LOS ANGELES – Michele Bachmann, laboring to regain standing in the Republican presidential field, told California's Republican Party on Friday to keep its head up despite its dwindling numbers.

"I believe that 2012 will be a wave election that goes all across the United States and will even take in the Golden State," the Minnesota congresswoman said. "Don't be disheartened, Republican Party of California. Don't be downhearted."

The presidential primaries are months away, and seemingly lackluster candidates have come back before. But since winning the straw poll in Iowa in August, Bachmann has fallen especially hard.

In California's relatively moderate Republican landscape, Bachmann is running far behind Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, preferred by just 6 percent of Republican voters, according to a recent Field Poll.

Perhaps more significant to Bachmann is that more Republicans are viewing her unfavorably than they did just three months ago.

"It's still early, but the trends are ominous for her," Field Poll director Mark DiCamillo said. "The greater exposure that she's had doesn't seem to have benefited her."

Bachmann has been hardest hit by Perry, who joined the race in mid-August, cutting into Bachmann's support from tea partyers and Christian conservatives. Perry signs lined the walls at the convention.

But Bachmann, introduced as a "Midwest firecracker," cheered the crowd on Friday.

"She's great," said Mary Owens, a Republican from Los Angeles. "I would vote for her if I thought she was winnable." Owens doesn't think voters of her older generation are ready to support a woman for president.

But she said Bachmann's gaffes, including recent remarks suggesting a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer could cause mental retardation, are also concerning.

"I love her message. I think she's great, but I'm a little worried with her last debate," Owens said. "I think she should have had more knowledge coming in. She needs to have her facts right."

After largely watching from the sidelines as Perry and Romney tangled in Perry's first presidential debate last week, Bachmann stepped up her criticism of the Texas governor and his 2007 mandate that sixth-grade girls be vaccinated against HPV, a cause of cervical cancer.

In a video on her website, Bachmann accused Perry of an "abuse of executive power" and likened his policies to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

"Whether it's Obama-care, or whether it's Perry-care," Bachmann said, "I oppose any governor or president who mandates a family's health care choices."

Though Perry has assumed front-runner status nationally, the more moderate Romney remains ahead of him in California, preferred by 28 percent of Republican voters, according to the Field Poll. Perry is the choice of 20 percent.

No Republican candidate is expected to compete seriously here in next year's general election.

Despite Obama's plummeting popularity, he leads Perry and Romney by double-digit margins in hypothetical matchups in the heavily Democratic state.

Bachmann's speech came as the California Republican Party opened its fall convention in Los Angeles. Delegates are scheduled to hear this morning from U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

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Call David Siders, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1215. Follow him on Twitter @davidsiders.