Michele Bachmann stumps for votes in SoCal
abclocal.go.com/kabc
by John Gregory
Friday, September 16, 2011

Video @ link

COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) -- Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is stumping for votes in Southern California. The Minnesota congresswoman spoke to supporters during a rally in Costa Mesa on Friday.

The unemployment rate in California was one of the things Bachmann talked about to the small enthusiastic crowd - many of them tea party members.

Bachmann has been a tea party favorite, and she won the Ames, Iowa, straw poll - an early gauge of candidate strength.

But in recent polls, she has been trailing, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been the frontrunner.

One way the congresswoman can separate herself from the governor is on the issue of illegal immigration. Perry is seen as being soft on the issue, but Bachmann has taken a very hard line.

"We need to build the fence from every inch of the southern border, and we need to enforce that border," Bachmann said. "As president of the United States, I will tell our border security guards, 'If you're following the law, I'll have your back.'"

She is also against policies like the Dream Act, which was recently passed in California. It provides funding for illegal immigrants to go to college. Perry supports that policy.

Bachmann was scheduled to speak at another campaign event in downtown L.A. Friday night.

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