Bachmann says California to go Republican

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann predicted California will end up in the red-state column on Election Day 2012.

A majority of Californians haven't voted Republican in a presidential election since 1988, but the Minnesota congresswoman told about 400 people at a California GOP convention dinner in Los Angeles Friday that could change in the next election, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"I'm here to announce to you tonight, we will take our country back in 2012 and together we will make Barack Obama a one-term president," Bachmann said.

"President Obama's numbers are the lowest they have ever been and I'm just here to say they haven't hit rock bottom yet. I think Election Day in 2012 will probably be the lowest they are yet, that's why I know … that we have got a message and we have got a winning streak. I firmly believe 2012 will be a blowout election. … I believe 2012 will be a wave election that goes all the way across the United States, it will even take in the Golden State, I am so excited."

So far, the polls don't bear out that projection for California, the newspaper said, noting a recent USC/Los Angeles Times poll indicated Obama holds substantial leads over the top tier of Republicans who hope to take his job away from him.

The last Republican to win California was George H.W. Bush, who edged Democrat Michael Dukakis in the 1988 GOP landslide.

Bachmann energized the crowd when she said if elected she would go to another country and apologize for the United States' actions and again vowed she "will not rest until we repeal Obamacare," her description of the national healthcare reform championed by the Democratic president and passed by Congress.

Meanwhile, Bachmann came under criticism this week from former members of her inner circle for her pattern of misstatements and inaccurate claims, Politico reported. The Washington publication said three former senior House aides said they viewed it as a serious campaign issue for the congresswoman. The latest example was her assertion that the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation, a contention medical experts roundly rebuked.

"Some of her gaffes are more the fact that she reads a lot in trying to keep herself up to date, but she doesn't read it carefully enough and it's hard to get her to correct it," said Ron Carey, her former congressional chief of staff.

"She uses some of these lines and they get great applause or whatever, [so] she keeps going back to them. She keeps repeating the mistaken information."

Campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart framed the issue as Bachmann receiving faulty information.

"Michele is an extremely intelligent person. On occasion she is given incorrect information and, as a campaign, we do everything we can to make sure she has the most accurate information to work with," Stewart said.

Bachmann has indicated such mistakes are inherent in the rush of a heavy campaign schedule.

"Well, certainly, when you speak six times a day, slip-ups can occur," she told reporters after an appearance in South Carolina last month.