Comebacks

Bachmann Stays Alive at Debate

Minnesota rep. tears into Perry over HPV vaccine.

Don’t write her off just yet: Rep. Michele Bachmann breathed new life into her struggling campaign at Monday night’s debate, aggressively taking on frontrunner Rick Perry. Bachmann’s harshest attack came over Perry’s failed attempt to mandate an HPV vaccine for middle-school girls in Texas. “The governor’s former chief of staff was the chief lobbyist for this drug company. The company gave thousands of dollars in political donations to the governor, and this is just flat-out wrong,” Bachmann said. When Perry replied that he was “offended” by her insinuation, she shot back, “I’m offended for all the little girls and the parents that didn’t have a choice.” Prior to the debate, a CNN poll showed Bachmann slipping to just 7 percent nationally, tied with Newt Gingrich.