Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) launched her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in Waterloo, Iowa today, declaring she wants her candidacy "to stand for a moment when we the people stand once again for independence from a government that has spent too much and has taken too much from our liberty." "My name is Michelle Bachmann, I stand here among my family and many friends to announce formally my candidacy for president of the United States," she said.
After 4 years in the House of Representatives as an advocate for spending cuts and limited government, Bachmann, dubbed the "Queen of the Tea Party," by The Weekly Standard, said she would help the nation "recapture our founders' vision of a constitutionally conservative government."
In a speech targeted at Iowa caucus-goers, Bachmann spoke about her upbringing in The Hawkeye State. "Everything I need to know, I learned in Iowa," she said. "We depended on our neighbors and ourselves and not our government for help," she said. "We trusted in God and our neighbors and not in government.
Bachmann's campaign strategy hinges on a victory in the first-in-the-nation caucuses. A Des Moines Register poll released Saturday showed Bachmann tied with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at the top of the field, drawing the support of 22 percent of likely caucus-goers.
In her announcement speech, Bachmann declared President Barack Obama's health care law unconstitutional, and drew the loudest applause when she declared, "we can't afford four more years of Barack Obama."
