Bachmann leaning towards 2012 run(maybe)

Tea Party Caucus founder Rep. Michele Bachmann is on a swing through Iowa this week, and today, her advisors told reporters she may form a presidential exploratory committee in May or June. Howard Fineman of the Huffington Post and author Ron Reagan join Hardball’s Chris Matthews to discuss.

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Bachmann leaning toward 2012 run

By The Last Word Staff

 - 

Thu Mar 24, 2011 3:55 PM EDT

Charlie Neibergall/AP

Rep. Michele Bachmann at a pro-home schooling rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday.

Multiple reports emerged today indicating Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is taking steps to form an exploratory committee for a potential White House bid.
"I'm not saying it's false," the Tea Party darling told the Los Angeles Times. "It could be before then."
"Well, we’ll be making a decision by this summer if we will or not," she told the Des Moines Register today. "We haven’t made a decision that we actually will. But our national timeline that we’re following will be this summer because I believe it’s important to be part of the Iowa Straw Poll going forward, so I think a decision would have to be made by then.”
She could announce her decision as early as May, according to one of her top advisers. That way, she would make the cut to appear in two televised Republican debates scheduled the first week of May.
"I'm not sure the debate is what's going to make our final decision," said Ed Brookover, a Bachmann adviser. "Is it a factor? Yes."
She would join fellow Minnesotan Tim Pawlenty, former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer and pizza king Herman Cain in the exploratory stage.
Bachmann made headlines a few weeks ago for an American history slip-up at an event in New Hampshire. She told a crowd how happy she was to be in the state where the "shot heard 'round the world" occurred in Concord and Lexington.