WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., said her two main rivals for the Republican presidential nomination were too close to President Obama on healthcare reform.
Bachmann said Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney had both pushed for mandatory insurance in the past and were not far enough apart from Obama on the issue to resonate with voters.
"It is very clear that there's not a dime's worth of difference between the two of them, because both of them have advocated for the [individual] healthcare mandate," she said on CBS' "Face the Nation."
Bachmann said healthcare is the No. 1 issue Republicans have going for them, and it is vital for the GOP to field a challenger with a solid record of opposition.
Bachmann, who is back in the pack according to recent polls, called herself the "tip of the spear" in the congressional fight against "Obamacare" and dismissed front-runners Gingrich and Romney as being too close to Washington and its special interests.
"He [Gingrich] is the big-government candidate just like Mitt Romney is the big-government candidate," Bachmann said. "That's not what we want in our nominee."
