DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Michele Bachmann is quitting the Republican presidential campaign, saying she's "decided to stand aside" in the wake of her sixth place finish in the Iowa precinct caucuses.
Speaking deliberatively at a news conference in Des Moines, Bachmann said she had "no regrets" whatsoever and said she ran her race with integrity and will continue to fight for the causes she emphasized on the campaign trail.
It has been a long, deep slide for the Minnesota congresswoman, who enjoyed a high point in her campaign when she won a Republican straw poll in Ames, Iowa several months ago.
In her statement, Bachmann referred repeatedly to "Obamacare" and said the Republican Party must not miss a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to repeal both the sweeping health care law under Obama's watch and the financial regulation law known as Dodd-Frank.
Bachmann, once the darling of the TEA party, has seen her support wane in the past few months. Bachmann made several appearances in the palmetto state trying to gain support for her campaign. South Carolina's primary is January 21st.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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