40 per cent of Republicans in Iowa would pick Michele Bachmann as either their first or second choice for president, according to a recent poll in the Des Moines Register.
Mitt Romney came top in the first choice category with a 23 per cent share of the vote, beating Bachmann score of 22 by one point, but Bachmann scored far higher in the second choice category, beating Romney by 18 to ten. For a full break down of the results see below.
The poll indicates that Bachmann has a surprising breadth of support among Republican voters as a whole, and not just among the “Tea Party”, Christian right of the party. Matt Taibbi is right: Bachmann is a contender.