Bachmann visit a prelude to a Presidential bid?

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann was in Michigan on Tuesday offering up her special brand of political rhetoric. Bachmann was in the state to stump for Robert ‘Bobby’ Schostak and his bid to become the chair of the Michigan Republican Party.

While Schostak and campaign volunteer Stu Sandler told Michigan Messenger that the Grand Rapids appearance of Bachmann was closed to the press, both Michigan Public Radio and the Grand Rapids Press were allowed to attend. Both issued reports. Messenger emailed both Sandler and Schostak seeking an explanation as to why they claimed the event was closed to the press, but some press were allowed in. They never responded.

Bachmann is the chair of the Tea Party Caucus in the House and was recently appointed to the House Intelligence Committee, which will be chaired by Michigan Republican Mike Rogers (R-Brighton).

Michigan Public Radio reports Bachmann had this to say about President Barack Obama:

“She told the group at the Grand Rapids Hilton there are two reasons Republicans must not allow President Obama to have a second term in office. One, she says, is because the country is less safe since he took office. “I know it may seem like a brazen statement,” Bachmann said before referencing the 2009 shootings at a military base in Fort Hood Texas, a fatal shooting outside a recruiting center in Arkansas, and the underwear bomber’, who attempted to blow up a jet over metro Detroit. The second reason, Bachmann said, is because of the increasing size of government.”

The Grand Rapids Press reports these comments from Bachmann:

Bachmann took aim at familiar targets including:
• The Federal Reserve: “It’s time to pull the curtain back and shine a light on it.”
• Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “We will pry the gavel out of Nancy Pelosi’s hands Jan. 5.”
• Federal workers: “Federal employees make double their counterparts in the private sector when you count wages and benefits.”

But perhaps the most interesting tidbit to arise from the Tea Party queen’s visit is a piece from the Minneapolis Star Tribune. That newspaper reports Andy Parrish, Bachmann’s chief of staff, says the trip to Michigan was tied to Presidential politics.

“She knows how important the 2012 Presidential election is, and what a vital role Michigan will play in it,” Parrish said in an e-mail. “It’s never too early to rally the grassroots, and that is what she is doing today.”

The only question this leaves in one’s mind is whether or not Bachmann is planning a run for the oval office, or if she is laying the ground work in order to play kingmaker in the 2012 election, brought in to fire up the grassroots.