Michele Bachmann

The congresswoman says she won't be seeking a fifth term. She does not rule out getting back into politics in the future. In 2012 she made a bid for the Republican presidential nomination. Her fortunes quickly rose and fell.

Ever since allegations against GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain surfaced, speculation has raged about whether opposition research was involved. Political veterans talk about the art of digging up information on candidates — and whether it may have had a role in the Cain story.

President Obama may have lost popularity among the community, but Hispanic voters looking for alternatives find problems with the Republican presidential slate as well — primarily with the rhetoric on immigration. GOP activists want to focus instead on the nation's struggling economy.

Rep. Michele Bachmann and Texas Gov. Rick Perry were both in Waterloo, IA, Sunday night at the Black Hawk County Republican dinner and it sounds like they both left some Iowans impressed, others not quite.It sounds like Bachmann may have even hurt herself with some Iowans by sweeping into the room as though she were already president, according to a report in Politico.com.

These sunny August days in Iowa prove to be Michele Bachmann's best as a GOP presidential candidate. On the eve of the state's Republican straw poll in Ames, where she is expected to either win or place, the Minnesota congresswoman hop-scotched central Iowa.

Front-runner Mitt Romney had to be pleased that he was largely left unmolested by the seven other Republican presidential candidates ahead of this weekend's straw poll. Instead, the two Minnesotans, Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, provided much of the night's fireworks.