Republican candidates Monday night attacked President Barack Obama in a major televised debate, and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann grabbed the spotlight by announcing her candidacy on stage.
"I filed today my paperwork to seek the office of the presidency of the United States and I'll very soon be making my formal announcement," she said.
In an email message to journalists immediately after the announcement, her campaign said the "country needs a leader who understands the hardships that people across America have been facing over the past few years, and who will do what it takes to renew the American dream."
The campaign filed official candidacy paperwork Monday afternoon, and is gearing up for a campaign announcement tour in the coming weeks in Iowa.
With the filing, Bachmann suspended her Congressional campaign and is no longer actively seeking re-election in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District.
After Bachmann's announcement, candidates engaged in debates at Saint Anselm College on the economy, federal debt and the size of the government, directing most of their criticism at Obama.
Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, said "this president has failed," as the American people "counted on him to create jobs and get the economy growing."
Romney said Obama didn't create the recession, but he "made it worse and longer."
Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker followed by labelling the Obama administration as "an anti-jobs, anti-business, anti-American energy destructive force."
But the most memorable sound-bite attacking Obama came from Bachmann. When assessing Obama's re-election prospects, she said Obama is "a one-term president."
"The biggest issue in a re-election campaign is always the president himself," said John Fortier, director of the Democracy Project with the Bipartisan Policy Centre in a recent interview with Xinhua.
"What the Republicans do in Congress is somewhat important; what the candidates for Republicans do is somewhat important. But in many ways, the people would look at the president, after four years, and say, do I want to continue this or not. It's a referendum on the president," Fortier said.
Important as the issues of debt and government size were, "they are not as important as the standing of the president himself," he said.
Joining party heavyweights such as Romney, Bachmann and Gingrich in the debate were businessman Herman Cain, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.
In addition to assailing Obama, candidates also tried to show that they understood what the country was facing and knew how to deal with it. Pawlenty touted his blue collar background, remembering his dad's life as a truck driver.
"We grew up in a blue-collar town. I understand these issues," he said.
As candidates assailed Obama inside the Saint Anselm College, his supporters battled outside, calling on the Republicans to leave Medicare and Medicaid alone.
"Obama has a plan that protects Medicaid and Medicare. We do support him on that and we are hoping Republicans will do the same, not to support the cut in Medicare and Medicaid," said Eddie Vale, who led the crowd and is spokesman for the "Protect Your Care" organization.