CBC says she's out, at the presidential level.
Well, 10:30, still nothing definitive on the internet that I can see. I shall do an UPDATE.
________________UPDATE________________
Well, 10:40 am, a timestamp reminiscent of Michele Bachmann's days as tax collector, and BBC reports:
US Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has suspended her White House campaign.
The Tea Party favourite made the announcement in Des Moines, Iowa, where she finished a disappointing sixth in the state's caucuses on Tuesday.
The Minnesota congresswoman's withdrawal from the field leaves six others in the presidential race.
They are vying to become the Republican nominee to challenge President Barack Obama for the White House in November.
On Wednesday morning, Mrs Bachmann, 55, cancelled a campaign trip to South Carolina.
"I have decided to stand aside," she said at a defiant news conference later.
That of course is not the worry. It begs the big question. The worry is she will again poison Minnesota's Sixth District.
However, presuming she still wants a shot at a VP nod, she cannot really go full-swing into monkeying up my part of Minnesota, as campaigning candidate, if she intends to bail on her Republican colleagues, at the eleventh hour should Romney have a brain-cramp and do the Palin. Doubtful he would, and Santorum is the big-time threat there, now.
But then again, this IS Michele Bachmann. Would she care about jumping back into Minnesota's CD6, and then bailing on her party at the last minute? Ego controls the beast, so, sure she would drop Minnesota like a rock, at the drop of a VP hat. Let the district be the district, ego is the tip of the spear.
____________FURTHER UPDATE____________
Good analysis, on short turnaround time, CS Monitor, here. Again, however, no word of what the district can anticipate from Bachmann. Sure, for her it is an afterthought, unimportant, but really, what's the story?
Her dilemma, as I see it, she craves the VP. She's little chance and has to know it. Her only shot, at all, would be to move as quick as Pawlenty did, to endorse Romney. But with all the Tea Party garbage she's issued, she'd appear from that to be as much a VP seeking opportunist as Pawlenty, and, while that's exactly what she is, she likely will hunker in the bunker with Marcus and weigh the odds to figure out how to do the next dance step as gracefully as possible, circumstances as they are. Excuse me, to pray and fast with Marcus awaiting divine guidance. Not to scheme, but to pray.
Sure. My guess, the district suffers. She already has her big blue bus. And likes it and posing out its window.
_______________FINAL UPDATE________________
The dropout story is now all over the Internet; this google.
For those who would want to see the video, it is online at least two places, here and here. For stories that peak and ebb, or get rewritten, links sometimes go dead. But in the next day or so, the video should remain online. I did not watch it. You can if you care to. If any reader comes across any hint about her intent re the Sixth District, please leave a comment. As to how long the video remains online, and easily Googled, try a "Herman Cain" google and see what's returned. Bachmann's timeline should not differ much, although she's the district to use to still attract press attention.
I am adding one quote, from opening CBS News online:
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- In the wake of a disappointing finish in Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday that she is suspending her campaign for president.
"Last night, the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice, and so I have decided to stand aside," she said at a hastily-arranged news conference here.
"I have no regrets," she added. "None whatsoever. We never compromised our principles." She said she "looks forward to the next chapter in God's plan."
Bachmann did not endorse another candidate.
Bachmann, a third-term Minnesota congressman and the founder of the Tea Party caucus in the House, won the support of just five percent of Iowa Republican caucus-goers Tuesday. She finished in sixth place in the caucuses, which was essentially last place among the major contenders, since Jon Huntsman did not contest the state.
She also came in last in the hard-fought, three-way race among the candidates targeting Iowa social conservatives, finishing behind second-place finisher Rick Santorum and fifth-place Rick Perry. Perry, the Texas governor, said Tuesday he is returning to Texas to reassess his campaign, though he said Wednesday he plans to stay in the race.
Bachmann said Republicans should "rally around" the Republican nominee in order to defeat President Obama next November. Thanking her husband, her campaign staffers and her supporters, she vowed to "continue to be a strong voice" for her beliefs.
It's been a sad fall for Bachmann in Iowa, where she was born. [...]
[emphasis added]. Clearly, it has ALWAYS been her plan, nothing more, nothing less, and she's consistently blamed it on God. It will continue to be her plan, and she will continue blaming God because it makes her feel better to feel as if cosmically important. Isn't it funny how being at the butt end of the Iowa parade was the Iowa voters, not God's hand at play? Think that one over.