I’d call it a pretty telling sign of the times that one of ObamaCare’s most vociferous critics is throwing her support behind the former governor responsible for RomneyCare, but with the GOP race virtually decided, the intra-party fun n’ games are over and the conservative legions are steeling themselves to do what it takes to unseat Barack Obama in November — I repeat, this is not a drill. Rep. Michele Bachmann was among Mitt Romney’s harsher detractors before she dropped out of the presidential race in January — she’s said upon at least one occasion that a victory for the “candidate who has given the blueprint for ObamaCare” is just “not going to happen” — could make for some uncomfortable soundbites, but thus goes primary politics.

Along with this week’s endorsement from southern Tea Party freshman Rep. Tim Scott, Bachmann’s jumping on the ‘Mitt-train’ may help to convince any socially conservative and Tea Party factions still ruing the losses of Santorum or Gingrich. Bachmann will join Romney and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (who’s also pledged his support to Romney) in his state today — the purplish commonwealth is already becoming a focus in both Romney and Obama’s respective campaigns — to offer her sales pitch for party unity.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) will endorse Mitt Romney’s presidential bid on Thursday, a campaign source told The Hill. …

But while Bachmann has remained coy about her endorsement plans since leaving the race, she has also softened her rhetoric on Romney, and insisted that she would be a force for GOP unity behind the party’s eventual nominee.

Echoing similar sentiments by Santorum and other former candidates, Bachmann has emphasized that any Republican would be better than President Obama, allowing her to avoid contradicting herself with her endorsement for Romney, which was first reported by the National Review.

“We will see an open ear from Mitt Romney,” Bachmann told CNN in late April. “So far, he has proved to be a person who listens. That’s what we need — a nominee who listens.”