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By BRIAN BAKST and JIM DAVENPORT
Associated Press


      GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Pigeonholed as a right-wing disciple,
Michele Bachmann is offering herself as a presidential candidate
who can unite the GOP's disparate base and appeal to Republicans of
all ideological stripes.


      "Fiscal conservatives - I'm one of those. National security
conservatives - I'm one of those. Social conservatives - I'm one of
those. And the tea party - I'm one of those," the Minnesota
congresswoman said re

peatedly in South Carolina this past week.
      The line, now standard fare as she visits early primary states,
provides a window into her strategy of selling herself as more than
just a social conservative crusader.


      Bachmann's ability to overtake rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Perry
in the GOP nomination contest may depend on whether she can attract
support beyond her core evangelical and tea party constituencies,
which gravitate toward her strong stances on cultural issues.


      But this year, economic concerns clearly rate above many others
with most voters. If she wins the party nod, she will have to court
moderates and independents as well as conservatives.


      Throughout her political career, Bachmann has fiercely guarded
and worked to bolster her social conservative reputation.


      She has had a 100 percent rating from the influential American
Conservative Union during her nearly five years in Congress, based
on her voting record. Over the past few years, she rode the wave of
the rising tea party and used her frequent TV appearances to stoke
a national image as a favorite of the right.


      As a candidate, Bachmann isn't eager to revisit her past
controversial statements even though Democratic and Republican
rivals alike use them to paint her as a fringe Republican in the
race to challenge President Barack Obama.


      During a recent debate, she deftly handled a question about a
past remark cited the Bible as instructing wives to be "submissive
to your husbands." In a measured tone, she explained it was about
showing mutual respect.


      A few days later, Bachmann faced tough questions on the Sunday
national news shows about previous statements, including a comment
about the gay lifestyle being one of "personal bondage, personal
despair and personal enslavement." Not addressing such issues
directly, she relied on answers such as "I'm running for the
presidency of the United States. I'm not running to be anyone's
judge."


      Bachmann's typical campaign speech illustrates her efforts to
broaden her appeal. Or as she put it in Florence this past week:
"We are going to make the case that we're the unifying candidate
who can beat Obama."


      She opened her remarks to conservative South Carolina audiences
with a quick rundown of her stances on cultural issues. But she
quickly pivoted to jobs, filling a whiteboard with numbers about
tax collections and the nation's swelling deficit.


      "You cannot spend more money than what you take in. It's a
simple fact of life, right?" Bachmann told a receptive crowd at
the Greenville convention center. She promised to submit only
balanced budgets as president even though critics say that's
impossible.


      To national security conservatives, she said: "I won't step one
toe out of this country and apologize for the United States of
America," the rap that Obama's foreign policy approach gets from
conservatives.


      She also plays up her role on the House Intelligence Committee,
stressing how she's trusted with the nation's secrets and apprised
of the most pressing threats.


      The broader pitch is a necessity given the times.


      Gail Randall, 54, is among those who showed up this past week to
hear Bachmann and who think social issues are fading.


      Said Randall: "It's all about the economy this year, I think,
and job creation."


      Lois Ross, 42, said she appreciated hearing from Bachmann about
foreign affairs, including illegal immigration and the economy
because "they are the only issues I'm voting on."


      Bachmann's outreach also comes across more subtly.


      No matter where she travels, she emphasizes her birthplace of
Waterloo, Iowa.


      She says it drives home her heartland sensibilities and bedrock
values. She shares stories of growing up in a broken home after her
parents divorced, sending a message that she can relate to people's
personal and economic struggles.


      Wherever Bachmann goes, she blares Elvis Presley tunes from her
campaign bus.


      It's not the first time Bachmann has tried to make such a pivot.


      She built a following in Minnesota as a state senator
championing social causes such as a proposed constitutional ban on
gay marriage. But after dispatching GOP challengers in her first
bid for Congress, she focused her fall campaign on financial
issues.


      She hired a presidential campaign team that knows well the
danger of being narrowly defined in a primary.


      Several top advisers, including campaign manager Ed Rollins,
oversaw Mike Huckabee's 2008 campaign. The ex-Arkansas governor is
a former minister and a social conservative who harnessed the
organizing ability of pastors, evangelicals and home-school
advocates to win the Iowa caucuses. But he never grew his base of
support before dropping out.


      His campaign had wanted to stress his economic record and
sportsman background, too, but never was able to get beyond the
caricature that was stamped into voters' minds.


      "There's this temptation always - and we're certainly seeing
that with Congresswoman Bachmann - to try to make her into a
one-dimensional candidate or a one-dimensional person," said Eric
Woolson, who was Huckabee's Iowa campaign chief. "That clearly
doesn't tell the whole story."


      Even if she wins Iowa, Bachmann could flame out in New
Hampshire, where there already are doubts about whether her track
record and excitable rhetoric are a good fit in the opening primary
state.


      "I see very little oxygen left for Michele Bachmann in New
Hampshire. Though she has some appeal, it is not very broad," said
GOP strategist Jamie Burnett, a former Romney backer unaligned with
a candidate this time. "To win here, she is going to need to
attract support from beyond the tea party in order to compete."


      Bakst reported from St. Paul, Minn. Associated Press writer
Steve Peoples in Littleton, N.H., contributed to this report.
      

Gallery

Politics and Government News

Pigeonholed as a right-wing disciple,
Michele Bachmann is offering herself as a presidential candidate
who can unite the GOP's disparate base and appeal to Republicans of
all ideological stripes.

2012 contender Bachmann seeks to broaden appeal

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