Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington on Friday. Bachmann: Obama 'intending to fail'

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) urged conservatives Friday to fight to prevent an American “decline” created by the policies of President Barack Obama.

In a long and meandering speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference evoking numerous historical references to the American Revolution and the Second World War, Bachmann said that time and again Americans have chosen “greatness” over “decline.”


Conservatives, Bachmann argued, are the only ones positioned now to choose greatness.

“The joy of being an American is that we get to choose. We get to choose our destiny, whether it is decline or greatness,” she said.

Recalling an early trip Obama made abroad in which the president asserted that while he does believe in American exceptionalism he’s also sure other countries believe in their own superiority, Bachmann blasted him for not unequivocally establishing American dominance.

“If everyone is exceptional, then no one is exceptional,” she said. “Decline can happen quickly, even to a great nation. It’s a sobering thought.”

Moving to her criticism of the president’s spending, Bachmann pointed to a chart of rising federal deficits.

“This is intending to fail,” she said.

“They have left us holding an invoice of $105 trillion in unfunded federal liabilities,” she went on, alluding to the federal government’s entitlement programs. “Sounds to me like someone is choosing decline.”

Some of Bachmann’s other criticisms were more extreme, such as her assertion that the Obama “thought police” didn’t want Americans to come to the same realizations those in the audience have about the administration.