Michele Bachmann: "God Calling on Me to Run"

By Christine Roberts, NY Daily News

01 June 11

residential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann says she has the highest endorsement she can get: an endorsement from above.

The Minnesota congresswoman said she received a "calling" to enter the 2012 presidential race. She spoke in an interview with Iowa Public Television on Friday.

"Well, every decision that I make, I pray about, as does my husband, and I can tell you, yes, I've had that calling and that tugging on my heart that this is the right thing to do," Bachmann said.

Bachmann says she experienced a similar type of spiritual guidance in 2006 when she ran for Congress from Minnesota.

"God then called me to run for the United States Congress. And I thought, what in the world would that be for? And my husband said, "You need to do this," Bachmann said at The Living Word Christian Center, a megachurch in Minnesota, during her campaign.

Though the Tea Party darling will not announce whether she'll make a run for the Oval Office until a rally in Waterloo, Iowa, in June, Bachmann went on a media blitz this week, sparking further speculation that she is gearing up for the 2012 race.

Bachmann said she is running for President "because we need a person who is going to stand up to Obamacare" at a GOP event in New Hampshire on Monday night, as reported by the Washington Post.

She also asserted that there is room for her in the race during an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday.

Reiterating her comments from last week, she said that she views former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has yet to make a decision, as a "friend," not a "competitor."

"I compare myself to Barack Obama, not any other of the Republican candidates," she said.

Despite Bachmann's "calling," a CNN poll shows that she is not exactly a top contender. Only 7% of those polled said they would support Bachmann for the Republican nomination.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Palin topped the list.