To capitalize on her victory in Saturday's Iowa straw poll, Michele Bachmann took a "victory lap" around the Sunday political talk-show circuit. Though the mock Iowa election has no official significance — it's not even always a good indication of which candidate will win the February Iowa caucuses, which kick off the presidential primary season — Bachmann said her performance proved that she's the Republican best qualified to beat President Obama in 2012. How much will Iowa boost her chances of winning the GOP nomination?
This cements Bachmann as a frontrunner: Michele Bachmann's big win in Iowa was "impressive," says W. James Antle III in The American Spectator. She didn't have the organization Romney had when he won in 2007, or that Pawlenty and Ron Paul had this year. "Her win was based on genuine grassroots enthusiasm." She's not just a Tea Party darling — she's a top-tier candidate and "people should not be so quick to assume her support will evaporate immediately upon the entry of Rick Perry, or even Sarah Palin, into the race."
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