Congresswoman Michele Bachman, R-Minn., used the June 13 CNN Republican Debate in New Hampshire to announce her intention to seek the GOP presidential nomination, thereby grabbing headlines. According to MSNBC's Chris Matthews she showed impressive "stagecraft" during the debate. Outside of the debate, however, she has shown an equally impressive "talent" for questionable statements and policy positions.
Having five children of her own, and being a foster mother to 23, she started her career through involvement in schools. In 1993, she helped to found a public charter school. Soon after it opened, many parents reportedly began to complain about the school's overtly religious curriculum. Among the concerns: a teacher once banned the Disney movie Aladdin because it contained magic, and the board running the school, which Bachmann sat on, advocated mandatory prayer.
In 2000, she ran for and won a seat in the Minnesota state Senate. In 2003, she introduced a bill to ban marriage equality in the state, saying it was because God told her to. The bill was ultimately defeated, even though she warned that its failure would mean "sex curriculum will be essentially taught by the local gay community."
Bachmann was elected in 2006 to the U.S. House of Representatives for the state's 6th Congressional District. Not long after taking her seat in Congress, in July 2007 she voted against the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that would increase the size of Pell grants, lower interest rates on student loans, and provide more favorable repayment terms. She complained that the bill favored a "government-run direct lending program over nonprofit and commercial lenders."
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