Republican presidential hopeful and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann said Tuesday that she remains confident that her campaign will secure a victory in the Iowa caucus.
“We think people are going to be very surprised with what the vote is tonight. We’re confident,” Ms. Bachmann told supporters. “We’re moving on. We’re moving forward because this election is far from over. This is the opening chapter. Tonight is the first vote. We’ve got a long road to go.”
The Minnesota Republican, who is currently trailing in a number of recently released polls, has spent the past several months campaigning in the key state. Speaking to supporters on Tuesday, Ms. Bachmann reiterated her pledge to repeal President Obama’s health care law, a campaign pledge Ms. Bachmann has repeatedly touted in recent days.
Asked Tuesday whether her campaign was following the polls, the Minnesota Republican downplayed recent polls showing her well behind former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.
“Polls go up and down and the sample size is very small,” Ms. Bachmann told CNN, insisting that “in the last two weeks we saw thousands of people as we traversed Iowa flip and go my way.”
Once seen as the candidate to beat in the state’s lead-off nomination contest, the Minnesota congresswoman and Iowa native planned to make her final appeal for support at a caucus site in Black Hawk County, where she spent the first years of her life.
