Bachmann, Perry talk jobs at Iowa GOP fund-raiser - Chicago Sun-Times

By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press August 14, 2011 11:32PM

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Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., holds up a newspaper saying that she won the GOP Straw Poll as she speaks at the Black Hawk County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner in Waterloo, Iowa, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WATERLOO, Iowa — The two fastest-rising stars in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination worked to broaden their appeal Sunday in Iowa.

Michele Bachmann, fresh off her win in a closely watched test vote, portrayed herself as a mainstream Midwesterner. Newcomer Rick Perry introduced himself as a common-sense executive focused on jobs.

Both attended the same county GOP dinner in northern Iowa one day after the race was upended by Bachmann's victory in the Iowa straw poll and Perry's announcement of his candidacy.

And while both candidates have strong ties to the influential evangelical wing of the party and are popular with Tea Party supporters, they told activists at the Black Hawk County GOP's Lincoln Day dinner in Waterloo they have credibility on jobs.

"I happen to think the biggest issue facing this country is that we are facing economic turmoil, and if we don't have a president that doesn't get this country working, we're in trouble," Perry told about 300 Republicans in Waterloo's Electric Park Ballroom. "And I've got a track record."

Bachmann touted her experience running her family's small business in Minnesota

"We started our own successful small company," she told reporters. "We know how to build from scratch, putting capital together and starting a business from scratch and building it up so that we can actually offer jobs to people."

AP