Former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is the latest Republican to line up behind Mitt Romney now that his nomination is securely in hand. Bachmann is expected to appear at a Romney campaign event on Thursday where she will throw her support behind the former governor in the hopes that her more conservative Tea Party followers will follow suit.

However, one small complication with the noticably late endorsement will be this ABC News video shot the day before the Iowa caucus, when Bachmann was asked point blank if Mitt Romney could beat Barack Obama in the general election. Her response: "Not going to happen."

Here's the full quote she gave to Jonathan Karl.

“No, he cannot beat Obama because his policy is the basis for Obamacare. The signature issue of Obama is Obamacare. You can’t have a candidate who has given the blueprint for Obamacare. It’s too identical. It’s not going to happen. We have to have a candidate, a bold distinct candidate in the likeness of Ronald Reagan.”

Obviously, Bachmann won't be the first person who had swallow her words and start praising someone she spent months attacking. That's the nature of primary politics. (Plus, no one has thought about RObamneycare in months.) But as one of the opponents who went after Romney the hardest during last fall's debate season, it's going to make for some awkward moments out on the trail — and some great soundbites for the president's campaign ads.

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Dashiell Bennett