Washington D.C., USA - She’s beaming, wild-eyed, from the cover of Newsweek magazine. Her extreme religious views are outlined in a lengthy piece in the New Yorker. And she’s wooing evangelical Christian leaders to her unexpectedly surging run for president.
The Michele Bachmann juggernaut is showing no signs of subsiding as the Minnesota congresswoman is racing neck and neck with Mitt Romney as the Republican presidential frontrunner despite her far-right views on homosexuality and other social issues.
Bachmann courted the Christian vote in Iowa recently, according to NBC, attending a church service during which the pastor called homosexuality "immoral" and "unnatural." The pastor also showed the congregation a video featuring a man who claims to have been cured of his homosexuality after having a conversation with God.
"I am so happy God has given me natural affection for a woman," Adam Hood said during the video, adding that his wife is nine months pregnant. "We need to have compassion for people that are bound by that sin. And it is a sin. Call a spade a spade."
That type of talk puts Bachmann firmly out of step with the majority of Americans, including many moderate Republicans who support same-sex marriage in a country that’s growing increasingly accepting of homosexuality.
Nonetheless Bachmann, whose husband reportedly runs a counselling clinic that claims to "de-gay" its clients, isn’t shy about waging an apparent culture war, mixing religion with politics as she relentlessly romances Christian pastors and other religious voters in advance of the so-called Iowa Straw Poll today.
Late last week, the Bachmann campaign endorsed more than 100 state pastors and religious leaders.
"Michele has a long track record of standing firm on and fighting for conservative issues on the local, state and national level," Pastor Brad Sherman said in a release from the campaign.
"She has been in the battle for decades and has shown that her core values are non-negotiable in political storms. She has earned her claim to having a ’titanium spine’ on the issues we care most about."
Another pastor added: "Michele has fearlessly taken a stand for life and traditional marriage, while championing fiscally conservative legislation."
The straw poll is regarded as the first test of a candidate’s organizational strength in the key primary state of Iowa. Winning it builds momentum for a campaign and lends an aura of inevitable victory.
Many observers predict Bachmann’s got it in the bag, especially since Romney’s not participating, although his name will appear on the ballot.
Conservative bloggers say Bachmann’s surge in popularity this summer is why the "mainstream media," astonished that her campaign has caught fire, has been training their guns on the 55-year-old congresswoman in the past few weeks.
Their ire on Monday was directed at Newsweek and editor-in-chief Tina Brown’s choice of cover photograph that features Bachmann, looking like a female Hannibal Lecter, smiling menacingly over the headline: "The Queen of Rage."
The conservative website NewsBusters accused Newsweek of intentionally opting for a photo that made Bachmann look "crazy." Salon.com asked its readers whether the magazine is sexist.
"Hogwash," one reader said in a comment similar to many others on the left-leaning news blog. "Bachmann is a public figure and should try to practice her ’sane’ face if she doesn’t want to be labelled otherwise."
Nonetheless, conservative blogger Michelle Malkin railed against Brown: "You’ve resorted to recycling bottom-of-the-barrel moonbat photo cliches about conservative female public figures and their enraged ’crazy eyes?’ Really?"
The New Yorker piece, meantime, is the talk of media and political circles in the U.S.
The article explores Bachmann’s ideological roots, delving into her favourite far-right Christian authors and thinkers. Among other books, Bachmann describes Nancy Pearce’s 2004 tome "Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity" as a "wonderful" read.
The book devotes several chapters to critiquing the theory of evolution and defends intelligent design. Bachmann believes evolution has "never been proven" and advocates teaching intelligent design in schools.
That may raise eyebrows in mainstream American, but it’s apparently winning Bachmann fans among the party’s neo-conservative base.