There was a lot of gnashing of teeth up in the Halls of Elitism in the Grand Old Party yesterday. One of their potential presidential candidates, had gotten his clock cleaned in fundraising by **gasp** one of those Tea Partiers…and she’s a woman! **double gasp**!

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann brought in a combined $2.2 million for the first quarter of 2011. This topped the $1.9 million that GOP legacy Mitt Romney brought in, per politico.com.

According to Bachmann adviser Andy Parrish,

Bachmann raised $1.7 million for her congressional committee, and another $500,000 for her leadership PAC.

The delicious thing is, most of her donations are reportedly small checks.

What is it about Michele Bachmann to has caused Rush Limbaugh to say about her and Sarah Palin:

The gonads on our team happen to be wearing skirts.

From her website:

Elected in 2006, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is the first Republican woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota. From the beginning, Congresswoman Bachmann has demonstrated bold reform, pushing to fix Washington’s broken ways. Every day she puts her constitutional conservative values to work as she represents the people of Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District, a district which contains parts of six counties, stretching from Stillwater past St. Cloud, including suburbs of the Twin Cities.

Congresswoman Bachmann is a leading advocate for tax reform, a staunch opponent of wasteful government spending, and a strong proponent of adherence to the Constitution, as intended by the Founding Fathers. She believes government has grown exponentially, with ObamaCare being the most recent example of its uninhibited growth. Congresswoman Bachmann wants government to make the kind of serious spending decisions that many families and small businesses have been forced to make. She is a champion of free markets and she believes in the vitality of the family as the first unit of government. She is also a defender of the unborn and staunchly stands for religious liberties.

Prior to serving in the U.S. Congress, Bachmann served in the Minnesota State Senate. She was elected to the Minnesota State Senate in 2000 where she championed the Taxpayers Bill of Rights.

…Congresswoman Bachmann also led the charge on education issues in Minnesota calling for the abolishment of Goals 2000 and the Profiles of Learning in its school. She recognized the need for quality schools and subsequently started a charter school for at-risk kids in Minnesota.

…As a mother of five children and 23 foster children, she has a deep appreciation for that portion of the Oath of Office in which members of Congress vow to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

In July 2010 Congresswoman Bachmann hosted the first Tea Party Caucus meeting because she saw the need for Tea Partiers to have a listening ear in Congress. She is seen as a champion of Tea Party values including the call for lower taxes, renewed focus on the Constitution and the need to shrink the size of government.

Congresswoman Bachmann is a graduate of Anoka High School and Winona State University. She has been married to Marcus for more than thirty years and they live in Stillwater where they own a small business mental health care practice that employs nearly fifty people. The Bachmanns have five children, Lucas, Harrison, Elisa, Caroline, and Sophia. In addition, the Bachmanns have opened their home to 23 foster children, which has inspired Congresswoman Bachmann to become one of Congress’ leading advocates for foster and adopted children, earning her bipartisan praise for her efforts.

But hey, what about Mitt?

Per thehill.com:

Romney sources said that the potential 2012 presidential candidate raked in the money while dispatching over $400,000 to Republican candidates and conservative causes.

There was no indication as to the breakdown in the haul between Romney’s federal PAC, Free and Strong America, and his state-level organizations in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Michigan and Alabama.

From biography.com:

Born Willard Mitt Romney on March 12, 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. Raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Mitt Romney attended the prestigious Cranbrook School before receiving his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University in 1971. He attended Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School and received both a law degree and an M.B.A. in 1975.

The son of George Romney, Michigan governor and Republican presidential nominee (he was defeated by Richard Nixon in 1968), Mitt Romney began his career in business. He worked for the management consulting firm Bain & Company before founding the investment firm Bain Capital in 1984. In 1994, he ran for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts but was defeated by longtime incumbent Edward Kennedy.

In 1999, Romney stepped into the national spotlight when he took over as president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. He helped rescue the 2002 Winter Olympics from financial and ethical woes, and helmed a successful Salt Lake City Olympic Games in 2002.

Mitt Romney parlayed his success with the Olympics into politics when he was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2003. After serving one term, he declined to run for reelection and announced his bid for U.S. president.

Mitt Romney married Ann Davies in 1969; they have five sons, Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben and Craig. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church. Romney is the author of the 2004 book “Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games.”

And, of course, he happily signed off on the state of Massachusetts’ own version of government-run Health Care, RomneyCare, in 2006.

 With America besieged by enemies, foreign and domestic, enabled by a feckless Federal Government, who seems more interested in the rights of Muslim fanatics halfway across the world that the economic suffering of Americans, the Republicans had better wake up and realize that November 2nd, 2010 was not just an aberration,  flash in the pan, Bigfoot-sighting type of event.  No matter how they wish to deny it, the pendulum of American politics has swung back to embrace Reagan Conservatism. 

The next Presidential Election will not be won by anything less.