Michele Bachmann Drops Out

Last night at the Marriott Hotel in Des Moines, Michele Bachmann vowed to stay in the race despite her sixth-place finish in Iowa. This morning she appeared in the same place, but sang a different tune: The sole female candidate for president is suspending her campaign. "I have decided to stand aside. I believe that if we are going to repeal ObamaCare ... we must do so united, and rally around the person our country selects to be that standard-bearer."

She spent much of her exit speech taking aim at ObamaCare, stressing "the necessity for the complete repeal" of it, tossing around terms like "socialized medicine" and "left-wing social engineering." She ran "because I realized 2012 is our last chance and only chance to repeal ObamaCare ... I ran because I believed that since Day 1 Barack Obama's policies ... are destructive to the very foundation of the republic. I ran to secure the promise of our children's future." She vowed to continue that fight, and added, "I look forward to the next chapter in God's plan. He has always had something greater around the corner. I've been blessed to live a wonderful life." (More Michele Bachmann stories.)