Bachmann: “I’m not a politician. I’m a real person.”

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann spoke with Radio Iowa by phone this afternoon.  As was the case during her spin through the “Sunday shows” Bachmann did not directly engage with Texas Governor Rick Perry. Perry and Bachmann are due to appear this evening at the Electric Park Ballroom in Waterloo — Bachmann’s hometown.

“Tonight I came back to Waterloo so I can say thank you to everyone,” Bachmann said.  “…We had a lot of people come down from Waterloo (to Ames to support her in the Straw Poll) and I want to say thank you.”

The Straw Poll was “step number one of a very long journey,” according to Bachmann.  “…I intend to earn every Iowans’ vote.”

I asked if her head and “titanium spine” just decided Rick Perry wasn’t going to get to plant his flag in her hometown.

She said the Black Hawk County Republican Party fundraiser this evening was something she had always hoped to put on her schedule.  “I had a family reunion…north of  Waterloo today,” she said, adding she’s been around a lot of family today.

I asked her what lessons she’d learned in the Straw Poll that would be replicated in the Caucus campaign.  “It’s a very simple strategy,” she said. “It is one person and one vote and one county at a time,” she said. “…I intend to continue to work very, very hard.”

I asked about “anti-establishment” candidates like herself and Ron Paul winning the majority of votes yesterday.  She suggested the seeds for that had been planted with what happened in Washington since January, 2009. “We saw a lot of Democrats and independents and apolitical people cast votes in 2010 against what was happening in D.C.”

She described herself as an “authentic person with an authentic voice” and that’s why her message is “resonating” with voters.

“I’m not a politician,” she said. “I’m a real person.”