First, Bachmann is now a national figure who doesn’t appear to have much to gain by staying the House.

She has always been shunned by the House GOP leadership and didn’t have much success spearheading the tea party caucus when she tried in 2010. She could certainly use her failed presidential campaign to try and expand her voice in Congress, but it’s not clear how successful such a strategy might be.

Second, the money dried up…

“Statewide I have seen polls putting her negatives in the upper 50 percent range,” said David Schultz, a political expert at Hamline University in St. Paul. “Whether the same is true for her district is a good question.”