WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) - Republican Michele Bachmann is casting herself as the "bold choice" in the 2012 presidential race.

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The outspoken congresswoman and tea party favorite formally launched her bid Monday in her Iowa birthplace, after first making her intentions clear at a debate earlier this month. Outside a historic mansion in Waterloo, Bachmann says she's waging the campaign "not for vanity." Instead she says voters "must make a bold choice if we are to secure the promise of the future."

Bachmann enters the race as an Iowa poll shows her near the front of the pack in the first in the nation caucus state.

Bachmann played up her tea party ties but also made mention of her Democratic roots.