Michele Bachmann Tax Day rally draws small crowd

Michele Bachmann speaks during a Tea Party rally at the State House, Monday, April 18, 2011 in Columbia, S.C.

/ Gerry Melendez,AP Photo/The State

An estimated 300 people gathered in South Carolina for a tax day tea party rally Monday, a smaller-than-expected crowd for the event featuring Gov. Nikki Haley and Tea Party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Bachmann, who is considering a presidential campaign, told the crowd that President Obama is Wall Street's "best friend," according to the Associated Press.

"When [Obama] came in as the president of the United States, he decided we had to have this $700 billion bailout of Wall Street. He's the best friend that Wall Street has ever had," she said. (She appears to be referencing the TARP bailout, which was passed under then-President George W. Bush in October 2008, not under Mr. Obama.) Bachmann also reiterated her opposition to raising the debt ceiling, insisting that exceeding it would not hobble the country despite Obama administration claims to the contrary.

South Carolina would be a key state for Bachmann should she enter the presidential race, since it comes early in the nominating calendar and has a relatively socially-conservative electorate. Bachmann is expected to announce her presidential plans in June.

She told reporters after the speech that she "can't wait to go up against President Obama," according to the AP, adding: "I think that it would be a pleasure to debate the issues with President Obama because he has a lot to answer for."

The turnout made the event a "dud" in the words of influential South Carolina political blogger Will Folks, who wrote that "[p]oliticians, political operatives and members of the media came close to outnumbering attendees" at the event.

For her part, Haley called on rally attendees to approve bills mandating voters show photo identification, according to The State.

Rallies were held around the country Monday in conjunction with tax day, but they didn't only involve Tea Party activists. Liberal groups held rallies calling for companies like Exxon and Bank of America to pay their fair share of taxes and for tax rates on the wealthiest Americans to be raised.

Potential Republican presidential candidates, including Donald Trump, Sarah Palin and Tim Pawlenty, have spoken at tax day rallies dating back to last Friday, April 15th - which would have been tax day this year had it not been pushed back to Monday this year.

[jimbom121]

Why is the media even covering an event of this size?

[RightWayIsWrongWay]

Ms. Bachman is misinterpreting history and telling fibs because she is auditioning for her FOX show so,...

Let me make this utterly clear: What you see on Fox News, what you read on Right Wing websites, is the utter and complete perversion of journalism??, and it can have no place in a civilized society. It is words crashed together, never to inform, only to inflame. It is a political guillotine??. It is the manipulati??on of reality to make the racist seem benevolent??, and to convict the benevolent as racist - even if the words must be edited, filleted, stripped of all context, rearranged??, fabricated??, and falsified, to do so.

What you see on Fox News, what you read on Right Wing websites& is a manipulati??on. Not just of a story, not just on behalf of a political philosophy??. Manipulati??on of a society, its intentiona??l redirectio??n from reality and progress, to a paranoid delusion and the fomenting of hatred of Americans by Americans. And nearly every last word of it is never, in any tangible sense, true. Ask Shirley Sherrod.

[credibility2]

These rallies are no more ridiculous than for the nation to alter the tax due deadline to accommodate the folks in DC to get a day off of work for their "Emancipation Day".

[san850]

Wow, you're the first I've heard complain about having a few more days until the tax deadline. I don't care who got a day off...I appreciated the few extra days.

[mattcat25]

Where are the Koch Industries sponsored bus loads of Tea Biscuits?

[RightWayIsWrongWay]

They were being bused in to the Palin rally with about 300 people in Wisconsin. Seriously, they were and they didn't have enough flea baggers to go around. What a joke

[jimbom121]

Seems like the crowds were much smaller this year than last all over the place: Chicago about 500, compared with 2000 last year, Boston about 250, compared with 1500 last year, Orange County CA, over a thousand last year, about 15 this year.

[wdrussell1]

If Michele had to tell the truth for one full day, they would have to call the paramedics because she would choke up so much.

[san850]

Ahhh, Michele, a clear sign that your 15 minutes of fame is up. If only you could have ever gotten your facts straight and shared something intelligent and meaningful, perhaps it would have been 20 minutes vs. 15 minutes.

[Lindag10]

A falling "star" no doubt. If she goes away, one less nut case on the Repub roster. Oh well, so sad too bad.

[truthinpolitics]

Your response to pointing out Ms Bachman's inability to produce anthing factually acurate is right wing slander?

MrRight, I struggle with where to even begin with responding to your inflamitory ignorance.

Points being made were the debt Bachman refered to was not the result of the Obama administration. It was a Bill passed by the Bush administration. To go back and pin it on the current administration only means she lies or is ignorant. Either way, it does not bode well.

As far as the further slander. If reads like mindless quips from talk radio, keep it to your right wing conspiracy theory buddies. Both parties approved a budget last week which only cut less than 5% off our budget Deficit for the YEAR. That is not a victory for either party. What your guru Bachman doesn't tell you is cutting as deep as she proposes would send us into a deep depression. We are boxed in between a rock and a hard place from the past 30 years of deficit spending. As soon as you realize both parties are responsible for this, we can start moving forward.

Being a right wing troll on message boards does not help inform anyone. Keep your message on topic and factual and who knows, even you might even add some value.

[indiethink]

Dear Truth,
I salute your comment that both parties are responsible for our crushing debt. Most intelligent statement on this post.

[dire_ce]

Wow how can she even think that she is qualified to run for president when she can't even get the facts straight when addressing a crowd? Did she forget that the previous administration/president was responsible for the TARP bill? She's probably even too dumb to be embarassed with standing before a crowd, presenting false information, then saying that she looks forward to a debate? Perhaps it is time for americans to revisit the 'boston tea party'.

[facelessdrone2005]

Obama is the best friend of Wall Street? Maybe so, my investments are at the highest level in years. Thanks, Obama!

[san850]

Amen!!

[retiredgustav]

The only thing the Wall street meltdown was good for was it created a lot of buying opportunities. My wife bought GE at $6 and is now laughing all the way to the bank. Thank you resident Obama.