Some Brits see Bachmann as a "poor man's Sarah Palin"

Michele Bachmann's ability to speak tea bag has captured the imagination of Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, which has published a list of the 100 most influential U.S, Republicans. Bachmann makes the list at No. 80. She's sandwiched in between former CNN anti-immigration anchor Lou Dobbs at 79, and Cuban-born teabagger Marco Rubio at 81, who's giving Florida's Republican Gov. Charlie Crist a re-election headache.

Here's the Telegraph's take:

A poor man's Sarah Palin, the Representative from Minnesota shot from obscurity to notoriety just before the 2008 election when she said on cable television that Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were "anti-American" and challenged the media to investigate members of Congress to find out whether they were in favour or against their country. "Most Americans are wild about America and they are very concerned to have a president who doesn't share those values," she argued.

That triggered a wave of cash to fund her opponent the following month but she survived and became a conservative star in the process. A Right-wing crowd pleaser, she has declared herself a "fool for Christ", is a global warming skeptic and recently said that she wanted Minnesotans "armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back". Senior party officials view her as a loose cannon. She has raised five of her own children and provided foster care for 23 others.