Rep. Bachmann shakes up GOP presidential race

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., glided into the Puritan Backroom restaurant Monday night as if entering her election-night victory party — not as a newly minted contender for president who had just declared her intentions on national TV.

Bachmann was the surprising success story of the evening's Republican presidential debate at nearby Saint Anselm College. With a passionate critique of President Obama and an energetic embrace of such conservative positions as opposing an increase in the debt ceiling and repealing the health-care overhaul, Bachmann garnered cheers and applause from supporters and approving write-ups from journalists for her steal-the-show performance.

"Thank you so much!" Bachmann declared again and again as she stopped to hug each of the supporters awaiting her arrival at her post-debate party. "Thank you! I'm so glad you're here! Thank you so much!"

In a debate also notable for the quietly confident performance of front-runner Mitt Romney and the unwillingness of his rivals to target him with any kind of ferocity, Bachmann electrified the audience with folksy references to her personal history and an unwavering attack on Obama's stewardship of the economy and the federal government.

"Hi, my name is Michele Bachmann," she said in her opening remarks in the debate. "I'm a former federal tax-litigation attorney. ... I'm also a member of the United States Congress. I'm a wife of 33 years. I've had five children, and we are the proud foster parents of 23 great children."

Bachmann coupled her announcement with a cleverly timed advertisement that appeared Monday evening on the Drudge Report, the conservative news website, featuring a solicitation for campaign contributions.

With an already impressive history of raising millions with small-dollar donations, Bachmann was seeking to demonstrate anew her proven ability to raise campaign cash.

Bachmann also hired several consultants and communications aides to help spin the media during and after the debate, including pollster Ed Goaes and campaign manager Ed Rollins. After greeting her supporters, she conducted a live-blog video conference with a cheering section from the debate in the background. Her staff said she has collected more than 6,000 email addresses in New Hampshire alone.

"This is Step One!" Bachmann said to the camera, flashing her trademark broad smile and hugging friends and admirers. "This is the down payment. And I'd just like to say, are you going to stick with me to the finish line? President Obama, here we come!"

Local Republicans who came out to watch the debate and greet Bachmann were clearly affected by her energetic performance.

"She's got passion for running for president," said Tom Molloy, 66, a retiree from Brentwood, N.H., who likes Bachmann but remains undecided. "If you don't want to taste it, if you can't ooze it out of your pores, you shouldn't be in it. Michele showed that passion tonight."

Bachmann is likely to carry some buzz along with her in coming weeks as she begins the campaigning for votes in such early states as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. But she is also certain to face the more difficult question of what she sees as her path to victory.

Bachmann's strong showing also could affect former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision on whether to run for president. Asked about Palin at her post-debate party, Bachmann offered nothing but praise for her.

Although Bachmann is hugely popular among tea-party activists (and is the founder and chairwoman of the Tea Party Caucus in the House), she is also viewed with some suspicion by leaders within her own party in Washington and elsewhere.

In just her third House term, Bachmann has never held a leadership role within the Republican caucus. She also has committed a few gaffes in her early stops to test the waters for a presidential campaign. For example, speaking in Concord, N.H., she said the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired there. They were fired in Concord, Mass.

Her relative inexperience on the national stage was in evidence at her post-debate party, too. To create a backdrop to her live video conference, supporters taped homemade campaign signs to a couple of banquet-hall coat racks. Bachmann also wasn't quite sure when the videotaping was done. She declared aloud to the room, "Are we on or off?" and then exclaimed "Go Team Bachmann" to fill a few extra seconds of time.

Bachmann also helped organize photographs, yelling out to the room, "Anybody want to take pictures? C'mon, let's take pictures!" When a few admirers approached, Bachmann's husband, Marcus, doubled as gatekeeper and asked them to form an orderly line.

But Goaes, the pollster, said none of that matters as much as how supporters respond to her in the crucial early states. "Everyone thinks she can do well in Iowa," he said. "And if she wins Iowa, there's no telling how it turns out."