Congresswoman Michele Bachmann tells The Brody File that she is “not queen of the Tea Party,” but if she gets into the 2012 presidential race you can bet that her Tea Party “street cred” will come in handy.
Here’s the political reality: If she jumps in, she would have a check next to the Tea Party box and the Evangelical box as well. That might not make her the queen of the Tea Party, but it sure makes her a strong “Teavangelical.” (A Brody File original word. You won’t find it in Webster’s Dictionary)
Watch the video clips below and you can read through the partial transcriptions as well.
Rep. Michele Bachmann: I am the Chairman of the Tea Party Caucus but I’m not queen of the Tea Party. I’m not the voice for the Tea Party.
We are not the mouthpiece for the Tea Party. We’re the earpiece. I really believe this is a legitimate, viable movement in the United States.
We want to be here to listen to what people are saying because we are government of the people so that the people speak to us. We’re not top down. We don’t want to set the agenda or tell people across the country what they have to do from the Tea Party. We want to listen to what people are saying.”
Rep. Michele Bachmann: On how the Tea Party is already making waves in Congress:
Bachmann: They're the verve and the vibrancy right now. Being a watchdog over Congress. They’re actually doing a tremendous favor for leadership, because they haven't gone back to sleep after the election. This is the beautiful spirit of 1776 that has re-awakened our country, and all across America, people are continuing to stay in touch with the new members they sent to Congress and also with incumbent members.