Bachmann Beat: Remembering 9/11 and Looking for a Comeback in Florida

Sixth-district congresswoman Michele Bachmann will take the stage tonight in Tampa, Fla., for a Republican presidential debate hosted by CNN and the Tea Party Express. It will be Bachmann's fourth debate as a presidential candidate.

Bachmann is looking to distinguish herself at tonight's event and move past last week's disappointing showing in California, The New York Times reports. Bachmann's campaign could use a boost; according to the latest poll numbers, her support among likely Republican voters now sits at just 4 percent, putting her in seventh place overall among the GOP contenders.

MPR says one of her strategies tonight will be to contrast her support for Social Security against frontrunner Rick Perry's vehement opposition to the 76-year-old program.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty endorsed a fellow Republican for president today, and it's not Michele Bachmann. MPR says it's a slight to the congresswoman and fellow Minnesotan.

Other Bachmann news:

• Bachmann will be a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this Friday.
• She released a special 9/11 anniversary message on YouTube over the weekend.
• On Saturday, she donned a custom-made Hawkeye jersey and mingled with sports tailgating outside the Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

Finally, a pro-Bachmann political action committee is set to begin airing a radio ad attacking Rick Perry's immigration policies. (As a side note, the same group apparently mispelled Bachmann's name in a YouTube version of the ad.)