Bachmann Surges, Tied with Romney in Iowa

From the Associated Press:

Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann has surged to the front of the pack in Iowa, the crucial first voting state she hopes will propel her to the Republican presidential nomination.

Bachmann, a Minnesota representative and darling of the Christian right, was virtually tied with frontrunner Mitt Romney in a survey Saturday of likely voters the party’s early Iowa caucus, boosting her much-anticipated candidacy ahead of a tour of key primary states.

She came in with 22 percent compared to Romney’s 23 percent in the survey, organized by the newspaper Des Moines Register, with the other candidates polling far behind.

Later Sunday she was returning to the midwestern state to launch her campaign, with events in her native city of Waterloo, Iowa this week to kick off a tour that will take in New Hampshire and North Carolina.

After stepping boldly into the 2012 White House race to challenge President Barack Obama by stealing the show at the first major Republican debate on June 13, Bachmann hopes to captivate voters in the three states she will cross over three days.

“Since the debate, people have paid attention and they’ve recognized that I am very serious about what I want to do, because the country is on the wrong track,” Bachmann told Fox News Sunday.

“My goal is to turn the economy around and have jobs created,” she told Fox, describing her intention to “fully repeal” the Democrat’s health care reform that’s become a cornerstone achievement of President Barack Obama’s presidency.

Read the whole thing here.