Gay rights groups target Bachmann




By BEN SMITH | 7/18/11 4:37 AM EDT

In the early weeks of her presidential run, Michele Bachmann has avoided getting bogged down in the divisive, distracting terrain of social policy.

Even as Bachmann’s tightly-disciplined campaign pivots sharply away from her roots as a social conservative warrior to embrace her newer image as a Tea Party fiscal crusader, gay leaders are looking to drag her back into the fray.

Energized by victory in New York last month, they say Bachmann’s campaign will be both the focus of their attention and a useful rallying cry as the presidential campaign hits its stride during the crucial summer of 2011.

The reason: The third-term Minnesota congresswoman and her husband, therapist Marcus Bachmann, have a history of battling gay rights groups in Minnesota long before she stepped onto the national stage.

“Michele Bachmann is the very definition of a target-rich environment, and given her husband’s positions and things she’s said in past she’s going to have a really hard time appearing as a reasonable mainstream candidate,â€