Rep. Michele Bachmann, stressing her Iowa roots and declaring she wants to bring “your voice” to the White House, formally kicked off her presidential campaign Monday in her hometown of Waterloo.
The Minnesota congresswoman started her announcement by calling on America to “recapture” its values in order to “secure that promise” of the country’s future. She lamented the rise in the national debt, the rise in gas prices and the rise in foreclosures as she launched a broadside against President Obama over his economic policies.
“We can’t afford four more years of Barack Obama,” the Minnesota congresswoman declared in prepared remarks.
Bachmann, who filed her papers to run for president two weeks ago, plans to head next to the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Bachmann is pulling no punches in attacking the Obama administration, as she tries to build off a strong showing in several recent polls — including a Des Moines Register poll in which she was nearly tied with frontrunner Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.
According to prepared remarks, Bachmann labels herself a “constitutional conservative” who believes in limited government. “Washington is the problem, and the real solutions will come from our businesses, our communities, our schools and the most basic and powerful unit of all-our families,” she plans to say.
Bachmann also attacks Obama on several fronts.
“We cannot continue to rack up debt on the backs of future generations. We can’t afford an unconstitutional health plan that costs too much and is worth so little. And we can’t afford four more years of failed leadership at home and abroad,” she said, according to remarks. “We can’t afford four more years of millions of Americans out of work or in jobs that pay too little to support their families. We can’t afford four more years of a housing crisis that is devaluing our homes and making home ownership impossible for many Americans. We can’t afford four more years of a foreign policy that leads from behind and doesn’t stand up for our friends and stand up to our enemies.”
Still, Bachmann said in an interview with The Associated Press that her bid to unseat Obama is not “personal.”
The nothing-personal message was a departure from her 2008 comments questioning whether Obama had “anti-American” views. She has said she wishes she framed her criticism differently.
Bachmann has been surging in recent polls. The Iowa poll over the weekend showed Romney with 23 percent support and Bachmann with 22 percent among those who said they were likely to vote in the nation’s first Republican nomination contest. The top five included Georgia businessman Herman Cain, at 10 percent, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, with 7 percent each.
Speaking later to hundreds at a nearby ballroom, Bachmann effusively mentioned her Iowa roots.
“We need more Waterloo. We need more Iowa. We need more closeness, more families, more love for each other,” she told her enthusiastic crowd.
The audience soaked it up.
“She’s one of `us.’ There are too many of `them’ in Washington and not enough of `us,”‘ said insurance salesman David Alderman. “I think she’s got star power. She’s a frontrunner right now.”
(Source: Fox News)
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5 Responses
Her support alone for Israel would make me want to vote for her. But she seems to understand that jobs and the economy is really job #1 for the president, not playing golf every weekend.
No. 1: Congresswoman Bachmann’s statements reported above included nothing about the president’s role in creating jobs, and Ms. Bachmann said nothing about what she would do to improve the jobs picture.
If she is going to peddle the “tax cuts” nonsense, she should know that taxes as a percentage of gross domestic product are already at a historical low and have had no positive effect on jobs creation. Cash-rich corporations and individuals are sitting on their money. Federal spending will improve our anemic economy more directly than any other governmental or private-sector action, and the only candidate who knows that is the incumbent.
And if it helps, think of the president’s golf as gentile davening.
#2, you are correct in realizing the contents of the article. I would assume you would realize that people commenting on an article may include opinions formulated from information not included in an article, but still relevant to the topic at hand. Is that ok with you? I may be wrong but it seems like you are knit-picking and looking to be hypercritical.
My view for the coming election is ABO (Anybody but Obama ..except for Gingrich. In that case I would have to write in a protest vote again.)
Yes, I know Gingrich is all but out of the race entirely.
My comment about a absence of information in the article about Ms. Bachmann’s plans (if any) to improve the US employment market, and my subsequent paragraph, were intended to question Commenter No. 1 about his/her certainty that Ms. Bachmann, if elected president, would improve the employment market or provide relief to the unemployed. If Commenter No. 1 has information not reported in the article, it would be helpful if he/she included that information to show the basis of his/her belief. I don’t think this is nitpicking, and it is critical, but I do not think it is hypercritical. I think opinions should be supported by facts.
Most of what I know about Ms. Bachmann is what I hear on MSNBC, and it is not good. I would welcome factual information from other sources.
And speaking of other sources, I understand from a CBS Sunday morning news program that (i) Ms. Bachmann criticized President Obama’s energy policy and alleged that since he has been president, “he” (not the Energy Department or whoever it is that issues oil drilling permits) has issued only one permit, and (ii) when informed by CBS reporter Bob Schieffer that the administration (not necessarily the president personally) has, in its tenure, issued over 200 oil drilling permits, Ms. Bachmann could not and did not deny that she was wrong but did attempt to change the topic.
My point, very simply, is that we need accurate and reliable information about candidates. If Ms. Bachmann remains a serious contender for the Republican nomination, I am confident that there will plenty of information about her positions, half of which will be right, and half of which will be fanciful nonsense. The hard part for us responsible citizens is separating the truth from the baloney.