Michele Bachmann touts Iowa roots, Tea Party credentials in campaign kickoff

Updated at 11:05 a.m. ET

Rep. Michele Bachmann officially kicked off her presidential campaign today near her childhood home in Iowa, where she touted her "Iowa values" as a constitutional conservative with a Christian background.

"I know what it means to be from Iowa--I know what we value here, and I know what's important," Bachmann said from her home town of Waterloo.

The Republican, who moved to Minnesota in sixth grade, referenced her elementary schools, her childhood home, and her grandfather's grave, which were all a short distance away from her speech. When she lived in Waterloo, Bachmann said, Americans carried more optimism and less public debt.

"Times have changed here in Waterloo, but the people still have the same spirit we Iowans have come to exemplify," she said. "But our government keeps getting bigger making it tougher for us to pass on that life, causing our jobs to go overseas and spending more of the money we make, while we keep less of it."

She continued, "We have to recapture our founders' vision of a constitutionally conservative government if we are to secure the promise of the future."

Bachmann's official announcement comes just one day after her strong showing in a Des Moines Register poll of Iowa Republican voters. She won 22 percent of the vote, a statistical dead heat with frontrunner Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor took 23 percent.

Bachmann has assumed the mantle of the top Tea Partier in Congress, as head of House Tea Party Caucus. She embraced that affiliation today, defending the Tea Party as a diverse movement.

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"The liberals... want you to think the Tea Party is the Right Wing of the Republican Party. But it's not," she said. "It's made up of disaffected Democrats, independents, people who've never been political a day in their life, libertarians, Republicans. We're people who simply want America back on the right track again."

Bachmann's staunchly conservative and sometimes controversial remarks have made her a favorite among convervative voters. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that 54 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of the congresswoman, and among supporters of the Tea Party movement, her favorability stands at 57 percent. The Des Moines Register poll revealed that of the GOP presidential candidates, Bachmann has the highest favorability rating among Iowa Republicans at 65 percent.

Video: Michele Bachmann on her "calling" to politics
Video: Michele Bachmann on her presidential qualifications

Her Tea Party appeal has translated into strong grassroots campaign fundraising, enabling Bachmann to bring in $13.5 million for her 2010 race, the AP reported -- more than any other candidate for Congress.

That money, as well as the excitement she generates, will make Bachmann a serious presidential candidate -- at least through Iowa, where her social conservatsm will be a strong selling point in the nation's first presidential nominating contest.

Still, the Iowa caucuses are more than seven months away, and her opponents have plenty of controversy surrounding Bachmann to draw from. The congresswoman is known for making comments that either stretch the truth or come off as incendiary.

On CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, host Bob Schieffer asked Bachmann about her comments that President Obama has some "anti-American" views. She admitted that there are "a lot of things I wish I would have said differently, of course."

Bachmann continued to play fast and loose with the facts on "Face the Nation," misleadingly suggesting Mr. Obama's health care reforms are costing the nation 800,000 jobs.

21 Photos

Michele Bachmann on the campaign trail

[mattcat25]

Ms. Bachmann needs to continue to officially announce her intentions over and over again because no one seems to really believe anything she says?

[Progress4U]

Well her divide between reality and fantasy is rather blurred...

[Harden_Tar]

I will say the lame stream media will have a harder time turning Bachmann into the evil be-atch ala Sarah Palin.

[taylorsucram]

Ha-ha-ha-ha! Remember when Ms. Bachmann was running with the birthers? Short memory huh? Well I remember, and I remember President Obama's response. . . . . . "we do not have time for this kind of silliness." The President then went on to call out Republicans who have repeatedly raised the birth certificate issue, saying that the political process should ignore the "sideshows and carnival barkers." The issues facing this country are going to generate huge and serious debates,...."We are not going to be able to do it if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts."

It can't get any clearer than that. LET ME TRANSLATE FOR YOU; Donald Trump, Chuck Norris, Rep.Bill Posey, Sen.Jim Inhofe, Sen.Richard Shelby and the rest of you Republicans, quit lying and making stuff up. This Country is on the precipice and we DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS NONSENSE !!! Act like adults and remember that your President of Presidents, Ronald Reagan, signed into law THE BIGGEST TAX INCREASE IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. Oh, America did pretty good when another Republican, Dwight D. Eisenhower was President. The top tax rate on the richest people in America then was 91%, AND WE LIVED IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA. Now I understand that Americans paid into Social Security over their working lives and that it's THEIR MONEY, we'll just remove the "cap" on Social Security deductions so that if you make over $106,000 a year you STILL HAVE TO PAY INTO THE SOCIAL SECURITY FUND. There, the Social Security problem is eliminated. Now, about that $700 Billion Dollar Tax Break for the RICH and those OIL SUBSIDIES.......

[justme2012]

Trump trumped Obama and made him show his BC !!!!

That was soooo funny!!!

[retm-w]

And trump ran like a chicken, couldn't handle showing his birth certificate or his tax returns. Just like any rightie a liar.

[tellingthestory]

WOW I thought CBS was Sarah Palin crazy now they have four stories about Bachman. 1 story about the worst president in American history but four about a GOP candidate who is not even the front runner. NO LIBERAL BIAS AT CBS RIGHT? CBS DEMOCRAT ATTACK DOG and sworn protector of Obama.

[justme2012]

Actually if you look all over their site, they have over a dozen stories in the past 5 days about Bachmann. Everyone one of them a hit piece. She scares them bad.

[jsf14]

Bachman seems to be a hardworking lawmaker who is willing to study and learn. For the sake of the country she should talk about important issures.

[tellingthestory]

This country is so divided even defining what are important issues will take the KING of Solomon. I mean the left think money grown on trees and business and being rich is evil and the right believe most social programs are a waste they are right only because the government waste so much money running them . The Idea of the program is good but the administration is just GOD AWFUL. So you tell me what are important issues and I bet if you ask you will get as many different answers as the number of people you ask. You cannot create jobs while Obama is in office because Business no longer trust him he has been so anti business and so dam against them so what are the issues? I would like to know.

[X2670]

Iowa Values? Farm subsidies? Government checks for 23 adopted kids?
That government sure does spend too much, huh Wacky Wack Bachmann?

[justme2012]

Can you provide an official link to how much money she received for her 23 FOSTER children. Or do you simply make stuff up because you are anon.

[retm-w]

Unfortunatly those foster records are probably sealed, but since Obama had to show his birth certifacate, bachman needs to make those records public alon with any subsidies she recieved. Of course the right isn't transparent but they want everybody else to be transparent.

[bantamei]

Conservatives want to return to the good old ultra conservative days of the 50's and earlier when you could be imprisoned for homosexual activities, for adultery, for pre-marital sex, for possessing certain books and films; when you could get prison time for performing ortal sex with your spouse. Ironically, it took a Supreme Court with a republican Chief Justice for us to get most of our civil liberties. The Earl Warren court was one of the most liberal in history. Decisions by that court told the government to get out of the bedrooms of Americans.

[justme2012]

Really????

Funny the only one saying this stuff are socialists!

[signseeker1717]

gratvia, extreme rightists are trying to supplant and/or take over the GOP. They refuse to compromise, and try to punish lawmakers who do. There's still a few left, but they're being systematically shoved out. For example, tea baggers are targeting Orrin Hatch when he comes up for reelection.

[davcor2]

She knows what it's like living in Iowa ? She left when she was 3 !
She's excellent at playing on peoples hate and prejudice against the president but woefully short on answers to resolve difficult issues. If elected, she could end up being the worst president since George W. which would at least take him off the hook for the bottom spot.

[catmomtx]

Word!!!

[justme2012]

She was in the 6th grade when she was only 3? wow, she's one smart lady.

[antilunatic]

The flake has had some excellant work on her face. Maybe she'll tell who did it to help other women out. Do we refer to her as Ms flake or flaky? The up side to flake is that she doen't look like racist white trash like Palin. She even dresses like a professional women to bad she's a flake.

[TheVoiceofReason2012]

Koch-snorting Snowflake Michelle Bachman never explains why she took the welfare checks of 23 children in need, but never bothered to become financially responsible (adopting) even one of them. Is it possible none of these children met the threshold of value where Bachman would become interested in more than the welfare check she received to warehouse these children? Can anyone support a candidate who only sees Americans as potential sources of her personal revenue?

[tiredofeverything]

your-one-king: you wouldn't know truth if it walked up and slapped you in the face.

you're also sounding crazier by the day.

[catmomtx]

The cloud of darkness, doom, gloom, be afraid, be very afraid, President Obama is the cause of every problem you have and will ever have, only Republicans, white males in particular know anything, is the propaganda used by Republicans/conservatives/right wing/tea party/Obama haters ever since the election in 2008.

A lot of people sought the light of truth in the mid term elections and got bait and switch instead from Republicans. That truth and light gave Republicans an opportunity to vilify, demean and blame one set of tax paying citizens for all the problems states have. It resulted in some Governors taking away the rights of tax paying people in order to make sure they can give tax cuts to their campaign donors. Where are all the jobs Republicans promised? But I digress.......