Emma Cowing: Alarming beliefs of a presidential hopeful

If you don't know Bachmann's name, you will soon. For this oddly vampiric woman has slithered her way into the political limelight on the other side of the Atlantic over the past year - a move that culminated in her recent announcement, made in her perky, too-bright tones, that she would be putting herself forward as the Republican nominee for the 2012 US presidential elections.

While I am all in favour of a woman who can put Sarah Palin in her place, I am concerned - not to mention a little depressed - that it has turned out to be one positioned as far to the right as Bachmann.

For Bachmann, of course, is the de facto leader of the Tea Party movement: the grassroots, conservative Republican response to what was described as a "dissatisfaction" with mainstream Republican leaders. Put simply, for the Tea Party crowd, there's no such thing as too right wing.

The reason we on the other side of the pond should be concerned about Bachmann is because she is genuinely dangerous. She's smart and likeable, with just enough down-home soccer mom appeal to haul in the women-shouldn't-be-in-politics-at-all vote (it still exists in America's Bible Belt) too. She might just win that much sought after Republican nomination; and if she does, she could put up a serious fight against a Barack Obama who is looking increasingly weak - and increasingly unpopular - among his own Democratic base, not to mention the wider American population.

Here then, in case you are unfamiliar with her policies, is a quick rundown of Bachmann's view of the world.

She believes global warming is a hoax, and that carbon dioxide is a "natural by-product of nature". She opposed both versions of the Wall Street bailout bill, and once described Obama as "anti-American". On the subject of America's long-awaited healthcare reforms, which would allow the country's poorest to receive subsidised medical treatment, she remarked that the Republican base should "slit our wrists... to make sure this doesn't pass". She is anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage, which to me makes her anti-women, but I'm sure she'd rather slit those wrists of hers than ever admit such a thing.

In short, Bachmann is the free world's worst nightmare. With little interest in foreign policy, a huge suspicion about the environment and attitudes about race and gender that belong in the 19th century, never mind the 20th, she is a genuine and terrifying threat that, were she to become the next US president, carries the ability to turn the world on its head.

Perhaps the ultimate tragedy is that the way for Bachmann was paved by the woman in American politics possibly least like her: Hillary Clinton.As the first serious female presidential candidate, beaten out at the final turn for the Democratic nomination by Obama, Clinton had to smash ceiling after glass ceiling, as Americans - always behind when it comes to the notion of female politicians - came to terms with the idea that a woman in the White House might just be an acceptable notion. Clinton, watching Bachmann's meteoric rise, must be spinning in her state department.

In Iowa last weekend, during her first public appearance since announcing her candidacy, Bachmann demonstrated, while nibbling on waffles and strawberries in a reassuringly cosy diner, why she is such a serious threat.

"What I'm looking for is integrity," said a local woman named Sheila Reiland. "I think what happens is a lot of candidates will say things, but when they get into office they switch. I think she means what she says."

For all of our sakes, let's hope Mrs Reiland is very, very wrong.