Months of debates, politicking, criticizing, slamming, disavowing, nitpicking and wooing voters in Iowa will come to fruition in three weeks when Republicans caucus in all 99 counties to select their choice for the Republican nominee. This will be the most active time for all seven major candidates vying for the GOP nomination for president.
Predictions
The New York Times stated Dec. 13 it will release its prediction ahead of the caucus. The venerable media giant believes the race in Iowa is wide open. One current model predicts a victory for Newt Gingrich with 25 percent of the vote. Rep. Ron Paul comes in second with 21 percent. Far behind is Mitt Romney with 15 percent but still a respectable third place. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is predicted to be fourth with 12 percent and Rep. Michele Bachmann polls at 11 percent. Everyone else is in single digits.
Political Posturing
At this point, candidates need to have clear views as to where they stand. Any sign of quibbling by anyone on their staff and some changes may be made. That was the case with Gingrich and his Iowa chief. The Des Moines Register reported Dec. 13 that Craig Bergman stepped aside after his comments regarding Mormons he made to a focus group.
"A lot of evangelicals believe God would give us four more years of Obama just for the opportunity to expose the cult of Mormon," Bergman said, according to the Register.
The comments were made before Bergman joined the Gingrich campaign in early December. The former Speaker of the House needs to have coordinated staffers around the state with so little time left.
Pandering Bus Tour
Bachmann will be touring all 99 Iowa counties in 10 days to plead her case to conservative voters. The tour kicks off Dec. 16 and is an unprecedented way to campaign through the state. Bachmann has been focusing all of her attention to her native state. Many of the bus stops on the first two days are at restaurants. Bachmann may gain a few pounds if she eats everywhere she goes.
Praise
The Des Moines Register reports Romney picked up an unlikely endorsement. Whether or not he wants to hear from a tea party outsider is another matter. Former Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell of Delaware visited Iowa in early December. She gave her support to Romney Dec. 13. Her largest audience was about a dozen tea party supporters in Des Moines after fifteen separate groups turned down her invitation.
This was the second time O'Donnell was slighted by Iowa. She was originally scheduled to appear alongside Sarah Palin at a speech in September but was disinvited within a week of the spectacle. Most tea party backers have polled with numbers highly against Romney.
One this is for sure as the race for Iowa gets into its critical stages. There will be a lot of speeches, ads and money spent by candidates to woo caucus goers to get their votes Jan. 3.
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