This weekend, Representative Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll, securing her a place as a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. Originally seen as a long-shot candidate, Bachmann’s ability to successfully fuse the small government, anti-tax rhetoric of the Tea Party with the ideology of the religious right has allowed her to emerge as a viable for the nomination.  

On Democracy Now! this morning, Sarah Posner explained how candidates like Bachmann, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Representative Ron Paul are using a small government message to appeal to both fiscal and social conservatives. You can find Posner’s latest article on the Iowa straw poll here. 

—Kevin Donohoe