Rep. Michele Bachmann Announces Bid for Republican Presidential Nomination

Published on July 6th, 2011
Written by Public Record Finder Staff

With ardent support from the Tea Party, Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann announced her candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in Iowa. Treated with an air of precociousness by the media, who portray her as a Sarah Palin-like, brash right-wing conservative, reporting on Bachmann has been plagued with a lack of seriousness. She has been accused of confusing actor John Wayne with serial killer John Wayne Gacy, and was recently directly asked if she was a "flake" by FOX's Chris Wallace, who later apologized for his insulting question and noted Bachmann's composure and strong answer. With the media concentrated on the trivial details of her life and constantly drawing parallels to her gaffe-prone lookalike Sarah Palin, public records are certainly proving an aid, as they find Bachmann boasts a strong track record of conservative voting. After initiating the House Tea Party Caucus, she has become one of the group's foremost leaders and currently remains without competition from within the party. Unless Sarah Palin or Texas Governor Rick Perry enter the race, Bachmann could have the sole use of the Tea Party's grassroots support.

There are strong odds against her -- only one sitting member of the House of Representatives has ever been elected president, and that occurred 130 years ago with the election of James Garfield. Thirty-three House members have attempted to earn a presidential nomination since primaries replaced caucuses in 1912, with 21 of those bids occurring after 1972; none of the attempts have been successful. Though the odds may be against her and she is trailing Obama by 16 points according to Survey USA, Bachmann's ability to make herself a national media presence and her access to the highly publicized Tea Party means that this young conservative from the state of Minnesota might be a force to be reckoned with.