U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann has formally launched her White House bid, joining a crowded field of Republicans who hope to run against President Barack Obama in 2012.
Bachmann made the announcement in Waterloo, the city of her birth, in the Midwestern state of Iowa. The state is an important campaign destination for presidential hopefuls, as it begins the nominating process with its party caucuses, now set for February.
Bachmann told the crowd that the policies of Obama have not worked, accusing him of trying to spend his way out of the recession.
The 55-year-old Bachmann, who has enjoyed a recent surge in political opinion polls, is a favorite of the Tea Party movement that advocates a smaller government and a repeal of the president’s health care law.
Other Republicans who have announced their presidential bid include frontrunner and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Representative Ron Paul, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, and Jon Huntsman, a former Utah governor who recently resigned as Obama's ambassador to China.