Bachmann Comes Out Swinging in Tea Party Debate; Did She Succeed?

With her emphatic pledge to repeal health care reform as "the leading voice in the wilderness of Washington," Rep. Michele Bachmann pressed hard to capitalize on a sympathetic audience during CNN's Tea Party Debate -- and prove that she's a viable presidential candidate. But whether she altered the current Rick Perry vs. Mitt Romney narrative of the GOP campaign trail remains to be seen.

As with last week's NBC News/Politico debate at the Ronald Reagan presidential library, candidates were not asked any LGBT-related questions at the CNN forum, though the GOP contenders in attendance have largely made clear their positions on issues such as marriage equality and "don't ask, don't tell" repeal already.

If the punditry consensus on Monday's two-hour debate in Tampa, Fla. is accurate, Bachmann faced a make-or-break evening in order to compete with Romney and Perry moving forward. The Minnesota congresswoman failed to steal the spotlight during the first hour of the debate but later came out swinging against Perry -- the evening's clear onstage bulls-eye -- by attacking the Texas governor's 2007 mandate to vaccinate 12-year-old girls against HPV, which can cause cervical cancer.

The possible motives? Drug company profits and political donations, Bachmann said.

"What I'm saying is that it's wrong for a drug company -- because the governor's former chief of staff was the chief lobbyist for this drug company," Bachmann said, referring to Merck & Co., manufacturer of the vaccine Gardasil. "The drug company gave thousands of dollars in political donations to the governor. And this is just flat-out wrong. The question is: Is it about life, or was it about millions of dollars and potentially billions for a drug company?"

Perry seemed prepared for the charge. "If you're saying I can be bought for $5,000, I'm offended," he replied.

In addition to the vaccine jabs against Perry, candidates sparred on social security reform, immigration, and fair tax proposals, among other topics. CNN has a recap here.