Flair,tea party from Bachmann

One hand clutches a crisply folded U.S. flag with a concealed weapons certification protruding; the other slides discreetly into a denim coat pocket. Behind the beaming state lawmaker, a silhouette target with bullet holes square in the chest. Next to her nameplate, a "No New Taxes!" sticker.

In Bachmann's quick rise from state lawmaker to unofficial tea party ambassador in Washington, her brazen style has kept Republican leaders on edge and appealed to those in the GOP searching for a fresh, unfettered voice. She relishes the spotlight and seldom cedes ground.

Her unpredictable edge was on display during Monday night's GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire when, out of the blue, she announced that she had filed papers to be an official candidate for the Republican nomination.

"I do what I say and I say what I mean and I don't change what I do based on a political wind or desire to necessarily move up the next ladder," Bachmann told The Associated Press this spring in an interview in which she stressed her eagerness to "take on not only the opposing party but my own party as well to do what I think is right."

Known for piercing and sometimes inaccurate commentary, she regularly aggravates political foes and provides ample fodder to late-night comics. She once falsely claimed taxpayers would be stuck with a $200 million per day tab for Democratic President Barack Obama's trip to India. She mistakenly identified New Hampshire as the site of the Revolutionary War's opening shots. (That key American moment occurred in Massachusetts.)

While some see her as a novelty candidate, she's also regarded as a skilled, resilient politician.

"I know people like to pick at her," said Dan Nygaard, a local Republican official during Bachmann's early days in politics. "But you can never underestimate her."

Bachmann, 55, was born Michele Marie Amble in Waterloo, Iowa. Her father's engineering job led the family, including Michele and three brothers, to Minnesota when she was in elementary school. By high school, her parents had divorced. She stayed with her mother, who later remarried.

Michele Amble married college boyfriend Marcus Bachmann, a clinical therapist. The youngest of their five children will soon head off to college.

Religion has always factored heavily into Bachmann's life. She was in the last class to graduate from Oral Roberts University's now-defunct Coburn School of Law, a school dedicated to educating lawyers with Christian values. (Anita Hill, later involved in the scandal that nearly sank Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court nomination, taught a couple of Bachmann's classes.)

Until about two years ago, the Bachmanns were members of the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Stillwater, Minn., part of a conservative denomination that adheres to strict doctrine and excludes women from church leadership roles. The pastor there, the Rev. Marcus Birkholz, told the AP that the family stopped attending regularly when they moved to another Twin Cities suburb.

Michele Bachmann took command in Republican 2012 debate

A big night for Michele Bachmann, Mitt Romney came across as the assured frontrunner he wants to be and Tim Pawlenty appeared to lack the courage to push home an attack on Romney.

Debates are highly subjective and they often matter a lot less than reporters thinks – and certainly, with eight months to go until the first primary vote is cast nothing that happened tonight will be remotely decisive. For most of the candidates (Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich would be the main exceptions), it was introduction night.

But tonight’s debate in New Hampshire will subtly alter the shape of the race.

Until now, Bachmann has been something of a Palin-lite figure and has often been portrayed as a Tea Party loon fixated on ultra-conservative issues and apt to shoot her mouth off. Tonight, she relentlessly pushed her experience as a tax lawyer, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, a decision-maker not afraid to buck her own party on TARP and a leader of the charge against Obamacare – not to mention being a mother of five and foster mother of 23.


An unspoken part of the Bachmann strategy was Sarah Palin. Her aides realise that the spat between the two campaigns last week was bad news for Bachmann. And it was noteworthy that the offender in precipitating that, her new campaign manager Ed Rollins, was conspicuous by his absence from the spin room.


But Bachmann clearly needed to draw a contrast with Palin and the focus on policy and experience did just that. I’d say that after Bachmann’s performance tonight Palin is less likely to run.


Tim Pawlenty was given a chance by John King to land a punch by repeating his “ObmaneyCare” line from last Sunday. He didn’t have the guts to do it and tried to turn it into an attack on Obama. I would have thought his team would have anticipated that question and come up with a better answer. In fact, given what he had on the line, I think Pawlenty was the loser of this debate.