Michele Bachmann Announces Presidential Candidacy
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up a little later on 360: Casey Anthony's defense tries to get the death penalty taken off the table. But will the move work? We will tell you the latest. And we're getting closer to the answer whether or not Casey Anthony will testify. That's later tonight. But we begin tonight, as we always do, "Keeping Them Honest," with a candidate for president who's campaigning against big government, even though she and her family are personally benefiting from government money.</s>REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want my candidacy for the presidency of the United States to stand for a moment when we, the people, stand once again for the independence from a government that has gotten too big and spends too much and has taken away too much of our liberties.</s>COOPER: Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann jumping into the Republican race for president today, declaring her candidacy in Waterloo, Iowa. She chairs the Tea Party caucus and her anti-big- government record is nothing new.</s>BACHMANN: After the $700 billion bailout, the trillion-dollar stimulus and the massive budget bill with over 9,000 earmarks. No more earmarks. I voted no, not once, but twice, on the $700 billion bailout.</s>BACHMANN: I voted against every bailout that came after that. I voted against the stimulus bills. Our heads are spinning right now with the bailout mania. Out-of-control spending has consequences. The federal government continues to spend more money than what it takes in. More spending yet again, spending that this country simply cannot afford. Cut the spending. Stopping the spending. Stop spending money that we don't have.</s>COOPER: Michele Bachmann speaking out against government bailouts, earmarks, and handouts. But, keeping her honest, it turns out she's not only benefited personally from government money over the years. It seems she's also lobbied for it. There's her husband's counseling clinic, Bachmann and Associates. He's a psychologist who clinics offer what they call Christian counseling. According to "The Los Angeles Times," citing Minnesota state records, the clinic received nearly $30,000 in government money since 2006. We did our own digging and learned that $24,000 of it came from a state grant financed totally by federal money. Then there's her late father-in-law's farm in Wisconsin in which she's a partner. We got this information from a government watchdog group called the Environmental Working Group. According to the EWG's farm subsidy database, the farm got more than nearly a quarter million dollars between 1995 and 2008, mostly in federal corn and dairy subsidies. Congresswoman Bachmann was asked about both the clinic and the farm over the weekend. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY") BACHMANN: The money that went to the clinic was actually training money for employees. The clinic did not get the money. And my husband and I did not get the money either. That's mental health training money that went to employees. Number two, regarding the farm, the farm is my father-in-law's farm. It's not my husband and my farm. It's my father-in-law's farm. And my husband and I have never gotten a penny of money from the farm.</s>COOPER: Well, as for the clinic, according to "The L.A. Times," yes, that money was earmarked for training employees, training which obviously benefits the clinic. As for not getting a penny from the farm, her own financial documents show that isn't so. They reveal between $32,000 and $105,000 of income between 2006 and 2009. In public, meantime, she was railing against and voting against federal farm payments, voting no on a 2008 farm subsidy bill. Yet, the very next year, she wrote Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack praising government price support programs and asking for more -- quote -- "I would encourage you to take any additional steps necessary to prevent further deterioration of these critical industries," she writes, "such as making additional commodities purchases," in other words, more government intervention in the marketplace benefiting her constituents and herself while she rails against big government intervening in the marketplace. Bob Schieffer asked her about that contradiction yesterday on CBS' "Face the Nation," and she dodged the question. Watch. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FACE THE NATION") BOB SCHIEFFER, HOST, "FACE THE NATION": What about farm subsidies? You benefit from farm subsidies on your family farm. Do you think we ought to think about cutting those back?</s>BACHMANN: Well, I think everything needs to be on the table right now, every part of government. I will tell you one thing that should be on the table. Under Barack Obama the last two years, the number of federal limousines for bureaucrats has increased 73 percent in two years. I can't think of anything more reprehensible than seeing bureaucrats on their cell phones in the back - 73 percent increase in the number of federal limousines in the last two years, for heaven's sakes.</s>SCHIEFFER: But, Congresswoman, you're not seriously saying that eliminating limousine service is anywhere equal to reducing farm subsidies?</s>BACHMANN: What I'm saying is that I think that's an easy one that we need to do. Clearly President Obama is not serious about cutting spending.</s>COOPER: We invited her on the program tonight, by the way. Her people refused, saying Ms. Bachmann was -- quote -- "booked solid" all week. She did, however, appear on "Sean Hannity" tonight, where she was not asked about this at all. She also plans a full slate of appearances on tomorrow's network morning shows. We will see if they ask her. Joining me now, John King, host of CNN's "JOHN KING, USA" every weeknight, also chief political analyst Gloria Borger. So, John, relatively speaking, I guess a relatively small amount of government money over many years, but it does raise questions for a candidate who's made her name attacking big government spending.</s>JOHN KING, HOST, "JOHN KING, USA": It absolutely does. And it raises those questions even at a higher volume because she's rising in the polls. And she is, right now, Anderson, like her or not, the most influential person, the person most shaping the Republican race for president right now, because of her rise in Iowa. She's now tied with Mitt Romney for the lead in Iowa. Because of that, Governor Pawlenty's campaign, Speaker Gingrich's campaign, all these other campaigns are now reacting to Michele Bachmann. So she faces a higher credibility test. And she will face these questions. What did you do with the money? What exact money did you get? And the credibility questions that you're asking. How can you rail against all this government spending, government involvement in the marketplace when, to a degree, even though there's no evidence she's done anything wrong, she's eligible for these payments or applied for the grant for the business, that she took government money at a time when she's out there saying it's such a horrible thing.</s>COOPER: Gloria, I want to show our viewers the poll that John's talking about. It shows Congresswoman Bachmann statistically tied as the front-runner for the Iowa caucuses. She has clearly got momentum. What does it mean for the primary at this point?</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think, to me, she seems to me so far to be at least the Howard Dean of this race on the Republican side. Remember when Howard Dean gave John Kerry a run for his money in 2004? Nobody kind of expected him to do that. He came up from out of nowhere, but he had a very strong base within the party. He had the liberal base within the party. She has got the Tea Party fiscal conservative base. And until somebody like Rick Perry gets in, governor of Texas, which I believe he will, she's going to take up a lot of the oxygen. And I think, you know, today, it was interesting. Mitt Romney himself complimented Michele Bachmann for the -- quote -- "traction" she's getting in the campaign.</s>COOPER: It's interesting, Gloria, though. A lot of liberals today and liberal commentators were attacking her for -- she misspoke. She thought -- she was talking about John Wayne. She was talking about John Wayne Gacy.</s>BORGER: Yes.</s>COOPER: Clearly, candidates make mistakes, misspeak all the time, so we're not focusing on that at all tonight. But I do want to play the question that had a lot of people talking over the weekend put to Congressman Bachmann put by Chris Wallace over the weekend. Let's watch.</s>BORGER: Yes. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY") CHRIS WALLACE, HOST, "FOX NEWS SUNDAY": Are you a flake?</s>BACHMANN: Well, I think that would be insulting, to say something like that, because I'm a serious person.</s>COOPER: Chris Wallace has since apologized. Would that question ever be asked to a male candidate?</s>BORGER: Look, I think it's just easier to ask it of a woman. For some reason, there seems to be a different threshold. I looked back to Governor Moonbeam of California, Jerry Brown. I'm not sure anybody directly asked him whether he was a flake. But in the end, in talking to some people who work for Michele Bachmann, they say it worked to her advantage, because she was able to kind of chastise Chris Wallace. He did apologize later, as you say. But she was also able to recite her resume and tell people why she should be taken seriously. But I do believe that there's a different threshold for a woman candidate. Just ask Hillary Clinton about that.</s>COOPER: John, a lot of people like to put Michele Bachmann in sort of a Sarah Palin mode. The fact is, she's not a Sarah Palin.</s>BORGER: No.</s>COOPER: And if the polls are accurate, she seems at this point a lot more formidable as a presidential candidate.</s>KING: There are a lot of people right now, Anderson, who understand Iowa very well who believe she's the favorite to win the Iowa caucuses. Now, it's very hard -- this is my seventh presidential campaign -- very hard for me to sit her tonight and give you a reasonable scenario that shows Michele Bachmann being the Republican nominee for president. However, I can give you a very good scenario that shows her having a dramatic impact on this race. If she wins Iowa, that essentially kills the Pawlenty candidacy. It probably kills the Gingrich candidacy, if it lasts that long. If you're Governor Romney, you're looking Michele Bachmann right now because you're the front-runner in this race. The first race now, if you're not Governor Romney, of the other eight candidates -- and maybe Governor Perry will get in and there be nine other candidates -- is to emerge as one of the alternatives to the front-runner. Michele Bachmann has stolen that mantle at the moment. Long way to go, but she's surprised a lot of people. She is going to raise a lot of money in this first quarter. And with that, though, Anderson, with the success comes the tougher questions. That's her next challenge. She's a House member and she has to prove now she can be a serious candidate for president.</s>BORGER: And, Anderson, I think it may have happened a little quickly. I was talking to somebody who is close to her today and he said to me, we're not ready for all of this attention yet. And she may not be ready for all of this attention yet. As you say, she's full of gaffes. She's got to learn the difference between being a congressional candidate and being a presidential candidate, which is a whole different playing field. And it's clear that she's not comfortable in these kinds of unscripted events. She did very well at the debate, at the CNN debate, because she had her talking points.</s>COOPER: But you know what?</s>BORGER: Yes.</s>COOPER: But let me jump in here, because, to her credit, I have seen her -- she's come on this program. I have seen her go on Chris Matthews' program.</s>BORGER: Right.</s>COOPER: There's a lot of these Republican candidates who will not do that, who will only stick to...</s>BORGER: Right.</s>COOPER: Michele Bachmann, whether you like her or not -- and viewers are -- or voters are obviously divided -- she goes out there and she gets into the fray.</s>BORGER: She does.</s>COOPER: And I got to give her -- she won't come on the show tonight to answer this question, but in general, I give her respect for doing that.</s>KING: But she will come soon. And you know she will. I have had her on the program where I asked her -- she made some ludicrous claim early in the Libya intervention about some 30,000 people killed by the United States and NATO. She said she saw it in a newspaper report. You had her on. You grilled her about when the president made the trip to India. She was quoting this ridiculous blog posting that it was costing this exorbitant amount of money, and then she said, well, I was just quoting that report. I had her on the program a little more than a month ago and she said, yes, she understands now there's a higher bar now for her. She can't make those factual mistakes as a candidate for president. She did make one today. But she understands -- the thing you have to give her some credit for is, she's not afraid to go out and take her harpoons.</s>BORGER: And that's the difference between Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin. Michele Bachmann is willing to kind of confront these issues. Lots of Republicans at first called her the Mini-Me to Palin. And she really isn't, because she will answer your questions directly, if you can get her on the show. And I think that's the difference between her and Palin.</s>COOPER: Yes.</s>BORGER: She's really willing to say, OK, here's what I believe and maybe she turns out to be wrong, but at least she does it. You're right.</s>COOPER: Well, she's had a whole career, too, as a lawyer before even getting into politics.</s>BORGER: Exactly. Exactly.</s>COOPER: So, anyway, she's a force to be reckoned with, no doubt about it. John King, Gloria Borger, thank you. Let us know what you think. We're on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter @AndersonCooper. I will be tweeting tonight. Coming up: new signs of horrific torture and murder in Syria, victims as young as 13 years old, other videos of people just being beating by security forces. The Syrian government is still insisting there's no crackdown. They actually say that: There's no crackdown. They say they're -- that it's extremist groups who are doing the killing. We will hear from a government spokesperson and woman in hiding in Syria right now. And later: the leader investigator in the Casey Anthony case back on the stand in her murder trial -- plus, why the court proceedings suddenly and mysteriously screeched to a halt over the weekend, the latest on that coming up.