Rep. Michele Bachmann may look like the first Republican woman ever elected to Congress from the great state of Minnesota. But she’s really just a proud and native Iowan at heart.
Formally announcing her candidacy for President in Waterloo, Iowa — where she was born and lived for her early childhood — Bachmann embraced The Hawkeye State as though she had never left. In a speech aimed squarely at the potential caucus voters who already seem to be into her, Bachmann talked up her Iowa roots, then talked a little policy, then talked about Iowa again.
“I often say that everything I need to know, I learned in Iowa,” Bachmann said.
Observers expect Iowa to be a key launching pad for Bachmann’s candidacy. The evangelical voters there are more apt to get on board her campaign than the more fiscally-minded New Hampshire electorate, where former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is attempting to make his early 2012 stand. A strong showing by Bachmann in the February Iowa caucuses could propel her to the head of the field and open the gates to national fundraising that any candidate needs to make a credible bid.
Bachmann wove her Iowa roots (did I mention she’s from Iowa?) into talk of her focus in Washington: bringing the tea party to the halls of Congress:
I want my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States to stand for a moment when we, the people, stand once again for the independence from a government that has gotten too big and spends too much and has taken away too much of our liberties.
She closed with what had become a familiar refrain to those watching — and one that she’s already broadcasting far and wide across America’s Heartland.
“Thank you, Iowa,” she said. “Thank you America. Together, we will do this.”
Here’s a clip:
