(Image source: The New York Times)
BY ZACH TOOMBS
After a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann tells supporters this is the end of the road for her campaign.
The Minnesota congresswoman garnered only 5 percent of the vote in the state where she had staked so much of her presidential ambitions. CNN has her message to supporters.
“The people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice, so I have decided to stand aside. I believe that if we are going to repeal Obamacare, turn our country around and take back our country, we must do so united.”
A Roll Call staff writer tells FOX News, Bachmann’s financial woes left her few options for a way forward.
“If you were gonna’ soldier on, you need money. She doesn’t have any, she’s going to have to go deep into debt. And, heading to New Hampshire, where she clearly was not going to go because she wasn’t going to pick up any support. Going to South Carolina wasn’t going to do her any good because they’re greatly influenced by success in Iowa and New Hampshire.”
Five months ago, after winning the Ames, Iowa Straw Poll, Bachmann was flying high. But her time in the limelight was cut short by Rick Perry when the Texas governor entered the race the next day and shot straight to the top of many polls. Bachmann has had a tough time clawing back ever since.
The shifting GOP presidential field means Bachmann’s support, though limited, could give a boost to a similar hard line conservative in the race. POLITICO says Rick Santorum, the underdog second-place finisher in Iowa has the most to gain.
Heading into South Carolina, where evangelicals and social conservatives dominate the pool of potential voters, Santorum will be in a better position to consolidate that support. Santorum’s hoping to establish himself as the new — and perhaps final — conservative alternative to Romney, a distinction that he’ll be looking for the South Carolina primary to certify.
