“Sadly, the values I most appreciated in Congresswoman Bachmann appear to have gone out the window in a last-minute effort to salvage what’s left of her campaign.”
Morning Must Reads: Swagger
- Another polling snapshot of Iowa shows the race in the same shape as earlier this week.
- Romney finds his Iowa swagger.
- He’s abandoned the expectations game.
- And says “Ron Paul’s not going to be our nominee.”
Why Rick Santorum Is No Social-Conservative Savior
With less than a week to go before the Iowa caucuses, it looks like the “come-from-way-behind Rick Santorum boomlet” I joked about a month ago could actually be a reality. And unlike many of the other candidate surges that have …
What the Rick Santorum Swell Has Wrought
“People say, when are you gonna get your surge?” Rick Santorum said today in Iowa. “I say, January 3.” He’s gloating and rightly so; a TIME/CNN poll released Wednesday showed Santorum thundering up the leader-board at the most opportune of times: five days before the first-in-the-nation caucuses.
If Santorum is indeed pulling …
Still Standing, Gingrich Says ‘We’re Doing Just Fine’ in Iowa
Sioux City, Iowa
If Newt Gingrich is steaming about the flurry of attacks that have impeded his momentum and caused his poll numbers to sag, he’s not letting the frustration show. On the third day of his 22-stop bus tour, Gingrich was loose and boisterous on Thursday morning at a trio of campaign events in Sioux City, the hub of one …
On the Trail With Ron Paul: Love, Curiosity and Anger in Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Through the booms and busts of the Iowa campaign—Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich—Ron Paul has steadily built his following in the Hawkeye State, where he now sits atop the polls. But …
In the Arena2012 Election
5 Days Till Iowa: The Santorum Surge and the Bachmann Fizzle
Des Moines, Iowa
Some housekeeping first: I have a new print column, which TIME subscribers can read online here, that elaborates on some of the themes I’ve been blogging about in recent days–namely that this Republican ship of clowns has managed, despite non-stop silliness, to raise some very basic questions about American democracy …
Morning Must Reads: Underdog
- Romney’s closing argument in Iowa:
[youtube=http://youtu.be/W4ypqKig9_I]
- His Super PAC is still deep-sixing Gingrich.
- Newt Inc. is doing just fine.
With Support Slipping, Gingrich Falls Back on Appeal for Comity
Spencer, Iowa
Newt Gingrich has a problem. It’s not just the avalanche of attack ads burying his campaign, or his comparative lack of cash, or the nattering naysayers’ inability to wrap their heads around his unorthodox …
Mitt Romney in Iowa: Winning, One Slogan at a Time
Clinton, Iowa
As Mitt Romney enters the final stretch in Iowa, poll numbers rising, crowds appearing, the inevitability beginning to sink in, his message is honed down, lean and mean, with declarative sentences that slice the …
Q&A: Kent Sorenson, the Iowa Senator Who Just Jumped Ship from Bachmann to Paul
On Wednesday afternoon, state senator Kent Sorenson appeared with Michele Bachmann as the chair of her Iowa campaign. On Wednesday evening, Sorenson was stepping onto the stage at a veterans’ rally to endorse Ron Paul, switching …
CNN/TIME/ORC Poll: Gingrich Collapse Fuels Santorum Surge in Iowa, Solidifies Romney Lead in New Hampshire
With less than a week to go until Republicans cast the first votes of the 2012 presidential race in Iowa, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Texas congressman Ron Paul remain atop the field there, even as the fortunes …
Obama’s 10 Biggest Foreign Policy Challenges for 2012
The foreign policy crisis horizon shows little respect for the calendar New Year: The Obama Administration ought to have a good idea of the crises that await it in different global hotspots as it braces for an election year. But a recurring theme in the current menu of challenges, whether in the Middle East, north or south Asia, Africa …