It didn't take long for word to get out at Wednesday's Tea Party rally on Capitol Hill that it was Michele Bachmann's 55th birthday. You haven't lived until you've been among 1,000 Tea Party patriots singing Happy Birthday, following chants of "Cut Spending Now!" and "Shut 'er Down." It appears that word got out in advance, because some of the rally-goers from all over the nation came armed with birthday cards, dutifully collected by Bachmann aide Doug Sachtleben. Amid a budget stalemate in Congress and a possible government shutdown, the Minnesota Republican was clearly the belle of the ball. Assembled by Americans for Prosperity, a major player in the Tea Party movement, the crowd didn't fuss nearly as much over fellow U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, the kick-off speaker. With Bachmann taking the measure of a potential White House run, the national press couldn't get enough of her either. Watch the scrum of cameras that follow her back into the U.S. Capitol.
Bachmann's Tea Party birthday
The Minnesota Republican became the belle of Tea Party ball at a Capitol Hill rally Thursday.
April 7, 2011 at 7:08PM
It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.
