KING: Michele Bachmann needs another Iowa surprise. The Republican presidential contender won the Ames straw poll back in August, and is counting on her grassroots supporters to shock the establishment again when Iowa votes just 12 nights from tonight.

The Minnesota congresswoman now crisscrossing Iowa on a bus tour. She joins us this evening from Marengo, Iowa. Congresswoman, it's good to see you. I want to get to Iowa and the campaign in a minute. I want to ask you about an issue that is big here in Washington and is reverberating around the country.

The president says House Republicans should compromise, give in, pass a temporary extension of the payroll tax cut. The Senate Republican leader now says they should give in and pass that temporary extension. And John McCain, who was your party's presidential nominee in the last cycle, says the GOP is getting hammered here. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: It is harming the Republican Party. It is harming the view, if it's possible anymore, of the American people about Congress. And we've got to get this thing resolved. And with the realization that the payroll tax cut must remain in effect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Should Speaker Boehner and your fellow House Republicans give in here?

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the real problem is that this is one more temporary gimmick. It's not a permanent solution. That's been the problem from the beginning. President Obama's unwilling to lead to get the country back on the track of job creation. This isn't going to create jobs, John. That's the president's problem in all of this.

He said if we lower the payroll tax that it will create jobs. There's not a shred of evidence it created jobs. All it did, John, is blow a $111 billion hole in the Social Security trust fund. It put at risk Social Security checks for senior citizens. I'm not willing to do that.

What I want to do is have a permanent solution that's actually going to create jobs. What we have to do is abolish the tax code and lower the tax rates on businesses so we can create jobs.

This is just more smoke and mirrors on the part of the president. This is what people hate all across Iowa. I just came from Brooklyn, Iowa, and a guy said, "Why is Congress doing this to senior citizens?" I'm with him; he's exactly right. I told my colleagues last year don't fall for the gimmick for President Obama.

KING: In the short term, Republicans are going to take the political heat here. Should they agree to some temporary compromise to help with the politics, or should they just hold firm until you get to the long-term debate?

BACHMANN: We need a long-term answer, and that's what we need to do. It was wrong for Harry Reid to lob a bomb into the House and then dismiss all the senators and send them on recess.

This is, again, complete failure in Washington. People are tired of it. That's why we need a new president, a new leader. I'll be one tough leader with an Iowa voice coming to Washington, saying, "Come on. Let's get it together, and get the country back on track." People are tired of it. They want jobs.

KING: And you make the case that you believe you'd be the tough candidate against the president of the United States. You've made it with me before. I want you to listen here...

BACHMANN: Absolutely I would.

KING: ... to yourself on the CBS -- I want you to listen to yourself on "The CBS Morning Show" just the other day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACHMANN: I'm the only one that will be able to debate Barack Obama on the stage and defeat him. And I think it's very important that we have a candidate that can go toe to toe with Barack Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: You have confidence, Congresswoman Bachmann, you are that candidate. But in our polling we asked Republicans -- this is polling of Republicans -- who would you not support under any circumstances? Forty-two percent of Republicans, four in 10 Republicans, say they would not support you under any circumstance.

If you look at the head-to-head matchups, Governor Romney, Congressman Paul, Speaker Gingrich all do much better than you do head-to-head right now in our polling up against President Obama. We asked that question last week, and it was 58 percent Obama, 37 percent Bachmann. How can you make the case you're the best candidate?

BACHMANN: Well, John, everyone said the same thing before the Iowa straw poll, and I won the Iowa straw poll, the only statewide election we've had so far.

January 3 will tell the tale. We've had incredible numbers of people switching. People are undecided. They've been switching over toward me because they know that I will be the candidate to take on Obama. I did in the last debate. I took on Ron Paul over the issue of a nuclear Iran. People see that I am the one that will have the ability to take it to Barack Obama.

And that's what we're seeing here in Marengo, Iowa, as well. We're at the Deuce Cafe today, and people are very excited. They want a new president. They know that Barack Obama needs to be a one- termer. They want somebody who's going to speak with their voice forcefully, and I will. I look forward to being able to do that in the upcoming caucuses January 3, and Iowa then will get to have their voice, not the media. It will be real people in Iowa, and they want somebody who's going to represent them. And they're seeing that I'm the best candidate to do that.

KING: I'm with you 100 percent. It's time for the people to make their choices here. The people decide this, not the media. In the latest polling, though, of Iowa Republicans -- these are Iowa Republicans, not the media, answering the poll -- you come in fifth place right now. Your campaign doesn't have the resources of many of your rivals, and therefore, you're not up on television in the state right now.

If you place fifth in Iowa, Congresswoman, would that be farewell? Do you need to be in the top three or four?

BACHMANN: You know, John, all you're doing is just continuing to spin all the negative media spin.

In our race here, we're doing what no other candidate is doing. We're going to all 99 Iowa counties over a ten-day period. This is phenomenal what we're seeing here on the ground.

Iowa is not just a media state where you buy time. It's real people. It's person to person, voter to voter. And that's what we're doing. We're making a very real campaign, a positive campaign. And people are responding positively. People are going to be shocked what happens on January 3.

We're thrilled with the response. There's polls up and down all day. Who cares? The main thing is, what happens January 3? And real people are going to have their say. That's what I have behind me right now. All these good-looking people here in Marengo, Iowa. And they have something to say to CNN, and it's Michele Bachmann on January 3.

KING: Congresswoman Bachmann, we do appreciate the enthusiasm of your supporters, and we'll see. We'll see if this -- I like the old- fashioned go 99 counties way.

BACHMANN: Say hi to John, everybody. Say, "Hi, John."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, John.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, John. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, John.

KING: Tell them John says hi back. Congresswoman Bachmann, we'll keep in touch over the next 12 days. Thank you for your time today from Iowa.

BACHMANN: OK, thanks. From Iowa county, bye-bye.