rebuttal to the president's state of the union address. it's almost unheard of because republican michele bachmann's speech will be the third of the evening. bachman is speaking right after congressman paul ryan gives the official republican response. bachman says she's spoken with ryan and the gop leadership about it, that she's not in competition with ryan, and that the media is misconstruing her intentions. i asked john avalon about that. >> there's no way it's in interest of the republican leadership to have her give an alternative republican response. the media is flocking to this. the republican party can't like it because it's a huge message confusion. >> reporter: michele bachmann told cnn off camera her themes will make sure the budget camera doesn't add to the deficit. the importance of acting within the bounds of the constitution. she said publicly she'll look for the specific spending cuts that the president proposes and she'll call him out on government programs that she believes are job killers.