Iowa Up for Grabs Among Republican Voters (ContributorNetwork)

The Family Leader's Thanksgiving Family Forum helped give voters in Des Moines, Iowa, an emotional look at six of the eight major candidates for president in 2012. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman were the only no-shows. Hosted by local conservative Bob Vander Plaats, ABC News reports the Family Leader event allowed candidates to reveal stories about their religious faith and conservative values.

Here's a look at why the Family Leader event is so important to American politics at this stage in the race.

Timing

The Iowa caucuses are just over six weeks away. They are the first statewide selection process for the 2012 Republican candidates. Delegates to the national convention will be selected based upon Iowa's results.

The Thanksgiving Family Forum provided a chance for voters to see and hear candidates' stances on conservative issues. It also gives GOP leaders a chance to voice personal stories about their faith. The Des Moines Register reports several candidates teared up telling their stories.

Herman Cain talked about Stage 4 cancer. Rick Santorum spoke of his struggles with his daughter's incurable illness. Rep. Michele Bachmann shared a story about her parent's divorce. Newt Gingrich told of the disabled child he knows during a turning point in his life.

The Family Leader hosted the event to give voters something more than just politics to talk about when it comes to political candidates. Often they open up as to why they share conservative values with personal stories.

Location

Des Moines is the population center of Iowa and the largest city. The metro area has around 563,000 people while Iowa itself has around 3 million inhabitants. Des Moines has between 18 and 19 percent of the state's entire population. Having an intimate event like this in a prominent part of the first voting state is crucial to gauging voter opinion.

The New York Times reported Mike Huckabee won most of Iowa, but the Des Moines area was split between Huckabee and Romney. In 2008, there were seven viable candidates as Tom Tancredo dropped out two weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Republican nominee Sen. John McCain was a distant fourth in Iowa before garnering his party's nomination.

Polling

Iowa is a conservative stronghold in America. Those candidates that showed up in Iowa may see a sudden surge in the latest polls in the state. The Christian Science Monitor reports several polls, including one conducted by Bloomberg, show a tight four-way race in Iowa between Gingrich, Cain, Romney and Rep. Ron Paul. Gaining any edge with conservative voters in a close race may be important. The New York Times also shows a close race among four candidates.

Nationally, a Reuters poll suggests Gingrich has gained eight percentage points over the past week. Gingrich came in with 24 percent of likely Republican voters while Romney had just 22 percent. Any polls taken in the next week may see a bump in candidates that showed up at the Family Leader forum. Romney's campaign has been focused in New Hampshire. Events leading up to elections can only heighten awareness for voters and make the process more viable.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

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Is Newt Gingrich the Man to Beat or Just Another Flavor of the Week? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The 2012 cycle to find the next GOP nominee for the presidency has resulted in a seemingly endless parade of front-running hopefuls backed by conservatives from the "Anybody but Mitt" Romney crowd. Now it looks like the next golden ticket is a candidate we thought had been dispensed, after irregularities in his charity's financial practices and a major shakeup in his campaign staff, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

But is Gingrich the real deal for Republicans? Or just another flavor of the week, hoping to unseat the party's "steady-as-she-goes" candidate, Romney?

According to the Huffington Post, people who served with Gingrich in Congress in 1994 think he can win the nomination, and so do I.

Gingrich is regarded by many, including Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., as a man "without a moral core," but that seems like a match made in heaven for a party whose morality doesn't sink in beyond the crust.

Having led at a national level, Gingrich, who has been in politics for most of his life, was regarded early in the race as a Washington establishment sort, representing the values of old Washington. But for many Republicans prone to nostalgia, that's not such a bad thing. In fact, life was pretty good for a number of years as a result of the deals forged between the president and Congress elected in 1994.

Democrats might regard Bill Clinton as the hero of that era, but Republicans will no doubt stand by their man Gingrich, who in the darkest days of budget negotiations, when the government had shut down, held the president in check and worked to negotiate a deal instead of political clout.

Gingrich is a different sort of candidate. He doesn't badmouth his fellow Republicans. He seems to rise above the fray, choosing to sell his ideas as valuable and acting as if his opponents aren't enemies but friends. The result is that instead of looking like a boxer, Gingrich comes off like a priest, as if he's not trying to beat anyone but just trying to help his country.

Some are settled and will never believe him, but at least for the moment, Gingrich is running the most market-friendly campaign in the race.

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GOP Rivals Bond Over Conservative Roots (The Atlantic Wire)

DES MOINES, Iowa – There was plenty of good will and a few tears as six Republican presidential rivals gathered here Saturday afternoon for a forum in which they agreed more than they debated the role of government and religion in society before an audience of evangelical activists.

Related: Conservatives Fear Perry Will Start Another Culture War

The atmosphere turned emotional in the second hour as candidates recalled personal challenges and failures, prompting at least two – businessman Herman Cain and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum – to cry.

Related: Tim Pawlenty Is Officially Running, Mitch Daniels Probably Isn't

The “Thanksgiving table forum” was hosted by the Family Leader, a Christian organization that encourages its members to consider their religious views in political decisions. Neither Mitt Romney nor Jon Huntsman, the two Mormons in the race, attended.

Related: Trumpdate 2012: Gives $50,000 to Rahm, Doesn't Vote Much

The first hour featured questions about hot-button conservative issues, and prompted a discussion among candidates about whether more religious citizens in the country have been marginalized.

Related: Cheri Daniels Speech Earns Raves, Advice from Laura Bush

“Those of us that are people of faith and strong faith have allowed the non-faith element to intimidate us into not fighting back,” Cain told the audience of about 2,500 in a West Des Moines church. Texas Gov. Rick Perry bemoaned a law that limits political speech from the pulpit, saying pastors needed to be talking about conservative values in church. “And let me tell you: it needs to be our values,” the he said. Agreed Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.: “That’s not the American way."

Related: Math Says You Should Take Herman Cain Seriously

That prompted the candidates to make a collective argument for getting the federal government out of education and allowing discussion of religion in schools. Leading that discussion was former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who captured the first rounds of applause of the night and was a consistent favorite with the crowd.

Asked about what value he would most like to re-instill in America, Gingrich said, “I think it would be that every American understood that we were endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, and I wouldn’t have anybody teaching who felt uncomfortable explaining what the Founding Fathers meant.”

Despite the candidates’ devotion to the 10th Amendment, upholding states' rights, nearly all came out in favor of federal laws or constitutional amendments outlawing abortion and defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

“When you look at issues like traditional marriage, when you look at issues like the human life amendment, the president of the United States can lead on those issues, can publicly proclaim support and go campaign across the country to get states to support those positions,” Perry said. “That is the virtuous direction that the next president of the United States needs to powerfully go down.”

The notable exception was Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who said he would leave the definition of marriage to the states in accordance with the Constitution. He went one step further, though, suggesting the entire institution would be best left to the church.

“I think the reason we fight and feud over this is because we have too much government everywhere,” Paul said. “I would say the church should make this decision.”

The talk about states’ rights turned to civil rights at one point when forum moderator Frank Luntz, a conservative pollster, asked Cain whether states had the right to say ‘no’ to Washington’s attempts to legislate on moral issues – such as segregation in the South in the earlier part of the 20th century.

The Founding Fathers, “set the bar high,” Cain said. “They didn’t set it where they were, they set the bar high hoping that this nation would aspire up to that level and that’s the journey we have been on since the beginning of this nation,” he said. Cain acknowledged that the federal government had the right to interfere with state law on that occasion because his state was “wrong.”

“I saw the separate water fountains. It wasn’t right, it didn’t feel right,” Cain said.

Although the candidates were in agreement for much of the night – and the tone was that of a group of friendly colleagues – Santorum at times angled for votes from the evangelical audience by saying he had done more to fight for the issues that were so important to them.

“That’s the difference between me and everybody else out here,” he said during a discussion of what the candidates would do to protect life. “You make the assumption that the Supreme Court’s going to overturn Roe v. Wade. I’m not going to wait,” Santorum said. He touted his efforts last year in the campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices who had ruled in favor of same-sex marriage.

The second part of the night featured Luntz asking candidates to share personal stories and challenges. Cain choked up and almost couldn’t finish a story about being diagnosed with cancer and having his wife tell him, “we can do this.” Santorum got misty-eyed when he talked about the struggles facing his young daughter, Isabella, who was born with Trisomy 18.

There was compassion among the rivals. Perry reached out to comfort both men, who flanked him, as they told their stories.

"I feel like Dr. Phil," said Luntz, referring to the TV psychologist.

Before the event, Family Leader CEO Bob Vander Plaats stressed that the goal of the forum was not just to elicit the candidates’ positions on certain issues, but to also elucidate why the believe what they do.

That goal was shared by moderator Luntz, who told crowd he wanted them to “understand [the candidates’] worldview.”

“There’s a reason Iowa goes first,” Luntz said, “and it’s because of you.”

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Rick Perry-backed judge proposes Latino districts, infuriates GOP (Daily Caller)

A former Texas Supreme Court justice whose appointment by Gov. Rick Perry led to accusations of racial pandering was part of a Federal District Court decision Thursday to issue a new voting district map for Texas that will likely overturn the map proposed by the Texas Legislature and is designed to create ethnic voting districts for Latino’s.

U.S. District Court Judge Xavier Rodriguez joined with another Latino justice from the three-justice federal panel — Clinton-appointee Judge Orlando Garcia — to issue the racially-drawn map, which has not yet been given final approval. Lawyers for the Democrats and Republicans were given the opportunity to comment on the map Friday, and the parties now await the court’s final decision.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the new state House and Senate district lines could cost Republicans six seats in the Texas Legislature in 2012, and Fox News reports that the GOP does not believe it will hold its 101-49 supermajority in the Texas House if the map was formally adopted.

Rodriguez, once a casual Democrat, was plucked from obscurity by Gov. Perry to ascend to the Texas Supreme Court in 2001. Conservatives worked to successfully defeat him in a 2002 primary that the Weekly Standard reported was “all about race.” To compensate for his defeat, Rodriguez was appointed to the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas by then-Perry ally President George W. Bush. (RELATED: Conservative ire with Perry runs deep, reflects racial politics)

The third member of the three judge panel — Judge Jerry E. Smith of New Orleans — posted a map proposal different from that put forth by Garcia and Rodriguez. His proposal was much closer to that of the legislature’s.

The three judges prepared the maps because a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. — which is ruling on whether the Texas Legislature’s original redistricting violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act — is not likely to reach a decision in time for the 2012 elections.

The release of the Rodriguez-Garcia map was met with swift condemnation from Lone Star Republicans.

“Contrary to (a) basic principle of federalism,” Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office said in a statement, “the proposed interim redistricting plan consistently overturns the legislature’s will where no probability of a legal wrong has been identified.”

Meanwhile, Democrats cheered the decision. “These maps are a step forward for Texas voters and underscore the importance of the Voting Rights Act,” Anthony Gutierrez, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party, said in a statement.

The U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965 established federal oversight over elections in several southern states, including Texas, to prevent the disenfranchisement of blacks. The act necessitates that any changes those states make that affect voting must be federally approved. Latinos were added as a protected class in 1975, and former President George W. Bush renewed the act for another 25 years in 2006.

In the 1996 Supreme Court case Bush v. Vera, the court struck down the Texas legislature’s attempt to create racial districts, calling it racial gerrymandering.

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Herman Cain’s Secret Service Protection Marks Turning Point (ContributorNetwork)

GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain became the first political figure among eight Republicans to get Secret Service protection for next year's election. Cain's office went through normal Department of Homeland Security protocols, including consulting with members of Congress. Cain is the only person without previous political experience running for president in 2012.

Here's a look at how and why the Secret Service protects candidates for president.

Robert F. Kennedy

The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968 precipitated Congress to pass Public Law 90-331 authorizing the Secret Service to protect major presidential candidates. The organization does not determine who is a "major" candidate but instead consults with congressional leaders such as the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader and members from both political parties.

Kennedy was assassinated at the end of a campaign stop June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles. Sirhan Sirhan was an armed gunmen who met Kennedy in the crowded ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel. Kennedy was pronounced dead 26 hours after he was shot. Although he had served as Attorney General before, Kennedy didn't have the Secret Service available for campaign stops.

Over-reaching Protection

The Washington Post reports candidates are allowed by law to seek protection 120 days before a general election. Those running for president may request protection earlier if certain fundraising and polling criteria are met. The Secret Service requested $113.4 million to protect the 2012 Republican nominee, up from $4 million in 2008.

Cain's request comes six weeks from the first presidential caucus in Iowa on Jan. 3. The earliest any candidate has ever been given Secret Service protection was then-Sen. Barack Obama, who came under the watch of the agency in May 2007.

The Secret Service has been busy with a seemingly unending political election cycle. In 2008, it had to protect candidates from nearly 4 million people wishing to see them at speeches, rallies and fundraisers. The Secret Service protects four former presidents, visiting dignitaries, the president and vice president, and it organizes law enforcement agencies for the national conventions of both political parties in the summer.

Cain's status as a front-running and "major" candidate has taken an important administrative leap forward. The news of a Secret Service detail comes just days after police outside a Cain campaign stop in Florida manhandled a journalist from CBS News trying to cover the story. Three of Cain's staffers apologized for the incident when a plainclothes police officer stuck his arm out to clothesline Lindsey Boerma after pushing her into the side of Cain's campaign bus.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

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Romney wins key endorsement of NH Sen. Ayotte (AP)

PETERBOROUGH, N.H. – Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is set to win the endorsement of New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte on Sunday.

Ayotte will make her endorsement official in a campaign stop with Romney in Nashua, according to a message sent to supporters late Saturday night.

"I will be working as hard as I can to help him secure the Republican nomination and, most importantly, ensure that Barack Obama is a one-term president," Ayotte wrote in a message distributed after news of the endorsement became public.

The endorsement represents a major pickup for Romney, who's already leading polls in the early primary state.

The 43-year-old Ayotte will become the first member of the New Hampshire congressional delegation to endorse a presidential contender.

"This is Gov. Romney's biggest endorsement in New Hampshire," said Steve Duprey, a New Hampshire member of the Republican National Committee.

Romney already enjoys the support of several prominent New Hampshire political figures, including former Gov. John H. Sununu and former Sen. Judd Gregg.

But New Hampshire Republicans say the backing of Ayotte, who won a landslide election just a year ago, gives Romney tremendous advantages.

"As the most popular Republican in the state, Kelly represents the future of our party," said Michael Dennehy, a local GOP operative who led Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign four years ago. "Very few endorsements matter in this process, but Sen. Ayotte's adds weight in New Hampshire and nationally."

Ayotte said electability was a factor in deciding which presidential hopeful to support.

"It is imperative that Republicans nominate our strongest candidate to face President Obama," she said.

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Ron Paul's strength in Iowa shows it's too soon to write him off (The Christian Science Monitor)

To most pollsters and pundits, any mention of Ron Paul typically comes with an implied asterisk. Whether they say it outright or not, they don’t think the Texas congressman has a chance of being the GOP presidential nominee. Too far outside mainstream, tea party, or born-again socially conservative Republicanism, they say. More libertarian than anything else.

And yet Rep. Paul soldiers on, and you know what? As other candidates – Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain – dash forward hare-like only to stumble or be run over by the next new thing, Paul is the perpetual tortoise in the race, mild-mannered, confident and unwavering in his positions (no flip-flopper he), advancing steadily toward the first real test in the Iowa caucuses six weeks from now.

MONITOR QUIZ: Weekly News Quiz for Nov. 13-18, 2011

Consider these recent headlines:

“Ron Paul is for real in Iowa. Seriously.” (Washington Post)

“Niche Voters Giving Paul Momentum in Iowa Polls” (New York Times)

“Ron Paul’s 19 percent in Iowa may indicate a path to the nomination” (Daily Caller)

“GOP outsider Ron Paul gaining traction in Iowa” (Associated Press)

“Ron Paul And Libertarians Can't Be Discounted” (Forbes)

A Bloomberg News poll this past week shows a four-way scrum for the lead in Iowa, with Paul in second place. (Cain gets 20 percent, Paul 19 percent, Mitt Romney 18 percent, and Newt Gingrich 17 percent among likely caucus goers.)

“A caucus state like Iowa is tailor-made to maximize the vote for a candidate like Ron Paul,” University of Virginia Center for Politics director Larry Sabato told The Daily Caller. “He has a dedicated band of supporters who will show up to vote in three feet of snow.”

That dedication shows up two ways in the latest poll in Iowa

Among likely caucus-goers who say their minds are made up, Paul leads with 32 percent, followed by Romney at 25 percent and former House speaker Gingrich at 17 percent, Bloomberg reports. And Paul’s campaign leads for voter contact, with about two-thirds of respondents saying they’ve heard from his campaign.

“Paul gets labeled a fringe candidate. But in this era of a closely divided electorate, anyone who commands the allegiance that Paul does from an activist libertarian movement must be accounted for in the political calculus,” pollster John Zogby writes in his regular Forbes column.

Dedicated allegiance has paid off for Paul in a string of straw polls.

The State Column, an online source of state political news, notes that Paul took second place in the Ames Straw Poll in August (finishing just 1 percentage point behind Bachmann), and he won a Values Voter Summit straw poll in October and a California Republican Party straw poll in September.

He also won an Ohio GOP poll with 53 percent of the votes, an Iowa straw poll at the National Federation of Republican Assemblies in Des Moines with 82 percent of the votes, and an Illinois straw poll with 52 percent of the vote – more than Romney or Cain.

RECOMMENDED: 10 things to know about Ron Paul

Much of that can be attributed to a hearty band of Paul loyalists – many of them young supporters – who do the most important thing in such contests: show up and vote.

In a way, Mr. Zogby points out, Paul is like Ralph Nader, even though he’s running as a major party candidate and not a third party outlier.

“In both cases, the support for Paul and Nader is a rejection of both parties,” Zogby writes. “Don’t expect Paul to endorse one of his GOP rivals, or for it to matter very much to libertarians if he did.”

Paul’s advantage is that rejecting both parties is a huge part of the tea party movement (at least before it started running its own Republicans in 2010) as well as of libertarianism. His challenge is that electability – finding the candidate most likely to defeat Barack Obama – has become the main thing Republicans are looking for in whichever champion they finally settle on.

Much of what Paul advocates is appealing to at least one faction of the Republican Party (mainstream, tea party, and socially conservatives), whether it’s about abortion, the definition of marriage, government regulation, foreign aid, military actions abroad, health care, or immigration.

He describes himself as “a constitutionalist” in ways that could appeal to civil libertarians. (He advocates an end to the Patriot Act, warrantless searches, the TSA, and the “war on drugs.”)

But it’s hard to imagine a Republican Party presidential candidate these days who would not support a constitutional ban on abortion, would cut defense spending by nearly a billion dollars, would shutter at least a half dozen departments of federal government, would leave it to religions (and not government) to define marriage, or who would end all US aid to Israel.

And while Romney beats Obama in at least a few polls, Paul does not, according to Real Clear Politics.

Still, Ron Paul keeps moving steadily toward a position of strength in the early voting – especially in Iowa. So he may yet surprise the pundits writing him off today.

The roar of Ron Paul: Five of his unorthodox views on the economy

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Republican Candidates Engage in Group Therapy at the Thanksgiving Family Forum (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Part of a Republican candidates' Thanksgiving Family Forum that took place in a church in Des Moines, Iowa, seemed, at times, to be a session of group therapy rather than a group of politicians explaining why they should be president.

The behavior of the Republican candidates, sans Mitt Romney, shows how much American politics has changed. Edmund Muskie sunk his presidential candidacy by apparently crying in New Hampshire in 1972, giving the impression that he was weak. Now manly tears are required for people wanting to be president.

For example, Herman Cain welled up when he recalled getting the diagnosis of cancer that might well have killed him and how supportive his wife Gloria was at the time. Rick Santorum teared up when talking about how his daughter suffered through a chromosomal disorder and the shame he feels now about how he thought of her as less than a person until she fought back from the disease. She is still alive, something of a miracle. Even Newt Gingrich cried a little at one point.

As each candidate opened about personal tragedy in their lives, other candidates, including Rick Perry, visible sought to comfort them.

Telling tales of overcoming adversity and crises of faith is something new in American politics. Franklin Roosevelt would have died a thousand deaths rather that even mention his polio, not to speak of ruminating about his struggle against it. John F. Kennedy concealed his various health problems from the public, rather than use them to political advantage. As late as 2000, George W. Bush did not go on at length about his drinking problem, which he did describe in his memoirs, seeking to conceal a DUI conviction that almost sunk his campaign.

What has changed? Is it because Americans are suddenly comfortable with having leaders who have feet of clay and are ready to admit it? Possibly it involves a political act of jujitsu, admitting weakness in order to convey strength. The idea is that if one had experience a personal crisis or a personal failing and overcome it, one has become stronger for it. By so doing, one is seen as being prepared for the greater traumas that are inherent in being president. How effective it is remains to be seen. But for now, the confessional has become a feature of political life in America.

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Anything can-happen feel in Iowa's 2012 vote (AP)

ANAMOSA, Iowa – The race for the Republican presidential nomination is deeply unsettled with an anything-can-happen feel six weeks before Iowans start the state-by-state process of choosing a GOP challenger for President Barack Obama.

Hoping to sway the many voters who are still undecided, most of the contenders visited the state in the past week and the pace of campaigning is certain to accelerate after Thanksgiving, when the monthlong sprint to the Jan. 3 caucuses begins. A crush of new TV ads is certain. Expect mailboxes filled with brochures and repeated visits by candidates to diners, town squares and other must-stop venues.

"People are getting close to decision time," former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, one of several candidates whose bids depend on a strong Iowa showing, told The Associated Press. "You're going to see some coalescing in the next couple of weeks."

A recent poll found that 60 percent of Republicans who plan to participate in the caucuses are willing to change their minds and 10 percent are fully undecided. That Bloomberg News survey showed a four-way race: Clustered at the top were Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain and Ron Paul, candidates whose positions, backgrounds and personalities run the gamut. Languishing far behind were Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, who at one point enjoyed huge bursts of support.

Iowa's outcome matters because it will shape the contest in New Hampshire, which holds its primary Jan. 10, and in states beyond.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, has started stepping up his efforts in Iowa after playing it cautiously all year. He plans to return to the state Wednesday after skipping a multi-candidate forum in Des Moines on Saturday night.

Nearly all his rivals, promoting themselves as a viable alternative to Romney, gathered on one stage to discuss how their religious faith influences their public life before a large and influential audience of social conservatives.

Considered the one to beat because of his strength on several fronts, Romney spent the weekend in New Hampshire.

In Iowa, he's hoping that social conservatives who make up the GOP's base will splinter their support among the crowded field of candidates who are considered more conservative than Romney. No one has emerged as the consensus choice of those conservatives, though many are trying.

They include Cain, a Georgia businessman, and Gingrich, the former U.S. House speaker, who seem just as poised to break out of the pack as they are to fade. Both are seen as attractive for a Republican electorate craving a candidate who will take it to Obama in a no-holds-barred style. But both also are trying hard to weather increased scrutiny.

Cain continues to fight decade-old sexual harassment allegations, along with questions about his grasp of an array of policies. Iowans don't seem to be punishing him for any of it, so far. He cheerfully greeted a crowd of more than 200 at a Dubuque restaurant Tuesday on just his second trip to Iowa in the past three months.

"Herman Cain's support at this point has intensified," Johnson County GOP Chairman Bob Anderson said. "There's been no decrease in his level of support based on the controversy that's erupted."

But Cain has little campaign structure in the state and a tiny staff. Despite the upbeat tone of his visit, he did little outreach to influential Republican activists. He took no audience questions in Dubuque, spent most of his time in Iowa recording a campaign advertisement and headlined a five-minute news conference spent primarily defending an awkward response to an interview question about Libya a day earlier.

Like Cain, Gingrich returned to Iowa last week to find himself on the defensive over a number of issues, including the roughly $1.6 million he received as a consultant to Freddie Mac, the federally backed mortgage giant detested by conservatives. He found himself spending the bulk of his three-day trip trying to portray his history with the company as a sign of valuable experience.

"It reminds people that I know a great deal about Washington," Gingrich said. "We just tried four years of amateur ignorance, and it didn't work very well. So having someone who actually knows Washington might be a really good thing."

As the week ended, Gingrich introduced a website that collects, and provides answers for, what he long has claimed are myths about his background and explanations for policy position changes throughout the years. Among the issues Gingrich addresses are his admissions of adultery and divorce, topics likely to rile cultural conservatives in Iowa.

Paul, a Texas congressman, returned to the state at week's end to find that he was steadily drawing sizable crowds to restaurants and community centers in small towns such as Vinton and Anamosa, where audiences applauded his proposal to cut $1 trillion from the federal deficit his first year in office, primarily by vastly reducing U.S. foreign aid.

Long dismissed by the GOP establishment, the libertarian-leaning candidate is now turning heads beyond his hard-core followers four years since his failed 2008 bid. This year, he's running a more mature Iowa campaign and it's showing. He finished a close second to Minnesota Rep. Bachmann in August test vote, an indication of his stronger organization.

Texas Gov. Perry, trying to get back on track after a damaging few weeks that has affected his once-robust fundraising, is accelerating his already aggressive TV advertising schedule in Iowa and is making government reform, as well as assailing Obama, the cornerstone of his campaign in hopes of rebounding.

"Washington's broken, and needs a complete overhaul," Perry says in a new ad. "Replacing one Washington insider with another won't change a thing. If you want an outsider who'll overhaul Washington, then I'm your guy."

It's a message that has some sticking with Perry, despite his troubles.

"I haven't given up on Rick Perry, personally," said Hamilton County Republican Chairman Mark Greenfield, who supports Perry. "He's a lower-tier candidate now. But he's the one person who can turn the economy around if he can only clarify his message."

Bachmann, too, is fighting to come back with a second act after a blazing hot summer and a victory in the Iowa GOP straw poll. Some of her evangelical base has drifted elsewhere, but she's still focused on trying to get them to rally behind her like they did former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the Iowa caucus winner in 2008.

"It is amazing to me how God uses those challenges to shape your life," Bachmann said of her parents' divorce, noting during the Saturday forum how it influenced her decision to be a foster parent to more than 20 children in addition to her five biological children.

The candidate who may stand to gain from Bachmann's inability to wrap up the evangelical vote is Santorum. The former Pennsylvania senator is the only Republican with staunch socially conservative credentials competing hard in Iowa who hasn't enjoyed a burst of support this year.

That's not for lack of trying.

He's essentially camped out in the state for months and has campaigned in all 99 Iowa counties on a shoestring budget.

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Romney picks up important New Hampshire endorsement (Reuters)

LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Republican Mitt Romney, looking to close the deal in the early primary state of New Hampshire, picked up an important endorsement on Sunday from U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte.

Ayotte was elected in 2010 from New Hampshire as part of big Republican gains in Congress, and is the top Republican elected official in the state. Her campaign had support from, among others, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Romney has won nearly every major Republican endorsement in New Hampshire so far, and has led in Republican polls in the state by a wide margin for almost two years.

On Friday, though, a survey by Magellan Strategies showed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich drawing within two percentage points of Romney.

New Hampshire holds its 2012 Republican primary election on January 10. The vote is regarded as one that Romney must not just win, but win convincingly.

The former Massachusetts governor has stepped up his campaigning in the state, where he owns a house. On Sunday he and Ayotte appeared at a rally in Nashua, her home town.

Ayotte was one of Palin's "Mama Grizzlies" in 2010, and is a former state attorney general.

In a statement, Ayotte cited Romney's experience as a businessman and governor, and his "excellent presidential debate performances" in her decision to endorse him.

Romney has also been endorsed by major New Hampshire figures like former Republican governor John Sununu and former U.S. Senator Judd Gregg.

(Reporting by Jason McLure, editing by Ros Krasny and David Bailey)

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Romney Opens Iowa Office (The Atlantic Wire)

Sarah B. Boxer, National Journal Sarah B. Boxer, National Journal – Sat Nov 19, 4:56 pm ET

Mitt Romney is skipping a big Republican presidential candidates’ forum in Iowa Saturday but that doesn’t mean he’s skipping out on the Hawkeye state.

Related: Romney Leads in Latest Iowa Poll

The former Massachusetts governor, who has kept a deliberately low profile in a state that gave him a rude stumble coming out of the box in his 2008 presidential effort, quietly opened a campaign office in Des Moines this week. While some of Romney’s rivals have made photo opportunities of such headquarters’ openings, Team Romney is not going out of its way to publicize it’s Iowa beachhead. Romney’s Iowa team consists of his top Iowa strategist, Dave Kochel, state director Sara Craig and three field staffers, all of whom have been on board for some time.

Related: Romney's Job-Creation Plan: Cut Taxes and Punish China

This is in stark contrast to his office in Manchester, N.H., with a staff nearly double in size - though the Granite State is half as large as its Hawkeye counterpart. Romney is putting a big emphasis on New Hampshire, where he’s practically a favorite son. As governor of neighboring Massachusetts, he was a familiar presence on the state’s TV screens and he owns a vacation home in the Granite State. In Iowa, Romney has been such an infrequent visitor that Gov. Terry Branstad, a fellow Republican, has publicly chided him for his truancy.

Related: Mitt Romney May Be Fighting for Iowa After All

Four years ago, Romney was badly burned in Iowa, finishing a distant second to Mike Huckabee despite having poured resources into the state for more than a year. The Mormon ex-governor has had difficulty gaining traction with evangelical voters, a key constituency among Iowa caucus-goers. The Iowa forum that Romney is skipping – while six of his chief rivals attend – is sponsored one of the state’s leading evangelical groups. 

Related: Chart: Some People Have Forgotten Who Mitt Romney Is

Even so, a respected poll of GOP caucus-goers by the Des Moines Register showed Romney within striking distance of a win. And, despite a two month absence from Iowa between August and October, Romney has been slowly ramping up in the state.  He has been to Iowa twice in the last month, and is heading back again on Wednesday.

Related: Both Romney and Obama Want to Make 2012 a Sequel to 2004

During Romney's last trip to the state, on Nov. 7, professional cameras shot his appearance, leading to speculation that he was filming a commercial and will be on air there shortly. The campaign has yet to confirm this, and Romney commercials have not yet appeared on air anywhere in the country.

Meanwhile, as expected, Rick Perry’s campaign released a new 30-second TV commercial that will be airing on Iowa broadcast TV, as well as on cable stations in the state and nationally. The ad emphasizes Perry’s credentials as a Washington outsider.

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Republican Donor Suggests a Perry/Romney or Romney/Perry Ticket (ContributorNetwork)

New York supermarket magnate and Republican donor John Catsimatidis, has a suggestion for another formidable Republican ticket that can go up against President Barack Obama in the fall. He suggests a Mitt Romney/Rick Perry or a Perry/Romney ticket.

What is Catsimatidis' reasoning?

Catsimatidis, who has supported Romney and Perry, suggests such a ticket would have an ideological and a region balance. Romney is a northern moderate. Perry is a southern conservative. Thus the appeal of such a Republican ticket would be as broad as possible.

What are some of the historical examples of such a ticket?

Catsimatidis mentions the Kennedy/Johnson ticket of 1960, which married John Kennedy, a northerner, with Lyndon Johnson, a Texan. The other obvious example, though of an ideological as well as regional balance, was Ronald Reagan/George H.W. Bush 1980. Reagan was from California. Bush was from Texas but with roots in New England.

Are such tickets really "unstoppable" as Catsimatidis suggests?

Not always. In 1996 Bob Dole, a moderate, tried ideological balance by choosing Jack Kemp, a conservative icon, as his running mate. In 2004, John Kerry, a northerner, went for regional balance by choosing southerner John Edwards. In 1988 then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis choose Texan Lloyd Bentsen. All three tickets went down to defeat.

Have there been other combinations that have worked?

Some presidential candidates with little or no Washington experience have chosen a Washington insider to buttress the governing strength of a ticket. This was what was behind Jimmy Carter's selection of then-Sen. Walter Mondale in 1976, Bill Clinton's selection of then-Sen. Al Gore in 1992, and then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush's selection of Dick Cheney, a former congressman, White House chief of staff and Defense Secretary in 2000. All three of these tickets were successful.

How would that approach work for Perry?

Perry would choose a sitting senator or congressman in this scenario. Rep Michele Bachmann, another presidential candidate, is one possibility. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who would also bring in some ethnic balance, is at the top of everyone's list.

Texas resident Mark Whittington writes about state issues for the Yahoo! Contributor Network .

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Too Many Debates for the GOP? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The GOP has made a huge mistake in deciding to have so many debates. In the 2008 race for the Republican nominations, there were 21 (already quite a number, to be honest). This time around, when all is said and done, the candidates will have slugged through 27.

Of course, it's just an increase of six, but there are several reasons why I consider this an unwise idea.

Reason number one: Let's face it, regardless of what party (or not) you claim allegiance to, we know that politicians aren't always the brightest bulbs around and, therefore, are more than likely to commit gaffes. See: Rick Perry.

Now, the reason why these gaffes perhaps seem even more glaring is because the Democrats clearly aren't debating each other this year, so we have no regular gaffes from a bunch of candidates across the spectrum. Yes, I know Obama is quite prone to the verbal slip-up as well, but I just feel that the GOP are more exposed due to the fact that they're trying to unseat him.

Reason two: By the time all has been said and done, Obama and his crew of advisers will have gouged out every candidate's weakness. This could arguably give him the upper hand once the Republican nominee is finally chosen.

And, thirdly, the tension between the candidates is really so thick it can be cut with a knife, and these increased debates aren't exactly helping things. In fact, it could create a lasting friction between some that will remain even after the official candidate is chosen.

But not to be a complete downer, there is one upside. All of this exposure has allowed candidates such as Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul to enjoy the kind of exposure they probably wouldn't have gotten if there had only been , say, ten debates.

This is good, because it makes this more interesting and less predictable for the general public, even though I tend to believe that Mitt Romney will end up winning. But, really, who knows?

Which candidate do you favor? Or are they all just as bad as each other? Go on, voice your opinion.

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Romney plays it safe on high-stakes debates (AP)

PETERBOROUGH, N.H. – For as long as he's been the Republican front-runner, Mitt Romney has avoided taking firm positions on high-stakes Washington spending debates.

This week's example: The former Massachusetts governor's refusal to endorse or oppose a deficit-cutting plan introduced by members of his own party, with a key deadline looming. Romney's cautiousness builds on the play-it-safe approach he has employed on issues ranging from Medicare overhauls to debt-ceiling negotiations, drawing criticism from GOP rivals and raising questions among uncommitted Republicans.

"It's a risky move to not take a position," said Michael Dennehy, a New Hampshire-based Republican operative who led Sen. John McCain's presidential bid four years ago. "When there's going to be intense scrutiny in these final seven weeks, voters are going to want to see someone who is showing their capacity to lead."

Romney's campaign says the GOP presidential hopeful has consistently articulated his economic plans.

But he has shown little willingness to inject himself into congressional debates on an issue he lists among his priorities, and which could have a profound impact on the next president's work. Instead, he has tended to focus on general economic principles such as lower taxes and less government spending, referring people to his 300-page book for a detailed version of how he would govern.

His rivals have at times adopted similarly cautious approaches. But they've sought to use Romney's reticence to take a position against him, launching in recent days a new round of criticism against the candidate.

"Now is not the time to be indecisive, it's time to exercise leadership," Michele Bachmann told The Associated Press in an email Saturday. Responding a question about Romney's strategy, she asked: "If you can't lead now, how will you lead as president?"

A congressional supercommittee has until Wednesday to produce a plan to cut deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Failure would trigger automatic, across-the-board cuts to the Pentagon and a wide variety of domestic programs beginning in 2013.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., recently offered a key concession — agreeing to limits on tax breaks enjoyed by people who itemize their deductions, in exchange for lower overall tax rates for families at every income level. A growing number of Republicans in Congress have embraced a tax overhaul package that increases revenues if paired with significant spending cuts.

Romney says he's withholding final judgment because he hasn't seen the specific proposal. He's addressed the congressional debt debate only when forced to, and ignored the issue altogether at a town-hall style meeting with voters here Friday night focused on government spending.

It wasn't until the room was nearly empty that he answered a reporter's question about his reluctance to weigh in.

"I will not endorse any plan that raises revenues, raises taxes," Romney said, declining to address Toomey's proposal specifically. "What I will endorse is a plan that cuts spending and reforms our entitlements for future generations to make sure they're sustainable."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign has blasted what it called Romney's "timid" approach.

"Mitt Romney soft-pedals the important issues facing this country," Perry spokesman Mark Miner said Saturday. "Washington doesn't need someone who's timid. They need someone like Rick Perry who's going to come in with a sledgehammer and shake things up."

Romney in some cases has been willing to embrace controversial policies. But he doesn't like to be the first to stick his neck out.

This spring, he was reluctant to embrace a plan introduced by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan that would essentially transform Medicare into a voucher program.

He started by applauding Ryan's "creative and bold thinking," but didn't say whether he actually endorsed the proposal. Then in early November, seven months after Ryan's plan was released, Romney released his own plan to overhaul Medicare in a way largely consistent with the congressman's original proposal.

Over the summer, Romney was equally non-committal during a debate over the nation's debt limit that nearly forced a government shutdown and threatened the government's credit rating. He stayed silent on the debt-ceiling deal during its negotiation, announcing his opposition to the final agreement just before lawmakers cast their votes.

His Republican competitors haven't forgotten.

"Whether it's the debt ceiling debate, the Ohio ballot initiatives, or military action in Libya, Mitt Romney has been either unwilling or unable to offer a clear position on issues important to voters," said Tim Miller, candidate Jon Huntsman's spokesman. "Leadership requires taking a stand on tough issues, even if it carries political risk."

Outside the Republican presidential nomination race, some politicians were more sympathetic.

"It's the inherent risk of being the front-runner: you tend to be a little more cautious in your approach on potentially controversial issues," said Kevin Smith, a Republican candidate for New Hampshire governor. "I think it's only an issue to the extent that the other candidates make it an issue."

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Poll shows Romney leading Obama in Michigan (AP)

LANSING, Mich. – A poll of likely Michigan voters shows Mitt Romney beating President Barack Obama in a hypothetical matchup but two other leading Republicans losing to the president.

The poll released Sunday shows the Michigan-born ex-Massachusetts governor getting 46 percent compared to 41 percent for Obama. The difference is just beyond the poll's 4 percent sampling error. Thirteen percent are undecided.

The poll showed Obama with an apparent lead over Newt Gingrich 45 percent to 40 percent, with 15 percent undecided. And it showed Obama leading Herman Cain 50 percent to 36 percent, with 14 percent undecided.

Obama carried Michigan in 2008.

The results of the poll by EPIC-MRA were reported in the Detroit Free Press (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_el_pr/storytext/us_president_michigan_poll/43666523/SIG=10sq84n7h/*http://on.freep.com/rDwjJU ), which sponsored the poll along with television stations WXYZ, WOOD and WJRT.

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Romney collects key endorsements in NH (AP)

NASHUA, N.H. – Mitt Romney's Republican presidential campaign collected some high-profile endorsements over the weekend, contributing to a growing sense of inevitability surrounding the former Massachusetts governor's White House bid.

Romney stood with New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte Sunday afternoon, several hours after the Republican senator's decision became public.

"There's one person in this field who is prepared to lead the United States of America and that is Mitt Romney," Ayotte told cheering supporters gathered on the city hall steps. "And most importantly, there is one person who I know will ensure that Barack Obama is a one-term president and that is Mitt Romney."

And on Monday, U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass was joining Romney's campaign. Campaign aides said Bass, who served six terms in Congress before losing his re-election bid in 2006 only to win back his seat in 2010, would join Romney Monday morning on a tour of a Nashua defense contractor. Romney planned to announce Bass as a co-chairman in New Hampshire and a member of his national advisers.

"Voters in New Hampshire and across our country are looking for a candidate that understands what our economy needs to recover and grow, that has the experience of creating jobs and has the leadership qualities needed to bring the citizens of our nation back together in these challenging times," Bass said in a statement.

"I firmly believe that Mitt Romney is the candidate that will renew our country's faith in the American dream."

The Bass endorsement was first reported in The Nashua (N.H.) Telegraph.

The lawmakers are the latest high-profile additions to an organization that already included Granite State Republican heavyweights like former Sen. Judd Gregg and former Gov. John H. Sununu.

But even in a world where the impact of endorsements is often exaggerated, the public support of Ayotte and Bass is a significant step forward for Romney in New Hampshire. It has led prominent Republicans to suggest that Romney — who already enjoys tremendous advantages in the first-in-the-nation primary state — has become so strong here that the real contest on Jan. 10 will be for second place.

Romney hasn't begun to run television advertising yet. Instead, he's been steadily raising money and adding campaign muscle as his Republican opponents struggle to overcome weaknesses. Romney is expected to join the television ad war soon, however.

Like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's endorsement earlier in the fall, Ayotte's support offers a bridge to more conservative voters, who have been reluctant to endorse a candidate with a mixed history on some social issues. Romney has struggled to win over that voting bloc in New Hampshire and elsewhere, although some have begun to reluctantly embrace his candidacy in light of repeated stumbles by his rivals.

With Romney looking on, Ayotte, along with her husband, promised to play an active role in Romney's campaign.

"Joe and I will be doing everything we can to make sure Mitt Romney is the next president of the United States," she said. "We cannot take four more years of this president."

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Associated Press writer Philip Elliott in Washington contributed to this report.

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Republicans seek Iowa social conservatives' nod (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa – Six Republican presidential candidates dove deep into how their religious faith influences their public life, during a free-flowing forum before a large, influential audience of social conservatives in early-voting Iowa on Saturday.

At an event sponsored by an Iowa Christian group, the candidates tried at times to gain a political edge with potent Iowa conservatives. But some of the discussion turned uncharacteristically personal, with the would-be presidents tearfully revealing formative chapters that shaped their faith.

Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose recent rise has renewed scrutiny of his two divorces, admitted taking the advice of a recovering alcoholic to soothe the demons he had treated for years with his own national ambition.

"I wasn't drinking but I had precisely the symptoms of someone who was collapsing under this weight," Gingrich said. "And I found myself, this emerging national figure ... trying to understand where I had failed, why I was empty and why I had to turn to God."

Businessman Herman Cain, accused of sexually harassing four subordinates more than a decade ago, didn't address the accusations which he has denied vigorously. But he acknowledged not being home enough during his career's meteoric rise to the top of a national restaurant chain, and he credited his marriage with helping him after being diagnosed with cancer in 2006.

"Before my wife and I were about to head to the care, I said, `I can do this,'" Cain recalled. "She said, `We can do this.'"

The event occurred while many evangelical conservatives, a powerful force in Iowa's caucuses, still look for a more conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor has not courted this segment of the voting bloc aggressively in his second bid for the GOP nomination.

The format was a sharp departure from the 10 GOP debates that have already been held in the 2012 campaign. Instead of the rapid questions and timed answers of the televised debates, Saturday's forum was held around a large dining table on a stage with fall-themed decorations, aimed at resembling a family Thanksgiving dinner scene. Pollster Frank Luntz moderated the two-hour event, which often flowed conversationally.

Notably absent was Romney, a leader in most national and Iowa polls this year but who has not campaigned vigorously for the social conservative vote.

Also missing was former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who is focusing his early-state campaign on New Hampshire, where his moderate positions on gay rights are not as glaring a liability.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who has campaigned aggressively for the support of evangelical conservatives in Iowa, tearfully confessed to have resisted loving his severely disabled daughter.

"I had decided that the best thing I could do was to treat her differently and not love her the way I did because it wouldn't hurt as much if I'd lost her," Santorum told an audience of 3,200 in a large, evangelical Des Moines church.

And Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann described the pain and uncertainty of her parents' divorce when she was an adolescent girl, but held back somewhat when asked what prompted her Christian awakening when she was 16.

"It is amazing to me how God uses those challenges to shape your life," Bachmann said of her parents' divorce, noting how it influenced her decision to foster more than 20 children in addition to her five biological children.

Texas' two candidates, Rep. Ron Paul and Gov. Rick Perry, did not offer revealing chapters from their lives as the others did. Paul described his early life during the Depression in Pennsylvania, and Perry, his upbringing in rural west Texas. Perry also described feeling lost upon his discharge from the Air Force at age 27.

"I couldn't understand what it was that was missing out of my life," Perry said, describing the moment he turned to his Christian faith. "In every person's heart and soul there is a hole that can only be filled by the Lord Jesus Christ."

Santorum was the most aggressive in trying to establish political edge during the event, arguing that the president must be a cultural warrior pushing for social change that reflects the nation's Judeo-Christian heritage.

Despite the religious theme, the discussion nevertheless revealed deep divisions about the role of government in shaping the nation's culture, illustrated by the libertarian-leaning Paul's rejection of an activist presidency.

"The goal of government isn't to mold society and mold people," Paul said. "The goal of government is to preserve liberty."

There was little dissention, prompting Luntz to comment: "You have more that you agree on than those small things you disagree on."

Still, the candidates were looking for votes with only six weeks until the caucuses and no consensus choice for evangelical conservatives in Iowa.

A recent Des Moines Register poll showed 37 percent of likely GOP caucus participants described themselves as born-again Christians. They are an influential bloc, and rallied to oppose the retention of the three Iowa Supreme Court justices on the ballot a year ago after the court's unanimous 2009 decision to nullify the state's statutory ban on gay marriage.

While the trend in Iowa is to stress the cultural issues, Santorum said there has been little national focus on issues central to this committed segment of the GOP base. Over 10 debates, there have been only five questions on cultural issues.

The crowded field of social conservatives has created somewhat of an opening for Romney in Iowa to stand out among economic conservatives. Last year, long-time former Gov. Terry Branstad won the nomination for governor over Vander Plaats, who campaigned largely on social issues.

Branstad, who attracted all six candidates to a political fundraiser after the forum, said Iowa Republicans' greater concern with the economy and spending could be an advantage for Romney.

"I think it could potentially help him here," he said. "You need to address the issues Iowans care about, and that's restoring fiscal responsibility and jobs."

___

Online:

The Family Leader: http://www.thefamilyleader.com

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Candidate Ron Paul -- Hard Sell or Republican Front-Runner (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | According the latest news from Yahoo! News, the Ron Paul campaign could use the old Anne Murray song, "Everything that is old, is new again" as its theme. Paul, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2008 election for president, is starting to surge in the polls leading up to the Iowa caucus. What is behind this increased support and what are his chances to actually take down incumbent Barack Obama?

The Paul campaign in 2008 was largely based in the colloquially named "grassroots style." It borrowed a tactic that Obama successfully used to get into the White House by focusing on the Internet and social media for fundraising and getting his message out. It worked really well and that foundation has carried over to this election cycle.

The 2012 Paul campaign has expanded to look more traditional. According to an AP story, he has expanded his on the ground team in Iowa to three times its previous size. Phone calls and TV ads have been an everyday staple in Iowa, each loudly broadcasting his name and message. Voters in Iowa have responded in the first hurdle to the GOP nomination by giving Paul a four-way split in the latest Real Clear Politics Poll average. Only six points split Paul from Herman Cain, the leader in Iowa so far.

In a previous article, I posted about Rick Perry's Achilles' heel. Unfortunately, Paul has one too. Domestically, he is very sound and in line with mainstream Republican voters. He is strong on the borders, a spendthrift on the budget and very much pro-life.

These topics are very popular with Republican voters and no doubt are at the heart of his support. Where his major problem areas lay are in his very much isolationist foreign policy and military positions. He has said Iran is harmless to the U.S. and we should not concern ourselves there. He favors the full withdrawal of troops from overseas and the withdrawal of all foreign aid. This runs counter from many in the Republican Party and is the area where Paul can be a hard sell to voters.

It looks like people are beginning to look past these shortcomings and focus on his domestic ideas. In the revolving carousal of the Republican front-runners, it appears that it is slowly becoming Paul's turn.

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Republican Candidates on the Economy (ContributorNetwork)

According to the most recent Gallup poll, when Americans were asked what the most important problem facing the nation was, 76 percent responded the economy. As such, the next president will be forced to manage some of the toughest economic times the U.S. has had to endure.

The candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination have discussed what they felt were the most important economic problems in America and their solutions during the recent GOP debates.

Here are some quotes on the economy taken from major candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination:

* Herman Cain: "First, we must grow this economy. We are the biggest economy in the world and as long as we are stagnant in terms of growth in GDP, we impact the rest of the world. … We must put fuel the engine that drives economic growth: the business sector. … We must assure that our currency is sound. Just like sixty minutes is in an hour, a dollar must be a dollar. If we are growing this economy the way it has the ability to do and at the same time we are cutting spending seriously, we will have the ability to survive. ... Focus on the domestic economy or we will fail."

* Mitt Romney: "If we stay on the course we're on, with the level of borrowing this administration is carrying out, if we don't get serious about cutting and capping our spending and balancing our budget, you're going to find America in the same position Italy is in four or five years from now."

* Ron Paul: "We took 40 years to build up this worldwide debt. We're in a debt crisis never before seen in our history … if you prop it up, you'll do exactly what we did in the Depression, prolong the agony … you want to liquidate the debt. The debt is unsustainable and this bubble was predictable because 40 years ago we had no restraints whatsoever on the monetary authorities and we piled debt on debt… and if you keep bailing people out and prop it up, you just prolong the agony as you're doing in the housing bubble. Right now, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are demanding more money because we don't allow the market to determine what these mortgages are worth. If you don't liquidate this and clear the market, believe me, you're going to perpetuate this for a decade or two more and that is very, very dangerous."

* Jon Huntsman: "We have a huge problem called too big to fail this country. We have six banks in this country that combined have assets worth 66 percent of our GDP, $9.4 trillion. These institutions get hit and they have an implied bailout by the taxpayers in this country and that means we're setting ourselves up for disaster again. … We've got to get back to a day and age where we have properly-sized banks."

* Rick Perry: "We're not going to pick winners and losers from Washington D.C. … We're going trust the capital markets in the private sector to make the decisions and let the consumers pick winners and losers. And it doesn't make any difference whether it's Wall Street or some corporate entity or some European country, if you are too big to fail, you are too big."

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Which Presidential Candidate Will Drop Out Next? (ContributorNetwork)

There are six weeks until the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Yet there are still eight candidates vying for the GOP nomination for president in 2012. Only former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race, on Aug. 14, one day after a third-place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll. Texas Gov. Rick Perry entered the race since then. Despite sexual harassment scandals and possible shady dealings, U.S. News and World Report states candidates have remained in the race thanks to steady donors and publicity due to debates.

Who will be the next candidate to drop out? Here's a look at who might be next to fall and when.

Jon Huntsman

The Los Angeles Times reports candidates will be in Iowa today at the Thanksgiving Family Forum in Des Moines. About 2,500 people are expected to attend as candidates try to woo voters to choose them in Iowa's caucuses. The event is geared for social conservatives. The Hill reports two candidates will not be showing up to speak at the event. Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman will not be there.

Fox News states Huntsman doesn't even get in double digits in polls. His moderate views may not spur conservative voters in Iowa to choose him in the caucus. The Huffington Post reported in mid-October that Huntsman's campaign was in debt $890,000 despite an influx of $2 million of his own money. Huntsman has never gained ground in polls and may exit even before the Iowa caucuses.

Looking back at the 2008 Republican primary, the New York Times reported Mike Huckabee won with over 34 percent of the vote. There were eight candidates on the ballot, including Tom Tancredo who got five votes. PBS states Tancredo dropped out three weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Should Huntsman drop out of the race, he may have such an announcement just before Christmas.

Rep. Michele Bachmann

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota may be the next to step out of the race. Her paid staff in New Hampshire quit in mid-October as she has been focused on a campaign in Iowa to try to win the caucuses there. Bachmann won the Iowa Straw Poll in mid-August but has gone down in public opinion polling since then.

In less than a month after her win in Iowa's famous straw poll, Bachmann stood at 6 percent in national polls, according to the Washington Post. Winning Iowa is one thing, but making a claim on the national stage is another. Huckabee won Iowa in 2008 but then Sen. John McCain got the 2008 nomination against then-Sen. Barack Obama.

Bachmann may be like Pawlenty. If she doesn't have a strong showing in a border state to Minnesota, the 2012 nomination may be too farfetched for her.

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum is a former senator from Pennsylvania. The National Journal reports Santorum may have difficulties in standing out from other candidates. Despite raising $30 million against Sen. Bob Casey in 2006, Santorum lost by more than 20 points despite being a two-term Senator.

Santorum hasn't had any scandals in his campaign yet hasn't made any waves with voters. He has been focused on social issues and foreign policy as opposed to the economy and two wars. His current focus is the "Faith Family and Freedom Tour" while having a simplified plan to jumpstart the economy.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

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Obama vs. GOP on jobs: Let the blame game begin (The Christian Science Monitor)

The partisan debate over jobs creation has descended into a blame game between President Obama and congressional Republicans.

“Over and over, they have refused to even debate the same kind of jobs proposals that Republicans have supported in the past – proposals that today are supported, not just by Democrats, but by Independents and Republicans all across America,” Obama complained in his radio address Saturday morning. “Meanwhile, they're only scheduled to work three more weeks between now and the end of the year.

Republicans in the House respond that they’ve passed 15 job-creating bills only to have those measures bottled up in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

“We call these bills the 'forgotten 15',” Rep. Bobby Schilling of Illinois said in the Republican address Saturday.

“These are common-sense bills that address those excessive federal regulations that are hurting small business job creation,” said Rep. Schilling, a freshman lawmaker whose family owns a pizza business in Moline. “A number of them have bipartisan support. Yet the Senate won't give these bills a vote, and the president hasn't called for action.”

The essence of the divide remains: Increase federal investment to stimulate job creation versus easing environmental and other regulatory restrictions that critics say can hinder job creation.

As with much of the debate in Washington these days – including the effort by the bipartisan congressional “super committee” to cut the federal deficit by $1.2 trillion before draconian budget cuts kick in automatically – this one can’t avoid the subject of taxes.

A new report by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office gives Obama ammunition for his assertion that “millionaires and billionaires” can afford to pay more.

The CBO reported this week that while the rich got a lot richer over the past 30 years, the rest of American society struggled to keep up.

The CBO found that average after-tax income for the top 1 percent of US households had increased by 275 percent while middle-income households saw just a 40 percent rise and for those at the bottom of the economic scale, the jump was 18 percent.

"The distribution of after-tax income in the United States was substantially more unequal in 2007 than in 1979," CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said in a blog post. " Income … for households at the higher end of the income scale rose much more rapidly than income for households in the middle and at the lower end of the income scale.â€

Obama says he’s doing what he can through executive order because GOP lawmakers refuse to consider his proposals.

On Friday, Obama directed government agencies to shorten the time it takes for federal research to turn into commercial products in the marketplace. The goal is to help startup companies and small businesses create jobs and expand their operations more quickly.

The president also called for creating a centralized online site for companies to easily find information about federal services. He previously had announced help for people who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth and for the repayment of student loans. The White House also challenged community health centers to hire veterans.

"We can no longer wait for Congress to do its job," Obama said Saturday. "So where Congress won’t act, I will."

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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FACT CHECK: GOP lawmakers spin funding tall tales (AP)

WASHINGTON – It's an outrageous tale: The federal government spends one out of every $10 in transportation aid on wasteful projects such as refurbishing a giant roadside coffee pot and constructing turtle tunnels.

That's what Republican lawmakers have said repeatedly in recent weeks in the Senate, in public appearances and in news releases. They are trying to eliminate a requirement that states use a portion of their highway aid for "transportation enhancements," 12 categories of projects from bike and walking paths to scenic overlooks and landscaping.

But it's not exactly true.

To make their case, lawmakers have exaggerated and misrepresented some projects that have received aid.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., raised the issue last month when he temporarily blocked action on a transportation bill. He said he wanted to allow state transportation departments to use all their federal aid on basic needs such as roads, bridges and tunnels, instead of setting some aside for enhancements.

"We are not pouring asphalt, we are not laying concrete, we are not decreasing congestion, and we are not increasing safety," Coburn complained. He produced a list of 39 projects that he said exemplify extravagance at a time when states don't have enough money to repair structurally deficient bridges.

Coburn picked his examples from the more than 25,000 projects that have received money since Congress established the enhancement set-aside nearly two decades ago.

First on the list: the Lincoln Highway 200-Mile Roadside Museum in south-central Pennsylvania. It was described as receiving $300,000 in 2004 for signs, murals, colorful vintage gas pumps painted by local artists and refurbishing of a former roadside snack stand from 1927 that's shaped like a giant coffee pot.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was apparently working from Coburn's list two weeks ago when he offered an amendment to narrow the types of projects eligible for enhancement funds.

"Pennsylvania ranks first out of all states for deficient bridges. Yet it seems to be more important to furbish large roadside coffee pots," McCain said.

But no transportation aid was spent on the coffee pot's $100,000 restoration, said Olga Herbert, executive director of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor. The money was raised entirely from preservation and civic organizations and local supporters.

"We did not use any of this $300,000 award for anything to do with the coffee pot," she said. "It's interesting that nobody from Senator Coburn's office called me about this."

Also on Coburn's list was a lighthouse renovation in the harbor of Toledo, Ohio, that would be partly funded with $500,000 in federal money. Actually, no transportation dollars have been authorized or awarded. The lighthouse renovation is among projects community officials tentatively hope to get around to in 2019.

Coburn's list includes a 1996 grant for preservation of a "factory used to make saddletrees" — the foundation of a riding saddle — in Madison, Ind. Not mentioned is that the grant wouldn't qualify for enhancement money under current program rules, according to Transportation Department officials.

The Texas Department of Transportation is described as spending $16.2 million in enhancement money to restore the Battleship Texas, docked in the Houston Ship Channel. If so, they weren't federal transportation dollars. U.S. transportation officials said an application for the money was turned down.

The list cited landscaping to screen a junkyard in Aiken, S.C. After checking with state and local authorities, federal officials said the project was canceled years ago and again, no funds were awarded.

"We picked some of the more interesting and exciting ones to get our colleagues' attention," McCain acknowledged during his effort to pass his amendment.

McCain said he was reluctant to mention a $198,000 grant in 2007 to the National Corvette Museum in Warren County, Ky., to build a simulator theater because he fondly remembers owning a Corvette once. But then he mentioned it anyway.

"Since a National Corvette Museum simulator theater has very little to do with transportation enhancement, I felt compelled to add this," he said.

The simulator theater is really a driver-education classroom for free driving classes for older people and teenagers, not a chance to pretend to be behind the wheel of a Corvette, museum officials said.

But what has provoked the most scorn from enhancement critics are the "turtle tunnels" near Tallahassee, Fla.

"Don't tell the people of Kentucky they need to finance every turtle tunnel and solar panel company on some bureaucrat's wish list in order to get their bridges fixed," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said last month in a speech decrying President Barack Obama's request for $50 billion for highways, bridges and airport runways.

Kentucky's other senator, Republican Rand Paul, protested last week: "Something is seriously wrong with government when we are forcing state governments to spend 10 percent of their transportation money on turtle tunnels, white squirrel parks, and movie theaters."

Florida transportation officials federal aid to build mile barrier walls on either side of U.S. 27, a busy four-lane highway along the shore of Lake Jackson, and three culverts that run underneath the road. The lake is teeming with wildlife, but the critters were getting flattened by cars as they tried to cross to the vegetation on the other side.

While turtle deaths prompted the project, the culverts are being used by many other species, including beavers, otters, alligators and snakes. They make driving safer for motorists who were swerving to avoid turtles and alligators, said Matt Aresco, the former Florida State University Ph.D. student who led a grassroots campaign for the project.

"It's a significant safety issue," he said.

The project used economic stimulus funds rather than regularly budgeted transportation money. Coburn's list, provided to reporters and posted on his Senate website, said Florida plans to spend $3.4 million on the project, but it will require $6 million more to finish "and it was unclear how long it will take to get the project built."

Actually, the project was finished in September 2010 and came in under budget at $3 million, according to the Transportation Department.

GOP members of Congress also have said repeatedly that states are required to spend 10 percent of their transportation aid on enhancements. Actually, the set-aside for enhancements is equal to 10 percent of the aid states receive through one transportation program, not their total federal aid. Enhancement funds amounted to $927 million in the past year, 2 percent of the $46 billion the government spent on highway programs.

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Online:

National Transportation Enhancements Clearinghouse http://www.enhancements.org/projectlist.asp

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Associated Press writers Travis Loller in Nashville, Tenn., Peter Jackson in Harrisburg, Pa., and Michael Schneider in Orlando, Fla., contributed to this report.

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Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy

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Studies challenge wisdom of GOP candidates' plans (AP)

WASHINGTON – Key proposals from the Republican presidential candidates might make for good campaign fodder. But independent analyses raise serious questions about those plans and their ability to cure the nation's ills in two vital areas, the economy and housing.

Consider proposed cuts in taxes and regulation, which nearly every GOP candidate is pushing in the name of creating jobs. The initiatives seem to ignore surveys in which employers cite far bigger impediments to increased hiring, chiefly slack consumer demand.

"Republicans favor tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, but these had no stimulative effect during the George W. Bush administration, and there is no reason to believe that more of them will have any today," writes Bruce Bartlett. He's an economist who worked for Republican congressmen and in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

As for the idea that cutting regulations will lead to significant job growth, Bartlett said in an interview, "It's just nonsense. It's just made up."

Government and industry studies support his view.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which tracks companies' reasons for large layoffs, found that 1,119 layoffs were attributed to government regulations in the first half of this year, while 144,746 were attributed to poor "business demand."

Mainstream economic theory says governments can spur demand, at least somewhat, through stimulus spending. The Republican candidates, however, have labeled President Barack Obama's 2009 stimulus efforts a failure. Instead, most are calling for tax cuts that would primarily benefit high-income people, who are seen as the likeliest job creators.

"I don't care about that," Texas Gov. Rick Perry told The New York Times and CNBC, referring to tax breaks for the rich. "What I care about is them having the dollars to invest in their companies."

Many existing businesses, however, have plenty of unspent cash. The 500 companies that comprise the S&P index have about $800 billion in cash and cash equivalents, the most ever, according to the research firm Birinyi Associates.

The rating firm Moody's says the roughly 1,600 companies it monitors had $1.2 trillion in cash at the end of 2010. That's 11 percent more than a year earlier.

Small businesses rate "poor sales" as their biggest problem, with government regulations ranking second, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Of the small businesses saying this is not a good time to expand, half cited the poor economy as the chief reason. Thirteen percent named the "political climate."

More small businesses complained about regulation during the administrations of Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, according to an analysis of the federation's data by the liberal Economic Policy Institute.

Such findings notwithstanding, further cuts in taxes and regulations remain popular with GOP voters. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that most Democrats and about half of independents think "reducing environmental and other regulations on business" would do little or nothing to create jobs. But only one-third of Republicans felt that way.

The GOP's presidential hopefuls are shaping their economic agendas along those lines.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney says his 59-point plan "seeks to reduce taxes, spending, regulation and government programs."

Businessman Herman Cain would significantly cut taxes for the wealthy with his 9 percent flat tax plan. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said in a recent debate, "It's the regulatory burden that costs us $1.8 trillion every year. ... It's jobs that are lost."

The candidates have said little about another national problem: depressed home prices, as well as the high numbers of foreclosures and borrowers who owe more than their houses are worth.

After the Oct. 18 GOP debate in Las Vegas, a center of foreclosure activity, editors of the AOL Real Estate site wrote, "We didn't hear any meaningful solutions to the housing crisis. That's no surprise, considering that housing has so far been a ghost issue in the campaign."

To the degree the candidates addressed housing, they mainly took a hands-off approach. "We need to get government out of the way," Cain said. "It starts with making sure that we can boost this economy and then reform Dodd-Frank," which is a law that regulates Wall Street transactions.

Bachmann, in an answer that mentioned "moms" six times, said foreclosures fall most heavily on women who are "losing their nest for their children and for their family." She said Obama "has failed you on this issue of housing and foreclosures. I will not fail you on this issue." Bachmann offered no specific remedies.

Romney told editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom. Allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up and let it turn around and come back up."

Perry spokesman Mark Miner said the Texas governor's "immediate remedy for housing is to get America working again. ... Creating jobs will address the housing concerns that are impacting communities throughout America."

Bartlett, whose books on tax policy include "The Benefit and the Burden," recently wrote in the New York Times: "People are increasingly concerned about unemployment, but Republicans have nothing to offer them."

The candidates and their supporters dispute this, of course. A series of scheduled debates may give them chances to explain why their proposals would hit the right targets.

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Cracks in GOP promise of no new taxes for deficit cuts? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Washington – As Congress hurtles toward a self-imposed deadline to cut at least $1.2 trillion from deficits during the next 10 years, conservative lawmakers face tough choices on whether to keep their pledge to never raise taxes.

All six GOP members of the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction have signed the taxpayer protection pledge, launched in 1986 by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), an antitax group. All but six House Republicans and seven US senators have also signed.

The pledge commits lawmakers to opposing any hikes in tax rates. It also opposes cutting tax breaks or loopholes, unless they are entirely offset by spending cuts or other tax breaks. The idea is to ensure that no new money goes to the federal government but instead remains in the wallets of taxpayers.

But that opposition to any net tax increase is emerging as a major obstacle to the deficit "super committee" reaching a deal by its Nov. 23 deadline. Democrats on the panel are committed to a “balanced” approach to deficit reduction, which includes increases to federal revenue, such as tax hikes on the highest-income Americans.

RECOMMENDED: Who's who on the deficit 'super committee'

Now there are signs that, even for some prominent conservatives, the constraints of the ATR pledge are beginning to chafe.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin, who chairs the House Budget Committee, lately is avoiding being forced to give a yes-or-no answer to questions on tax hikes. All GOP presidential hopefuls responded in a recent debate that they would oppose revenue increases as part of a deficit-reduction deal, even if the ratio was $1 in tax hikes for every $10 in spending cuts.

“I think that was more of a gotcha question and trying to get people to look like they violated some pledge they may have taken,” he said during an interview with National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” on Friday. “I’m not going to play this game.”

“I believe you can get higher revenues through tax reform and economic growth, and I think that’s the way to do it, because you don’t want to compromise job creation,” he said.

Rep. Buck McKeon (R) of California, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, is lobbying his colleagues hard to not accept further defense cuts as part of a deficit compromise. But he doesn’t want to be forced to choose between defense spending and a tax hike.

“I don’t want to get to that point,â€

Rep. Jeff Flake (R) of Arizona, who has signed the pledge, has suggested there is some wiggle room. “Some [conservatives] won’t even let you get rid of a tax deduction or tax expenditure, unless it matches up with a tax cut. I’m not one of those.”

“If you can get rid of something as bad as the ethanol subsidy, I don’t think we should feel compelled to find a corresponding tax cut,” he added.

ATR President Grover Norquist calls adherence to the pledge a principled stance and a commitment to voters, not to ATR or to himself. He predicts it will not break down in the heat of negotiations to reach a deal.

“All of the guys on that committee have taken the pledge and understand it,” he says. “Everything I’m hearing is that we’re fine.”

An anti-Norquist pledge petition, signed by more than 11,000 online responders, calls on "Gridlock Grover" to affirm that the constitutional oath of public officials should trump ATR's no-tax pledge. "Over the past several months, politicians across the political spectrum have argued that your demand for ideological purity and your strong-arm enforcement tactics are paralyzing Congress and preventing Congress from solving the problems of the American people," reads the petition sponsored by the Constitutional Accountability Center in Washington.

On Tuesday, Sen. Max Baucus (D) of Montana, chair of the Senate Finance Committee and a member of the deficit panel, proposed more than $1 trillion in tax increases in a $3 trillion deficit-reduction plan. GOP leaders on and off the panel quickly dismissed it.

“Democrats come up with phony proposals like the $3 trillion [plan] to mask tax increases,” says Mr. Norquist. “Democrats want to raise taxes and they don’t want to cut spending. Republicans don’t want to raise taxes, but they want to cut spending. That’s exactly what we want the narrative to be between now and the next election cycle.”

RECOMMENDED: Who's who on the deficit 'super committee'

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Michigan Republicans Push Bill to Allow More "Cyber" Charter Schools (ContributorNetwork)

Michigan Republicans narrowly passed a bill on Thursday that would raise the cap on what are commonly referred to as "cyber" charter schools. The bill was one of six measures the Senate passed that Republicans say would give more parents more choices in their children's education.

The move to lift the cap on cyber charter schools follows very closely behind another recent measure passed by state Republicans that would lift the cap on brick-and-mortar charter schools as well. The Republicans' push toward regular and cyber charter schooling has been very controversial, as oversight and accountability in charter schools is still virtually nil in the state.

Why are state Republicans pushing charter schools so strenuously?

In general, state Republicans claim the push toward lifting the cap on the establishment of charter schools is about giving parents more choices. Additionally, some have pointed out the advantage of cyber schools to home-schooling parents and school dropouts. They are pushing not only to lift the cap on the number of them allowed in the state but also to allow them the same per-student funding as a typical public school, which is to be paid through the state's public school funds.

Some have pointed out the timing of this push seems odd. Charter schools tend to be run through businesses, as opposed to traditional public schools. Critics have alleged there might an element of this push for more charter schools that is politically or personally advantageous, or both.

Why is a potential increase so controversial?

Partially for the reasons listed above, but also because of the lack of state oversight and accountability that charter schools enjoy in Michigan. Additionally, it has been shown in several studies that sought to measure the performance of charter schools vs. traditional public schools that charter schools, as a general rule, do not perform at the same level as their traditional counterparts. Charter schools have also widely been accused of turning away special needs students and of being racially segregated.

Add to that the question of money. Cyber schools are being heavily investigated around the nation. In Ohio, a study revealed the state's 23 "E-schools" are far more expensive than traditional public schools and provide, according to the study, "dismal" results.

How widespread is the opposition to lifting the cap on charter schools?

An EPIC-MRA poll conducted in late September showed the opposition to charter schools is definitely there. Some 52 percent of Michigan voters voiced opposition to the idea of lifting the cap.

The vote in the state Legislature has been relatively close. The bill on cyber schools passed the Senate on Thursday 20-18. Six Republicans voted against the measure along with all of the Senate Democrats.

The measures now go to the state House. It is uncertain as to whether Gov. Rick Snyder will sign the bills. These measures go further in their educational reforms than anything he has previously proposed.

Vanessa Evans is a musician and freelance writer based in Michigan, with a lifelong interest in politics and public issues.

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Going off-the-cuff, Romney does himself few favors (AP)

WASHINGTON – Mitt Romney may need a censor. For himself.

In the last few weeks in Nevada, the man who owns several homes told the state hit tough by the housing crisis: "Don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom."

At one point in Iowa, earlier this year, the former venture capitalist uttered, "Corporations are people," with the country in the midst of a debate over Wall Street vs. Main Street. At an event in economically suffering Florida, the retiree — who is a multimillionaire many times over — told out-of-work voters, "I'm also unemployed."

Over the past year, the Republican presidential candidate has amassed a collection of off-the-cuff comments that expose his vulnerabilities and, taken together, cast him as out-of-touch with Americans who face staggering unemployment, widespread foreclosures and a dire outlook on the economy.

So far, the foot-in-mouth remarks haven't seemed to affect his standing in the nomination race.

Romney has run a far more cautious and disciplined campaign than his losing bid of four years ago. He's kept the focus on his core message: He's the strongest candidate able to beat President Barack Obama on the biggest issue of the campaign, the economy. He still enjoys leading positions in public opinion polls in early primary states and across the nation. Few, if any, of the other Republicans in the race have turned his remarks against him.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Romney's chief rival with the money to prove it, is all but certain to try. Perry has already started suggesting that Romney lives a life of privilege while he comes from humble roots. In an interview Friday with CNN, another GOP candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, painted Romney as "a perfectly lubricated weather vane on the important issues of the day."

And Romney's eyebrow-raising comments are tailor-made for critical TV ads.

Look no further than the Democratic Party and Obama's advisers for proof of that.

Each time Romney says something that makes even his closest aides grimace, Democrats quickly put together a Web video highlighting the remark — a preview of certain lines of attack come the general election should the former Massachusetts governor win the nomination.

"Mitt Romney's message to Arizona? You're on your own," says a new ad by the Democratic National Committee that jumps on Romney's foreclosure remarks.

Romney's team publicly dismisses their boss's occasional loose lips, dismissing them as inconsequential to voters focused on an unemployment rate hovering around 9 percent.

"It's a long campaign and at the end of the day people are going to judge Gov. Romney and his ability to take on President Obama over jobs and the economy. And certainly there will be a lot of back and forth as the campaign progresses," said Russ Schriefer, a Romney strategist.

"This election will be decided on big issues because the issues are so big and so important," Schriefer said. "And not on a gaffe or a mistake or a moment, any particularly moment. It's more about the big moments and who voters see and being able to turn the economy around."

It usually takes more than one gaffe or one mistake to undo a campaign. And other candidates have made their own potentially problematic comments.

Take, for instance, Herman Cain's assertion that the Wall Street protesters are in the streets to distract from Obama's record: "If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself." Or Perry's suggestion that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is "almost treasonous": "If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don't what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas." Or former House Speaker Newt Gingrich explaining his infidelity: "There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate."

But a string of unforced errors, when combined, can reinforce unfavorable perceptions of the candidate, as Romney aides privately acknowledge. And that's the trouble Romney faces — just as John Kerry damaged himself when he racked up a series of equivocating comments on a series of issues while the Democratic nominee in 2004.

President George W. Bush's re-election campaign used Kerry's waffling — conflicts between his votes and his quotes — to cast him as an opportunist who would shift his positions to win votes.

Romney gave his critics a similar opening over the past few days. In Ohio, he refused to say whether he would support a local ballot initiative even as he visited a site where volunteers were making hundreds of phone calls to help Republicans defeat it. Issue Two would repeal Ohio Gov. John Kasich's restrictions on public sector employee bargaining.

It turned out that Romney had already weighed in, supporting Kasich's efforts in a June Facebook post. And, a day after the Ohio visit, Romney made clear where he stood, saying he was "110 percent" behind the anti-union effort.

There have been other instances of comments that could come back to haunt him. In Arizona at one point, he tried to highlight his father's role running an auto company but inadvertently painted himself as a have, rather than a have not.

"See, I'm a Detroit guy, so, you know, I only have domestics," he said, then added: "I have a couple of Cadillacs, at two different houses. You know, small crossovers."

During a recent debate, Romney suggested that the discovery of illegal immigrants working on his yard during his first presidential campaign was a problem — not because it was illegal, but because "I'm running for office, for Pete's sake."

Comments like those could partly explain why Romney has kept a limited public schedule and favors closed events and appearances that play down spontaneous interaction with reporters.

Still, in some ways, the damage may already have been done. Expect to hear Romney's impolitic comments frequently as Republicans and Democrats alike try to derail Romney.

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Associated Press writer Beth Fouhy in Boston contributed to this report.

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