Bachmann plans rebuttal following president’s speech

After failing to pick up much traction at Wednesday night's GOP presidential debate, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is reportedly planning to issue her own rebuttal to President Obama's speech on jobs.

The congresswoman is planning a Capitol Hill press conference at 8:30 p.m. following the president's speech on jobs before a joint session of Congress, as a number of news outlets--led by Chad Pergram of Fox News via Twitter--reported Thursday morning.

Bachmann was the stand-out star in the past two Republican presidential forums. But, as The Ticket reported last night, Bachmann was largely overshadowed at Wednesday's debate by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Moderators of the NBC News/Politico debate didn't pose a question to Bachmann until nearly 20 minutes into the program. The congresswoman tried unsuccessfully multiple times to command the discussion.

Bachmann's campaign did not immediately respond Thursday to The Ticket's request for comment on tonight's press conference.

One key gauge of the disappointing course the debate took for Bachmann was the comparatively meager play she received in the morning-after coverage of the event in most print publications, Politico's Mike Allen reports. Bachmann was reportedly first mentioned in the 22nd paragraph of the New York Times' main bar story on the debate, in the 28th paragraph of the Washington Post's story (following Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman), in the 12th paragraph in the Wall Street Journal article and in the 10th paragraph in the AP writeup of the debate.

At tonight's press conference, Bachmann will appear alone.

Bachmann's rebuttal will be separate from the official Republican response--a tactic that has worked in Bachmann's favor in the past. The congresswoman made headlines in January for offering a tea party response apart from the official GOP position to the president's State of the Union address. At the same time, however, much of the media attention Bachmann got for her January speech wasn't exactly positive--thanks in part to some technical difficulties with the broadcast.