DES MOINES, Iowa — Michele Bachmann served up red meat to the crowd at the Iowa conservative principles conference Saturday, slamming President Barack Obama as a Jimmy Carter retread, dissing the Mitch Daniels "truce" call for social issues, and saying she wants a "waiver" from the last two years of White House leadership.


Talking loudly and waving her hands, a pumped Bachmann used a slide presentation of various numbers — the national debt, the cost of a gallon of gas two years ago the day before Obama took office, the corporate tax rate — to make her points and pull the crowd in.

Suggesting that Iowa caucus voters had the power to halt Obama, Bachmann wrapped up her speech by asking, "Are you in? are you in for 2012?"

"I agree with you!" she said as the crowd cheered, and added, "I'm in!"

The Minnesota firebrand gave the best-received speech of the potential 2012 hopefuls appearance at Rep. Steve King's conference and the crowd wildly applauded her brand of populism. It was a reminder that while Bachmann has been criticized for miscues in her public statements, there is a space for her to fill in the Iowa caucuses should she decide to jump into the race for the White House.


She called for a "fair tax" and said that the "current United States tax code is a weapon of mass destruction."

She also made reference to her own Iowa ties, noting she was born in Waterloo. “Isn’t it exciting to be here? There is no place like Iowa," she said. "We love it and it is wonderful to be in a state where you have the king of conservatism, Steve King!"

She added, "We’re a cage team match. In Washington D.C. we like to get in the same arena, we like to fight the same fights."

She then started firing up the crowd, saying, â€