Michele Bachmann: Iowa caucus system ‘worked’

After placing last among the six Republican presidential hopefuls who campaigned heavily in Iowa, a visibly exhausted Michele Bachmann thanked supporters Tuesday night and vowed again to make President Obama a “one-term president.”

Despite having earned just 5% of the vote with most precincts reporting, Bachmann praised the caucus process, which she said “has worked.”

“It’s the people of Iowa who chose tonight,” she said. “It wasn’t the pundits, it wasn’t the media.”

Reading largely from a script as she stood at a podium in her campaign headquarters, Bachmann said she would be “forever grateful to this incredible state.”

She gave no sign that she would drop out of the race despite a significant loss in the state where she was born and where she staked her campaign, winning a summer straw poll in Ames. She said there would be “many more” chapters to the campaign and at one point suggested there could be “another Michele” in the White House.

“Just be prepared,” she said. “The pundits and the press will again try to pick the nominee based on tonight’s results.”

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that Bachmann’s campaign manager Keith Nahigian said he did not know yet whether Bachamnn would continue with her candidacy.

“It’s hard to tell, but everything is planned,” Nahigian said.

kim.geiger@latimes.com