The True Believer

Some Republican strategists wonder whether Bachmann, who has spent most of her life in tranquil Stillwater, Minn., is prepared for the demands of a national campaign. Bachmann's management of the migraines story became a small case study of that question. After a morning talk at a Christian event in Columbia, S.C., a bodyguard helped ensure that reporters couldn't ask her questions while she mingled with voters. That afternoon in Aiken, she read a statement admitting she experiences severe migraines but controls them with medicine, something her doctor later confirmed publicly. In truth, the controversy over Bachmann's headaches was a sideshow — far less relevant than, say, concerns about her experience and aptitude. But the story took a new twist when Bachmann turned to leave, again without answering questions. When ABC News investigative reporter Brian Ross pursued her, asking whether headaches had ever forced her to miss House votes, two beefy security men manhandled Ross to keep him away from the Congresswoman (who ignored the question). Afterward, Ross likened the experience to his encounters with "Mafia people." The episode raised a different question: whether Bachmann, accustomed to the controlled environment of a television studio, is prepared for the chaos of presidential politics.

Evangelical Appeal
It is easy to dismiss Bachmann as a shorter Sarah Palin with a Minnesota accent. But there are important differences. Whereas Palin can stumble over simple questions, Bachmann is far surer on her feet. When Fox News host Chris Wallace recently recounted some of Bachmann's most outrageous statements and asked point-blank whether she is a "flake," the Congresswoman didn't blink and delivered a firm recitation of her credentials. During a 2010 interview on MSNBC's Hardball, Bachmann stuck so resolutely to her talking points that the exasperated host, Chris Matthews, asked whether she was "hypnotized." She smiled and repeated them again. "They'll throw nothing but heat at her, and she stays in the batter's box and doesn't flinch," marvels an adviser to a rival Republican candidate. Her fans say that's because Bachmann, who has two law degrees, offers more substance than Palin and can speak intelligently — and without Palin's mangled syntax — about policy issues. "She's smart. She's well informed," says Ralph Reed. It's true that Bachmann has a scant House record and a penchant for factual misstatements, including her bizarre claim that NATO air strikes killed up to 30,000 Libyans. But few other politicians so effectively combine policy, ideology — and pure star power. (See the truth behind Marcus Bachmann's controversial Christian therapy clinic.)

Bachmann has been steadied by a deep faith, which may be the defining feature of her adult life, ever since she found God while attending a Bible class before school when she was 16. In audio and video clips available online, Bachmann delivers her personal testimony with the skill of a sawdust-trail preacher — and with her trademark flourishes. In a 2006 lecture at a Minneapolis megachurch, Bachmann explained that she wants God to look at her and say, "She's hot," because she is "hot for Jesus Christ." In another 2006 sermon, Bachmann said she believes "we are in the last days" and that "the harvest is at hand" — an apparent reference to the biblical Rapture, when believers say they will be sent to heaven. That idea resonates with voters like Becky Magee. "We're in the last days of this world as we know it," Magee said. "I think Jesus is coming to get us. I think we will be raptured soon."

Candidates with Evangelical appeal have a history of shining early in Republican primaries — think of Mike Huckabee, who won Iowa in 2008, and Pat Robertson, who finished second there 20 years earlier — and then fading. But Ralph Reed notes that Bachmann also draws considerable support from Tea Party activists who are addled by taxes and spending and have no faith in a relative moderate like Romney. Some GOP insiders may worry that Bachmann can't beat Obama, but plenty of GOP activists disagree. "The only guy we've got running right now who's unelectable is Mitt Romney," says Don Roy, a conservative activist in an OBAMA is wrong T-shirt with the name Michele autographed across his shoulder, who had driven an hour to see Bachmann a second time that day. Of course, Republicans like Roy could feel differently should Texas Governor Rick Perry join the race this summer, potentially stealing Bachmann's thunder.

One person who thinks Bachmann has staying power is Myron Orfield, a former Democratic state senator from Minnesota who recalls her dire warnings that modest state-government programs constitute "communism" or "fascism." But Orfield says Bachmann was completely sincere in her beliefs. "She was a true believer." And that, he says, is why he predicts she'll be a resilient candidate. "She stokes the fires and enjoys herself immensely while doing it. There's no way that you'll knock her off balance. She just changes the subject and moves forward."

See TIME's cover story: "The GOP's New Rules."

See photos of Republicans taking over New Hampshire.