Bachmann: Win a ‘down payment on taking the country back’
Reporting from Ames, Iowa — About an hour after the Ames Straw Poll victory, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, descended from her bus outside the Hilton Coliseum at Iowa State University to thank the small band of supporters who waited for her.
They were far outnumbered by members of the press, anxious to get a photo and a quote from Bachmann after she eked out a victory over Texas Rep. Ron Paul, whose loyal band of supporters were audibly disappointed when Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matthew Strawn announced the results.
Bachmann received 28.55% of the vote, while Paul got 27.65%.
“I want to thank Ron Paul and the people of Iowa,” said Bachmann. “What we saw happen today is the very first step in taking the White House in 2012, and saying to Barack Obama ‘You’ll be a one-term president,’ ” a prediction that has become something of a campaign slogan for her.
She called her triumph a “down payment in taking the country back … and it started in Iowa. God bless you all. God bless America.”
Bachmann is slated to make the rounds of all the Sunday morning television news shows.
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