WATERLOO, Iowa – Declaring “our country is in peril today,” Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann officially announced her campaign for the presidency Monday in her birthplace of Waterloo, Iowa as polls showed her near the top of the field of declared Republican candidates.
Bachmann, 55, dressed in a silver-gray dress and matching jacket, stood before a background of flags in bright sunshine and told supporters, “I seek the presidency because America is at a crucial moment and we must make a bold choice to secure our future.”
The Tea Party favorite concluded by saying, “I’m Michele Bachmann. I’m running for president of the United States. Together we can do this.”
During the course of the announcement, she conjured up memories of her childhood in Iowa, which will hold the first presidential caucuses in the nation, and declared, “everything I need to know I learned in Iowa.”
Later in the week she was scheduled to head to the other early-voting states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.
“We can’t afford four more years of failed leadership at home and abroad,” she said. “We can’t afford four more years with millions of Americans out of work…four more years of a housing crisis…four more years of foreign policy from a president who leads from behind. We can’t afford four more years of Barack Obama.”
Bachmann enters the race at a time when some of the latest polls show her making a strong run for the nomination at this early stage of the race.
A Des Moines Register poll of likely Republican caucus-goers released Saturday night showed Bachmann in a neck-and-neck race with the presumed GOP front-runner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Romney pulled in the most support, garnering 23 percent, but Bachmann placed a close second, with 22 percent. Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, who has crisscrossed the state since early this year, came in third, with 10 percent support.
The poll offered bleak news for former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who came in a distant sixth despite having campaigned heavily in the state for months.
In addition, a Rasmussen Reports poll taken shortly after the June 13 debate for Republican candidates showed Bachmann rising to 19 percent, in second place behind Romney’s 33 percent. And a Public Policy Polling survey taken June 16-19 also showed Bachmann surging into a tie for second place with Sarah Palin, who has not announced a presidential bid.
In addition to Romney, Pawlenty, and Cain, Bachmann joins the ranks of other declared Republican candidates including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.