law was right for Massachusetts and appropriate under the Tenth Amendment that reserves powers not granted under the Constitution to the states.

He called the health care law signed by President Obama a federal takeover and said that as president he would grant states health care waivers.

Later in the debate, Santorum and Paul battled over foreign policy and what they would do about Iran if elected to the White House.

Paul, a libertarian and longtime critic of American efforts overseas, said the United States should engage in diplomacy with Iran.

That prompted a fiery response from Santorum, who has long advocated for regime change in Iran. He told Paul that Americans should be wary of the Iranian nuclear threat.

"Anyone that suggests that Iran is not a threat to this country or is not a threat to stability in the Middle East is obviously not seeing the world very clearly," he said, jumping at the chance to highlight his foreign policy record from his time in the Senate.

Santorum, also a staunch social conservative, raised eyebrows by criticizing Iran's treatment of gays.

The regime, he said, "tramples the rights of women, tramples the rights of gays, tramples the rights of people all throughout their society."

Gingrich won applause with a punchy performance laced with attacks against the media, including the debate hosts.

He accused one debate moderator, Fox News host Bret Baier, of asking "gotcha questions."

The national media is obsessed with political process rather than "basic ideas that distinguish us from Barack Obama," he said.

The debate also presented Huntsman, who returned from his post as ambassador to China in April, with his first chance to address a national audience.

He avoided criticizing his rivals and instead set his sights on introducing himself to voters, touting his record of cutting taxes and fostering a strong business climate in Utah, which had a AAA bond rating during his tenure.

Tim Pawlenty Michele Bachmann go after Mitt Romney

AMES, Iowa -- The fierce battle between Republican presidential candidates Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann that has been waged at separate campaign stops across Iowa this week came to a head on Thursday when the two met for the first time on a debate stage here.

Though they joined six of their fellow rivals, including front-runner Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, who made his debate debut, the sparring between the two Minnesotans was so intense that, at times, it seemed like two-hour exchange was a one-on-one exchange between them.

Bachmann and Pawlenty, who are both competing in Saturday’s Ames Straw Poll, a crucial test of organizational support, have the most at stake in this state. And, they wasted little time in attacking each other in an effort to gain the upper hand heading into this weekend.

Pawlenty did not back off the frequent criticism of Bachmann he deploys in his campaign stump speeches, saying that she does not have enough executive experience to be president and no record of accomplishment in Congress.

For her part, Bachmann said that Pawlenty’s record as governor of Minnesota “sounds a lot more like Barack Obama, if you ask me.”

At one point, she turned toward Pawlenty, accusing him on implementing a cap-and-trade energy policy, a government-mandated health insurance plan and of falling short of his promise to shrink the size of government. Pawlenty shook his head as she spoke.

“I’m really surprised that Congresswoman Bachmann would say those things,” he fired back. “She has a record of misstating and making false statements.”

Turning Bachmann’s frequently-used line -- that she has a “titanium spine” -- against her, Pawlenty said, “It’s not her spine we’re worried about. It’s her record of results.”

In defending her vote for a Pawlenty-backed cigarette tax hike, Bachmann argued that the then-Governor “cut a deal with special interest groups,” that threatened pro-life policies.

Ms. Bachmann, who continues to lead in a series of recently released polls, shot back, saying Mr. Pawlenty’s record places him closer to President Obama than conservative voters.

“When you were governor in Minnesota, you implemented cap and trade in our state and you praised the unconstitutional individual mandate,” Ms. Bachmann said. “You said the era of small government is over.”

Rattling of a list of policies supported by Mr. Pawlenty, the Minnesota congresswoman said Mr. Pawlenty’s record would not find support amongst Republican voters.

“That sounds a lot like Barack Obama to me,” Bachmann said. “I have fought all of these unconstitutional measures against Barack Obama.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Bachmann, an outspoken critic of increasing the debt ceiling, called for prioritizing payments instead of raising the country’s borrowing limit, brushing aside the interest-rate impact on homeowners, college kids and other borrowers.

The jabs trade between the two Minnesota candidates came as eight members of a still emerging Republican presidential field gathered in Iowa two days before a closely watched straw poll to make their case for defeating President Obama amid an uncertain U.S. economy.

Mr. Romney, who has faced criticism for his support of a statewide health care system in Massachusetts, said such criticism is unwarranted and misguided.

We said, we’re finding people are going to the hospital and getting the state to pay for them. Taxpayers are picking up hundreds of millions of dollars of costs from people who are free riders,” Mr. Romney said, defending the policy. “We said we are going to insist those people who can afford to pay for themselves do so.”

“I’m not going to eat Barack Obama’s dog food,” Mr. Romney said when asked whether he would have vetoed the compromise legislation that Congress gave to the president that raised the debt ceiling. “What he served up is not what I would have as president of the United States.”

Speaking earlier in the day, Mr. Pawlenty made clear his differences with Ms. Bachmann, whom he has repeatedly said is unqualified to hold the presidency.

“One of the reasons we’re in this mess is because we put Barack Obama in the White House and he wasn’t ready for the job,” the former Minnesota governor told a crowd of supporters. “Before we put the new person in that office, let’s make sure that he or she is ready for the job,” Mr. Pawlenty said. “This is a job that requires leadership experience, executive experience and a record of results.”

Ms. Bachmann’s campaign shot back late Thursday, handing out to members of the press at the debate a two-page document entitled “The Big Government of Tim Pawlenty.”

The debate comes just days before the Ames Republican Presidential Straw Poll, which is slated to take place Sunday. Mr. Pawlenty admitted Thursday that his chances of winning the Iowa caucus could depend heavily on whether his campaign wins the key poll.

“We’ve been careful not to put a number on what place we’ve been in, only that we think it’s important to show movement from the back of the pack to the front of the pack,” said Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant. “It’s very hard to predict how the other candidates will do and how the results will be interpreted.

Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann, née Amble; born April 6, 1956 is a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Minnesota's 6th congressional district, and a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. She previously served in the Minnesota State Senate and is the first Republican woman to represent the state in Congress.

Bachmann is a supporter of the Tea Party movement and a founder of the House Tea Party Caucus.

Early life, education, and early career

Born Michele Marie Amble in Waterloo, Iowa, "into a family of Norwegian Lutheran Democrats she and her family moved from Iowa to Minnesota when she was young. After her parents divorced, Bachmann's father, David John Amble, moved to California, and Bachmann was raised by her mother, Jean (née Johnson), who worked at the First National Bank in Anoka, Minnesota. Her mother remarried when Bachmann was a teenager; the new marriage resulted in a family with nine children.

She graduated from Anoka High School in 1974 and, after graduation, spent time working on a kibbutz in Israel. In 1978 she graduated from Winona State University with a B.A.

In 1979, Bachmann was a member of the first class of the O.W. Coburn School of Law, a part of Oral Roberts University (ORU). While there, Bachmann studied with John Eidsmoe, whom she described in 2011 as "one of the professors who had a great influence on me. Bachmann worked as a research assistant on Eidsmoe's 1987 book Christianity and the Constitution, which argues that the United States was founded as a Christian theocracy, and should become one again. In 1986 Bachmann received a J.D. degree from Oral Roberts University. She was a member of the final graduating class of the law school at ORU, and was part of a group of faculty, staff, and students who moved the ORU law school library to what is now Regent University.

In 1988, Bachmann received an LL.M. degree in tax law from the William & Mary School of Law. From 1988 to 1993, she was an attorney working for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). She left her position with the IRS to become a full-time mother when her fourth child was born.

Early political activism

Bachmann grew up in a Democratic family, but she says she became a Republican during her senior year at Winona State. She told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that she was reading Gore Vidal's 1973 novel, Burr: "He was kind of mocking the Founding Fathers and I just thought, I just remember reading the book, putting it in my lap, looking out the window and thinking, 'You know what? I don't think I am a Democrat. I must be a Republican.

While still a Democrat, she and her then-fiancé Marcus were inspired to join the pro-life movement by Francis Schaeffer's 1976 Christian documentary film, How Should We Then Live? They prayed outside of clinics and engaged in sidewalk counseling, a pro-life protest activity in which activists approach people entering abortion clinics in an attempt to dissuade women from obtaining abortions. Since then, Bachmann has made statements supportive of sidewalk counseling. Bachmann was a supporter of Jimmy Carter in 1976, and she and her husband worked on his campaign. During Carter's presidency, Bachmann became disappointed with his liberal approach to public policy, support for legalized abortion and economic decisions she held responsible for increased gas prices. In the 1980 presidential election, she voted for Ronald Reagan and worked for his campaign.

Her political activism gained media attention at a pro-life protest in 1991. She and approximately 30 other pro-life citizens went to a Ramsey County Board meeting where a $3 million appropriation was to go to build a morgue for the county at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center (now called Regions Hospital). The Medical Center performed abortions and employed abortion rights pioneer Jane Hodgson. Bachmann attended the meeting to protest public tax dollars going to the hospital; speaking to the Star Tribune, she said that "in effect, since 1973, I have been a landlord of an abortion clinic, and I don’t like that distinction".

In 1993, she and other parents started the K-12 New Heights Charter School in Stillwater. The publicly funded school's charter mandated that it be non-sectarian in all programs and practices, but the school soon developed a strong Christian orientation. Parents of students at the school complained and the superintendent of schools warned Bachmann that the school was in violation of state law. Six months after the school's founding Bachmann resigned and the Christian orientation was removed from the curriculum, allowing the school to keep its charter. Bachmann began speaking against a state-mandated set of educational standards, which propelled her into the world of politics.

Bachmann became a critic and opponent of Minnesota's School-to-Work policies. In a 1999 column, she wrote: "School-to-Work alters the basic mission and purpose of K-12 academic education away from traditional broad-based academic studies geared toward maximizing intellectual achievement of the individual. Instead, School-to-Work utilizes the school day to promote children's acquisition of workplace skills, viewing children as trainees for increased economic productivity.

In November 1999, she and four other Republicans were candidates, as the "Slate of Five", in an election for the school board of Stillwater. All five lost.

Minnesota Senate

In 2000, Bachmann defeated 18-year incumbent Gary Laidig for the Republican nomination for State Senator for Minnesota District 56. In the November 2000 general election, she defeated Ted Thompson of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) and Lyno Sullivan of the Minnesota Independence Party, to win the seat. Two years later, in November 2002, after redistricting due to the 2000 Census, Bachmann defeated another incumbent, State Senator Jane Krentz of the DFL, in the newly drawn State Senate District 52. In office, Bachmann's agenda focused on the cultural conservative issues of opposition to abortion and gay marriage.

U.S. House of Representatives

Since being elected in November 2006, Bachmann has served Minnesota's 6th congressional district, which includes the northernmost and eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities and St. Cloud. She is the first Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. House from Minnesota.

112th Congress,Leadership run

After the 2010 elections and the announcement from Rep. Mike Pence that he was stepping away from his leadership position in the House, Bachmann announced on her Facebook page her intention to seek the position of House Republican Conference Chair. As Bachmann is the founder of the House's Tea Party Caucus, her announcement caused some to see the leadership election as "an early test of how GOP leaders will treat the antiestablishment movement's winners". Many among the House's Republican leadership, including Eric Cantor and the retiring Mike Pence, were quick to endorse Rep. Jeb Hensarling for the position; Speaker-to-be John Boehner remained neutral on the issue. Supporters of Bachmann’s run include Reps. Steve King, John Kline, Louie Gohmert, Chip Cravaack, Erik Paulsen, as well as media personality and political commentator Glenn Beck.Listing her qualifications for the position Bachmann noted "I’ve done an effective job speaking out at a national and local level, motivating people with our message, calling attention to deficits in Obama’s policy. I was instrumental in bringing tens of thousands of people to the U.S. capitol to rally against Obama care and to attend our press conference. She noted her work to keep the Tea Party within the GOP rather than having it become a third party thereby helping the party capture the House, stating "I have been able to bring a voice and motivate people to, in effect, put that gavel in John Boehner’s hands, so that Republicans can lead going forward. …It’s important that leadership represents the choice of the people coming into our caucus….I think I have motivated a high number of people to get involved in this cycle who may have sat it out and that have made a difference on a number of these races. I gave a large amount of money to NRCC and individual candidates and started Michele PAC, which raised $650,000 for members since July, so I was able to financially help about 50 people out.

Bachmann's bid suffered a setback when she was passed over for the GOP’s transition team on which Hensarling was placed. Despite Bachmann’s leading all other Representatives in fund raising, a Republican aide stated some "members are getting resentful of Bachmann, who they say is making the argument that you're not really a Tea Party supporter unless you support her. That's gone through the formation of the Tea Party Caucus and the formation of this candidacy of hers. It's just not so. Sarah Palin, with whom Bachmann had campaigned earlier in the year, declined to endorse her leadership bid, while other Tea Party favorites Reps Adam Kinzinger and Tim Scott were placed on the transition team. According to some senior House staff members, the party leadership was concerned about some of Bachmann's high profile faux pas, the high rate of turnover among her staff, and how willing she would be to advance the party's messaging rather than her own.

On November 10, Bachmann released a statement ending her campaign for Conference Chair and giving her "enthusiastic" support to Hensarling.

Committee assignment

Bachmann was selected by House Speaker John Boehner for a position "on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, giving her a new role as overseer of the CIA, the National Security Agency and the rest of the U.S. intelligence community. Bachmann, who had "not served on any committee that deals with foreign policy issues" requested the position, "a move that has fueled speculation that she may be planning to carry the Tea Party banner into the GOP presidential primaries.

Environmental policy

Bachmann supports increased domestic drilling of oil and natural gas, as well as pursuing renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar. She is a strong proponent of nuclear power.

Bachmann has stated a strong opposition toward the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pledging at an August 2011 campaign rally, "...I guarantee you the EPA will have doors locked and lights turned off and they will only be about conservation.

Social Security and Medicare

Bachmann has called for phasing out of Social Security and Medicare:

...what you have to do, is keep faith with the people that are already in the system, that don’t have any other options, we have to keep faith with them. But basically what we have to do is wean everybody else off.

Foreign policy

Bachmann says in dealing with Iran, diplomacy "is our option", but that other options, including a nuclear strike, shouldn't be taken off the table.

She has also said that she is "a long time supporter of Israel".

Global economy

In a discussion about the G-20 summit in Toronto, during an interview with conservative radio host Scott Hennen, Bachmann stated that she does not want America to be part of the international global economy.

I don't want the United States to be in a global economy where our economic future is bound to that of Zimbabwe, We can't necessarily trust the decisions that are being made financially in other countries. I don't like the decisions that are being made in our own country, but certainly I don't want to trust the value of my currency and my future to that of like a Chavez down in Venezuela.

On economists who have influenced her views, Bachmann told The Wall Street Journal,

... the late Milton Friedman as well as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams. "I'm also an Art Laffer fiend—we're very close," she adds. "And Ludwig von Mises. I love von Mises," getting excited and rattling off some of his classics like Human Action and Bureaucracy. "When I go on vacation and I lay on the beach, I bring von Mises.

Social issues

Bachmann supports both a federal and state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and any legal equivalents. In 2004, the Star Tribune reported that Bachmann said of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered, "We need to have profound compassion for people who are dealing with the very real issue of sexual dysfunction in their life and sexual identity disorders.

Bachmann is pro-life and has been endorsed in her runs for Congress by the Susan B. Anthony List and Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life; at a debate among presidential candidates in New Hampshire, when asked if abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest, Bachmann responded that she is "100 per cent pro-life". In the state senate, Bachmann introduced a bill proposing a constitutional amendment restricting state funds for abortion. The bill died in committee.

Bachmann has praised the Christian youth ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International, appearing as a keynote speaker at their fundraisers.

Federal-backed home loans

According to an article in the Washington Post, in 2008 Bachmann may have taken advantage of a federal program for a home loan, then called for dismantling the program, though the article notes that the public and other members of Congress have taken advantage of such loans despite seeing reasons to criticize them. When asked about it, she said: "This is the problem. It is almost impossible to buy a home in this country today without the federal government being involved".

Personal life,Family

Husband Marcus Bachmann and Michele at the 2011 Time 100 gala, where Michele was an honoree

In 1978, she married Marcus Bachmann, whom she had met while they were undergraduates in college. After she graduated from William & Mary School of Law in 1988, the couple moved to Stillwater, Minnesota, a town of 18,000 near St. Paul. Bachmann and her husband have five children (Lucas, Harrison, Elisa, Caroline, and Sophia). Bachmann said in a 2011 town hall meeting that she suffered a miscarriage after the birth of their second child, Harrison, an event which she said shaped her pro-life views.

Bachmann and her husband have also provided foster care for 23 other children, all teenage girls. The Bachmanns were licensed from 1992 to 2000 to handle up to three foster children at a time; the last child arrived in 1998. The Bachmanns began by providing short-term care for girls with eating disorders who were patients in a program at the University of Minnesota. The Bachmann home was legally defined as a treatment home, with a daily reimbursement rate per child from the state. Some girls stayed a few months, others more than a year.

Religion

Bachmann was a longtime member of Salem Lutheran Church in Stillwater. She and her husband withdrew their membership on June 21, 2011, just before she officially began her presidential campaign. They had not attended the congregation for over two years. Salem Lutheran Church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. When challenged about that denomination's belief that the Pope is the Antichrist, Bachmann responded by stating, "I love Catholics, I'm a Christian, and my church does not believe that the Pope is the Anti-Christ, that's absolutely false. More recently, according to friends, the Bachmanns began attending Eagle Brook Church, an Evangelical church closer to their home.

Bachmann has cited theologian Francis Schaeffer as a "profound influence" on her life and her husband's, specifically referring to his film series How Should We Then Live?. She has also described Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity by Nancy Pearcey as a "wonderful" book. Schaeffer is regarded as a key intellectual source for the theological-political movement known as dominionism, which holds that "Christians, and Christians alone, are Biblically mandated to occupy all secular institutions until Christ returns". Pearcey is one of the most prominent advocates of the movement. Journalists Ryan Lizza and Sarah Posner have argued that Bachmann's worldview is deeply influenced by dominionism.

Businesses

Bachmann and her husband own a Christian counseling practice named Bachmann & Associates, which is run by her husband, who has a PhD in clinical psychology from Union Graduate School.[36] Marcus Bachmann is not a licensed psychologist in Minnesota. The clinic received nearly $30,000 from Minnesota government agencies between 2006 and 2010 in addition to at least $137,000 in federal payments and $24,000 in government grants for counselor training. When asked about the subject in an interview, Bachmann indicated that she and her husband had not benefited at taxpayers' expense, saying that "the money that went to the clinic was actually training money for employees". Marcus Bachmann has denied allegations that Bachmann & Associates provides conversion therapy, a controversial psychological treatment repudiated by the American Psychological Association, which attempts to transform homosexuals into heterosexuals. A former client of Bachmann's clinic and a hidden camera investigator with the activist group Truth Wins Out have said that therapists at the clinic do engage in such practices, although columnist Mariah Blake of The Nation has suggested the hidden camera investigator may have been intentionally baiting the therapist to say something controversial. In a subsequent interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, Marcus Bachmann did not deny that he or other counselors at his clinic used the technique but said they did so only at the request of a client.

In personal financial disclosure reports for 2006 through 2009, Bachmann reported earning $32,500 to $105,000 from a farm that was owned at the time by her ailing father-in-law, Paul Bachmann. The farm received $260,000 in federal crop and disaster subsidies between 1995 and 2008. Bachmann said that in 2006–2009, her husband acted as a trustee of the farm for his dying father and so, out of "an abundance of caution", she claimed the farm as income in financial disclosures, though it was her in-laws who profited from the farm during that period.

Unpopularity Serves Michele Bachmann

AMES, Iowa — Minnesota “nice” turned into Minnesota not-so-nice in the debate here Thursday night, as the two Gopher State Republicans running for president took aggressive public swipes at each other, repeatedly blasting their records of service and questioning whether they were ready to run the country.

The tit-for-tat came early in the presidential debate and showed just how much former Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Rep. Michele Bachmann, both of Minnesota, had riding on the debate, which served as a prelude to the high-profile straw poll here Saturday that can make or break a campaign.

Mr. Pawlenty fired first by refusing to back off his stiff criticism of Mrs. Bachmann.

“It is an undisputable fact that her record of accomplishments and results is nonexistent. That’s not going to be good enough for our candidate for president of the United States,” Mr. Pawlenty said before rattling off what he called his conservative record of accomplishments.

Mrs. Bachmann fired back, saying that Mr. Pawlenty supported “cap-and-trade,” praised the individual mandate for health care and that he said the “era of small government was over.”

“That sounds a lot more like Barack Obama if you ask me,” the three-term congresswoman said, adding that she has a consistent record of fighting for the Constitution and that she voted against raising the debt ceiling. “People are looking for a champion; they want someone who has been fighting.

The madder Bachmann’s enemies get, the more her supporters love her. As August began, she was leading in the polls in Iowa. “No. 1, she’s colorful. And she’s angry,” says Fred Davis, a Republican media strategist. “A lot of the populace, especially on the far right side of the Republican Party, are very angry right now, and they like someone who stands out and pounds the podium.” Her breakout moment came during the early Republican debate on June 13, when she smiled and stuck to her Tea Party talking points while the men around her competed for the title of most-boring-white-guy (plus Herman Cain).

What’s worse than having people hate you, at least in politics, is being so bland that no one has a clue who you are. “If Jon Huntsman’s people came to me,” says Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll, “I’d say, ‘Your problem is your man doesn’t generate any reaction either way.’ ”

Besides, controversy is relative. “What’s considered polarizing in New York City might be mainstream in Dallas,” says Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Barack Obama is a polarizing figure in a lot of places.”

This is something that Bachmann is already learning. While she’s been storming diners and churches in Iowa and performing strongly there, in other areas, such as Florida, her showing has been dismal: An August Quinnipiac poll put her sixth out of 11 in the important swing state, at 6 percent.