Bachmann holds a rally of her own

By Emi Kolawole

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) hosted her own rally Saturday at the Washington Monument. The event coincided with high-profile gatherings organized by Fox News host Glenn Beck and civil rights leader Al Sharpton.

On a day when crowd estimates could provide their respective groups with political clout, Bachmann asked her audience how many thought more than 1 million people were in attendance. The question was met by big cheers from the gathering of about 1,000. "We're not going let anyone get away with saying there were less than a million here today because we were witnesses," Bachmann said.

The Republican lawmaker also took the opportunity to list members of the House Tea Party Caucus, which she chairs. When she reached the name of Rep. Joe Wilson, best known for shouting "you lie" during President Obama's address to Congress, the crowd started chanting "you lie."

Bachman told the crowd that her campaign was paying for the event, which she called a town hall meeting. Bachmann was then followed by a series of speakers.

Although the crowd was overwhelmingly white, the dais showcased a diverse group including a black woman, a black man, a white man and a Hispanic man.

Bachman got applause and cheers when she ran through a list of conservative candidates for Congress, including Senate candidates Marco Rubio in Florida, Rand Paul in Kentucky, Sharron Angle in Nevada and Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania. Bachmann also mentioned former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina -- who is running against longtime Senate incumbent Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) -- saying, "Bye-bye, Barbara. Hello, Carly."

The rally disbanded to the strains of Tom Jones's "She's a Lady."

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