Bachmann, Pawlenty listed on religious right’s presidential straw poll

Rep. Michele Bachmann. Photo: Patrick Caldwell

Rep. Michele Bachmann is listed on the Values Voter Summit’s 2012 presidential straw poll along with 16 other potential candidates, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty. When asked, Bachmann hasn’t said she’s running for president; she simply says she’s focused on getting reelected, but if God asks her to run, she will.

In a press release on Tuesday, the Family Research Council — a group founded by James Dobson — announced a list of presidential contenders that religious right leaders and summit attendees will see on the ballot next week:

The ballot will feature 17 possible presidential candidates, several of whom will be speaking at the Summit – Michele Bachmann, Jan Brewer, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Jim DeMint, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Bob McDonnell, Sarah Palin, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mike Pence, Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Rick Santorum.

The Values Voter Summit is put together by Dobson’s FRC, the American Family Association, the late Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and the Heritage Foundation.

“The first 2012 presidential primaries may be more than a year away but values voters are already surveying the very wide field of possible candidates,” said Family Research Council Action President Tony Perkins in a statement Tuesday. “This early test of the presidential field will provide an early indication of who might be the candidate of real change in 2012.”

Bachmann is listed as a confirmed speaker, but Pawlenty, who spoke at the event in 2009, is not listed as invited or as a speaker.