Michele Bachmann will be among the presidential candidates to attend the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Kickoff Rally at Florida’s Presidency 5 in Orlando on Thursday.

According to a statement released by her campaign, Bachmann “will discuss the importance of holding true to the conservative principles from which our country was founded including limited government, free markets, strong national defense, and protection of the sanctity of life, marriage and family.”

The Faith and Freedom Coalition is the brainchild of former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed. Similar to the Christian Coalition, the group has set up affiliates in states like Minnesota, Iowa and Florida.

The groups focus on opposing LGBT rights and lobbying for laws that restrict access to abortion as the Coalition did in the 1990s, but FFC has also added a fiscal element to its agenda and has been active at attracting tea party activists.

In Florida, the FFC took over the former Christian Coalition chapter.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for our members, invited guests and Floridians to meet and greet our elected officials and presidential candidates,” Reed said in a statement announcing the event.

Reed also produced a video invitation for the event:

The rally coincides with the Florida Presidency 5 event also being held in Orlando on Thursday. The event will feature a presidential debate broadcast on Fox News.

Also attending the rally before the debate are Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman of Utah, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

At a campaign stop in Sarasota, Fla., over the weekend, Bachmann said that God sent last week’s 5.8 earthquake in Virginia and the weekend’s Hurricane Irene, which killed 28 people on the East Coast. She said it was a wake-up call to politicians who are spending too much.

The speech was part of a whirlwind tour of Florida for Bachmann which also included calls by her to dismantle the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Education.

“I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians,” Bachmann said according to the St. Petersburg Times. “We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’ Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we’ve got to rein in the spending.”

Among the other stops for Bachmann in Florida was a fundraising dinner for the Florida Family Policy Council, part of a network of family policy councils affiliated with the Family Research Council, an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center calls an “anti-gay hate group.”

“That’s our challenge as believers in Jesus Christ, that in whatever sphere of influence God has given to us — maybe it’s a homemaker, maybe it’s as a businessman or woman, maybe it’s as a politician, maybe it’s as someone who’s running for president of the United States,” Bachmann told about 500 Christian conservatives at the dinner. “Maybe it’s someone who doesn’t even know your purpose yet — is saying to the Almighty God of the universe: ‘Yes, Lord, I will pour myself out.’”

Bachmann’s campaign told Politico on Monday that her comments about the hurricane were a joke.

“Obviously she was saying it in jest,” Alice Stewart, Bachmann’s spokesperson said.

Hurricane Irene was the 5th deadliest tropical storm in the United States since 1980, ahead of 1994′s Hurricane Alberto which killed 25. Hurricane Irene’s death toll stood at 28 by midday on Monday.

Presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann is scheduled to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) FL in September. The American Conservative Union event — its first regional Conservative Political Action Conference — will be held in Orlando.

It was also recently announced that Bachmann will be attending the policy awards dinner for Florida’s influential affiliate of the Family Research Council, the Florida Family Policy Council. The event will take place at the end of next month.

FFPC is a social conservative group that has supported anti-gay and anti-reproductive rights policies in the past. The group launched a campaign called “Ignite an Enduring Cultural Transformation” in the past year.

“Ignite” aims to raise large amounts of cash for “groups [that] intend to pass anti-gay marriage amendments, curtail abortion rights and, in at least one case, ban ‘transgender bathrooms.’”

Already scheduled to attend CPAC FL: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and GOP presidential hopefuls Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

Bachmann has been a frequent speaker at CPAC’s national conference. In February, well before she announced her presidential bid, Bachmann handed out “Bachmann 12″ shirts — a reference to the 12 Apostles, according to her spokesperson — and offered to buy attendees drinks. A year earlier she took to the podium to decry “Obama’s thought police and Obama’s speech police.”

In Florida on Friday, Rep. Michele Bachmann told the Palm Beach Post that she’s been traveling the country to gauge national support if she decides to run for president and that she’s gotten a “fantastic reception” from activists in Iowa and South Carolina. Political prognosticators have also started to pay attention to Bachmann as a potential contender for the 2012 Republican nomination.

Bachmann told the post Post that she’s consulting with her family and that she’s testing the waters “because there’s no sense in running if I wouldn’t have the support of the people.”

She said the presidential campaign can get in the way of the conservative narrative. “This is what my worry has been, that we would spend two years playing the parlor game, indulging ourselves in the parlor game of who will be our nominee, and meanwhile we lose the narrative,” Bachmann said.

On Meet the Press on Sunday, Bachmann hammered home her own narrative: that $105 billion in secret spending she says was hidden by President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the Affordable Care Act.

In four instances during that interview Bachmann refused to answer questions and instead repeated that claim, mentioning it eight times in 12 minutes.

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David Gregory ended the interview by asking, “When will you decide about a run for the presidency?”

Bachmann responded, “I think there’s a normal course of events when a decision like that will be made, and, and if I choose to go down that road, I’ll make the decision.”

When and if that decision is made, it could hurt former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s chances, notes Stu Rothenberg.

But Bachmann, a three-term Congresswoman whose support on the political right and among social conservatives rivals former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s, remains a potential problem for Pawlenty.

Although the two Minnesota Republicans don’t necessarily appeal to the same people, Bachmann’s presence in the Republican contest would undoubtedly draw some Minnesota money and support that would otherwise go to Pawlenty, even if only because he was the “local” guy in the race.

After all, Bachmann represents the most Republican district in the Gopher State. President George W. Bush won her district comfortably with 57 percent in 2004, and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) carried it with 53 percent in 2008.

He adds that Bachmann has appeal as a native Iowan in that early caucus state, but that she will not be the GOP nominee.

“As the GOP race for president starts to take shape, it’s worth remembering two things. First, Bachmann is not going to be the Republican nominee,” he said. “And second, in a crowded Republican contest in Iowa next February, anything could happen.”

Chris Cillizza added Bachmann to his top ten list for the first time last week:

9. Michele Bachmann: The Minnesota Republican House member is doing everything she can to give off the impression she is seriously considering a run for president. The latest sign? She will headline a fundraiser later this month to benefit the New Hampshire Republican Party. For tea-party aligned voters, Bachmann is a rock star; she was mobbed everywhere she went during last month’s CPAC gathering and her speech brought wild applause from the audience. But, Bachmann has little real political operation and virtually zero demonstrated ability — or willingness — to court voters outside of her conservative base. Still, if former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin doesn’t run, Bachmann would be the candidate most likely to emerge as the tea party pick. (Previous ranking: N/A)

Though Rothenberg thinks Bachmann might hurt Pawlenty, Cillizza gives Pawlenty a top shot at the nomination at this point in the election season.

2. Tim Pawlenty: The former Minnesota governor is starting to win people — including the Fix — over. He is diligently working at building organizations in Iowa and New Hampshire and there are some signs that those efforts are paying off as he placed a solid third in a January straw poll in the Granite State. The biggest knock on Pawlenty is that he’s too nice and/or not charismatic enough to win the nomination. But, Pawlenty is improving — his 2011 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference was far better than the 2010 edition — and, given the flaws in the field, being too nice isn’t all that bad. As a result, Pawlenty is the name you hear on more and more lips when asking neutral Republicans who they think their nominee might be. And that’s a great place to be right now. (Previous ranking: 5)

The Abacoa Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., will be host to Rep. Michele Bachmann on March 4 as she meets with local tea party groups, Florida media outlets are reporting. The trip to Florida is among many that the possible presidential contender has planned for the spring, including trips to New Hampshire, Iowa and New Orleans. Bachmann has just come off trips to Iowa, Montana and South Carolina.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, “She is expected to discuss spending and constitutional issues at Abacoa Golf Club in Jupiter from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. RSVP to madason31@aol.com to reserve a seat.”

Politico reports that the event costs $2 per person to offset costs.

Bachmann’s trip to Florida comes on the heels of a similar trip by fellow Minnesotan and possible presidential contender Tim Pawlenty.

Minnesota’s two potential presidential contenders continue with plans to travel the nation. At CPAC, Rep. Michele Bachmann said she’s planning a trip to New Hampshire, while former Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced an upcoming trip to Florida. Both have been touring the country — Pawlenty hawking his new book and Bachmann assisting Republican candidates and party units with fundraising.

According to the Union Leader, Bachmann said on Friday she was planning a trip to New Hampshire.

“The Minnesota congresswoman made the announcement to reporters this afternoon at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.,” wrote John Distaso. “According to a source who is attending the conference and witnessed the exchange, Bachmann gave no time frame for the visit to the first-in-the-nation primary state.”

Pawlenty is headed to Florida on Wednesday to speak to state legislators on the invitation of state Senate President Mike Haridopolos. Haridopolos is running for U.S. Senate in 2012 and is bringing in a number of presidential candidates because “if a person is seeking the presidency, I think they should come to Florida and let us know what they think.”

For $20.10, attendees can hear Bachmann speak on March 31.

Bachmann was last in Florida in late-November to attend the “Restoration Weekend” where she rubbed elbows with Phyllis Schlafly and Ann Coulter.

In backing Republican Coleman’s constitutional arguments, the WSJ recycles its earlier warning about Minnesota being another Florida (a la 2000′s Bush v. Gore recount fiasco) and tosses in more geographic name-calling for good measure:

And there have been plenty of irregularities. By the end of the recount, the state was awash with evidence of duplicate ballot counting, newly discovered ballots, missing ballots, illegal voting, and wildly diverse standards as to which votes were counted. Any one of these issues was enough to throw the outcome into doubt. Combined, they created a taint more worthy of New Jersey than Minnesota.

The Bemidji Pioneer likewise leans Coleman’s way (the paper endorsed him in 1998, 2002 and 2008) but is ready with strong medicine for the former senator about accepting Democrat Al Franken’s election:

Sen. Coleman’s appeals were necessary and a legal part of the process. But at some point, incessant appeals serve no more than to obstruct the process than to guarantee justice. … The public perception at this point appears not to be one of letting Sen. Coleman fully seek redress of his legal grievances, but rather one of obstructing the Democrat-controlled Senate to prevent it from reaching that magic number of 60 votes. … To continue to obstruct doesn’t bode well for Minnesota, nor for Sen. Coleman’s career, should he continue in politics. It’s time to come home, Norm.

Interestingly, the Pioneer sees the process breaking against both men:

At this point, we seriously doubt the credibility of either Sen. Coleman or Mr. Franken to have a productive Senate tenure for the remaining 5½ years — which could become less should Sen. Coleman continue to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could decide not to hear the case until it convenes in October after a summer break.

The word “credibility” is suddenly popping up in the Coleman-Franken fracas just as the tips of tulips are breaking through the chilly Minnesota soil. Coleman himself used it while holding court with the Star Tribune editorial board:

No matter who wins, one side is going to pound the other side and question the credibility of the winner. If I win, I’ll be shot at by those who say, “Is he legitimate?”

Coleman’s comment, posted and published over the weekend, is in tune with this statement from the same session, released by the Strib last week: “We will never know who won.”

According to the tally kept at MinnPost’s Braublog, newspaper editorials now stand at — you guessed it — a tie, for and against Coleman’s imminent appeal to the state Supreme Court. That’s not counting such out-of-state interlopers as the WSJ, the New York Times, the Las Vegas Sun and the Jamestown (S.D.) Sun.

Jewish people are the “most liberal, scrappy civil-rightsy people there are,” says comedian Sarah Silverman, but if John McCain wins the presidency, that’s who she’ll be blaming. Specifically, she’ll blame Jewish Floridians like her grandparents. In a new (colorfully not-safe-for-work) YouTube video, she’s helping launch “The Great Schlep,” a movement urging Jews to “schlep over to Florida and convince your grandparents to vote for Obama.” Her selling points range from Obama’s Israel policy to his culinary skills: “His brisket is beyond. It’s beyond.”

The media keeps getting Rep. Michele Bachmann’s home state wrong. Last week it was a Tennessee TV news Web site reporting that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) represents New Mexico. Today at Human Events’ national, hip-conservative news site, political editor John Gizzi misplaces her — this time in a southeasterly direction, labeling Bachmann as a member of Florida’s congressional delegation.

Besides again laying Wall Street’s woes at the feet of the the Community Reinvestment Act, Bachmann tells Gizzi that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson couldn’t assure her that his bailout plan would avert (in her words) “economic Armageddon.”

But since that hasn’t come to pass quite yet, there’s still time to consider a question: What’s the hidden Bachmann-Florida connection behind this latest slip-up?

It could be Bachmann’s one-time status as Minnesota’s answer to former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, but Harris seems a less likely culprit since Bachmann became Minnesota’s answer to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

It could have something to do with the house in Florida that Bachmann’s patron-in-the-pulpit, Pastor Mac Hammond, bought with the take from the collection plates at his Living Word Christian Center.

Or it could be Bachmann’s eagerness to drill for oil off the Florida coast (YouTube). In another staged-managed video address, Bachmann gets so excited about drilling she makes her own slipup, claiming the country’s failure to “drill here, drill now” to her satisfaction is the fault of the ”American-controlled congress” — a gaffe that the video’s sponsors apparently didn’t notice or bother fixing.  (It’s at the 0:48 mark of this video.)