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Bachmann: I'm a 'real person,' not a politician

By MIKE GLOVER
The Associated Press
5:21 p.m. Wednesday, August 10, 2011

URBANDALE, Iowa — Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann says she's "lived a real life" and isn't a politician.

"I didn't go to Washington to be a politician," the Minnesota congresswoman said Wednesday. "I'm not a politician. I'm a real person who believes in America and job growth and job creation."

Although she was elected to Congress in 2006, Bachmann cast herself as an outsider at a time when voters across the country are angry at Washington and looking to punish anyone connected to it.

She made the comment after touring a business when one worker asked her how she could distinguish herself from the other candidates. She pointed to what she called her track record of carrying out her promises, as well as her modest upbringing that she said connected her with working people.

"I've lived a real life," said Bachmann, arguing that that gives her the necessary experience to withstand the pressures of the White House.

"As president of the United States, I'm not going there because I'm interested in making me somebody. I think I'm somebody already," Bachmann said. "I don't need to be president. I'm doing this because I so love this country."

"I want people to know that I understand the problems they're facing. I get that," Bachmann added. "I also understand the solutions we need. What's really been missing in Washington is somebody who has the political will to do what has to be done."

Bachmann said her record shows she can fill that role.

Copyright 2011, The Associated Press

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/bachmann-im-a-real-1094600.html