Did we book the right guy? Republican conference stunned as Obama impersonator appears at party event... and tears into GOP candidates



Organisers turn microphone off as Obama impersonator attacks GOP field



Bachmann gets glitter-bombed at New Orleans conference

She then comes third in straw poll losing to Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman



The Republican Leadership Conference descended into farce today as a guest comedian turned on the GOP candidates before organisers could turn his microphone off.



Obama impersonator Reggie Brown stunned the conference by ripping into the Republican presidential candidates in front of thousands of adoring supporters at the event in New Orleans.

Brown first drew raucous applause when he projected lewd photos of disgraced ex-congressman Anthony Weiner. But he then attacked the Republicans when he said Newt Gingrich's supporters are dropping faster than Weiner's pants.

The room became extremely uncomfortable when Brown took a shot at former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who missed the conference because 'he's having his foot surgically removed from his mouth'.

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Barackfired: Obama impersonator Reggie Brown performing at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans today

'Don't worry, it's covered under Obamneycare. Along with spinal transplants,' Brown said, mocking Pawlenty's criticism of former Mitt Massachusetts governor Romney's health care overhaul which was the model for Democrats' national plan.

Pawlenty first called it 'Obamneycare,' a play on Romneycare and Obamacare. But when given the shot to use the term while sharing the stage with Mr Romney in a debate, he backtracked.

Brown then made a joke about Mr Romney's Mormon faith and polygamy, as well as Michele Bachmann's tea party support.

Organisers then cut off then microphone and turned music on.

Brown opened his routine with jokes about Obama's biography as the son a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya.

'My mother loved a black man and, no, she was not a Kardashian,' the actor said, referencing the reality television family.

Brown also joked about rumours of the president's birthplace. Obama was born in Hawaii - 'or as the tea partyers call it, Kenya,' he said.



The mocking topped off a bad day for Mrs Bachmann who was glitter-bombed by gay activists and then came third in a straw poll.

Rep. Ron Paul of Texas won the presidential poll with 612 votes from the gathering that brings presidential candidates, party elders, grassroots activists and donors. In second place was former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman with 382 votes, Mr Huntsman served three Republican administrations and then worked as President Barack Obama's ambassador to China.

Mrs Bachmann, of Minnesota, collected 191 votes. She was also glitter-bombed while leaving the stage by a protester. The trend follows glitter 'attacks' on Mr Gingrich in May and most recently on Mr Pawlenty this week in San Francisco.

Bad day: Michele Bachmann gets glitter-bombed today before losing a straw poll to rivals Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman

Yesterday Mrs Bachmann called for schools to teach intelligent design as she exposed her own doubts over evolution.



She said: 'I support intelligent design. 'What I support is putting all science on the table and letting students decide.

'I don't think it's a good idea for government to come down on one side of a scientific issue or another, when there is reasonable doubt on both sides.... That's why I believe the federal government should not be involved in local education to the most minimal process.'

Mrs Bachmann is riding a wave of adoring support after her triumphant showing at the first GOP debate in New Hampshire on Monday night.



In New Orleans she was greeted with a standing ovation and an audience member shouting 'I love you!' as she walked on stage.



'Love you too,' she replied, according to CBS.



She roused the New Orleans crowd by telling them 'You survived Katrina! You survived President Obama's oil moratorium! there is nothing you cannot survive!'

And she declared that in 2012 the Tea Party 'will be bigger than ever'.

Mrs Bachmann slammed President Obama for achieving a 'big F on his economic report card'.



And she vowed again that Mr Obama will be a 'one-term President'.

It was the overriding sentiment of the conference, where Republicans emphasised that they needed a candidate they could unite behind.



'Our goal, our focus, has to be to elect a new Republican president next year,' said Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, who considered a White House run but decided against it.

'Don't get hung up on purity. In this business, it is unity that wins elections,' he said.

Republicans are launching their 2012 nomination race with fresh memories of last year's divisive primary fights between the party establishment and conservative Tea Party insurgents.

The woman to take on Obama? Michele Bachmann speaks during the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana last night

At the centre of it all: Mrs Bachmann cuddles nine-month-old Sarah Lunardini of Jackson, Mississippi, after her speech yesterday

The ideological battle between the two might have cost the party even bigger gains in the midterm elections.

In 2012, many of the activists said, the focus will be less on ideology and more on practicality.

'It's not about finding somebody who we agree with, but who the American people agree with,' said Linda Herren, a member of the Republican National Committee from Georgia.

'I can tell you I won't agree 100 percent with our candidate, but I will support whoever wins the primary. We have to beat Obama.'

The slow-starting Republican presidential race has gained momentum in recent weeks, although most national polls show all of the Republicans trailing Obama 17 months before the election.

Four Republican presidential hopefuls addressed the crowd on the second day of the three-day conference, making their case for why they were the best person for beating Obama.

Mrs Bachmann also said she could bring together fiscal and social conservatives along with Tea Party activists.

All of the contenders slammed Obama's economic leadership and criticized his policies as a dramatic expansion of government control and regulation that had stifled growth and drained the budget.

'There is a sense of urgency for us to take this nation back,' said businessman Herman Cain, who drew a big crowd and a rousing reception.

Rallying the troops: Mrs Bachmann's rival candidates Ron Paul, left, and Herman Cain also gave speeches attacking Mr Obama's economic policies



He mocked critics who say he has no political experience and doesn't know how things work.

'I'm going to Washington to change how things work,' he said.

U.S. Representative Ron Paul and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum also addressed the conference, which has about 2,000 registrants -- fewer than last year, when 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was a featured speaker.

Mrs Palin, still considering a White House bid, did not attend the event, and neither did two top-tier contenders, Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty.

Former U.S. envoy Jon Huntsman, who will launch his candidacy next week, was scheduled to attend but cancelled because of illness.

Barbara Mabray, of Georgetown, Texas, said she came to support an effort to draft U.S. Senator Jim DeMint, a conservative who led the challenge to party establishment candidates in several of last year's primaries.

'We need someone of his stature, a proven person,' she said. 'I want someone who can win.'

Mabray said she liked Mrs Bachmann but did not think she was ready for the White House, and Mr Romney was 'too liberal'.

Mr DeMint told the crowd he was asking candidates to sign a pledge to not support raising the U.S. debt ceiling without significant spending cuts, caps on future spending and passage of a balanced budget amendment.

'I'm telling any presidential candidate - if your name isn't on that list, don't come see me,' he said.