After six months of campaigning, 13 Republican presidential debates, and millions of dollars spent to flood the airwaves with ads, voters finally get a say in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.
Tuesday night, Iowa Republicans will gather at 809 caucus sites across the state, casting ballots for their party’s presidential nominee.
The caucuses, the first contest in the primary and caucus calendar, most likely will not determine the eventual nominee, but they will shape the race for the White House and will be closely watched by the national press corps and Republicans nationwide.
Mitt Romney, making his second bid for the nomination, tops most national polls, and spoke confidently at a Monday rally of his chances to win the party’s nomination.
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« We’re going to win this thing with all of our passion and strength, and do everything we can to get this campaign on the right track to go across the nation and to pick up other states and to get the ballots I need and the votes I need to become our nominee, » he said in Marion.
Romney’s language on Monday was the strongest to date when discussing his odds. While the former Massachusetts governor hasn’t spent much time this cycle campaigning in Iowa, he has stepped up his efforts in recent weeks. Romney wraps up his Iowa campaigning on Tuesday.
Romney focused his strong attacks, as he has done throughout the campaign, on President Barack Obama. With his wife Ann and two sons accompanying him on the trail Monday, he predicted the president and Democrats will « poison the very spirit of America and keep us from being one nation under God. »
« I’ve watched a president who’s become the great divider, the great complainer, the great excuse-give, the great blamer, » Romney said. « I want to have an America that comes together. I’m an optimist. I believe in the future of America. I’m not a pessimist. »
A Des Moines Register poll released Saturday showed Romney with 24% support of Iowa caucus-goers, with Texas Rep. Ron Paul close behind at 22%.
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Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, the latest to rise in a campaign that has seen several candidates enjoy bursts of support in polls, had 15%, with Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and one-time front-runner, at 12%, Texas Gov. Rick Perry at 11% and Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota at 7.
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Gingrich on Monday was continuing to blame his recent slide in national and statewide polls on the negative ads from a super PAC that supports Romney’s candidacy, while maintaining he will once again be the frontrunner by early March.
Although he focused his jabs on Romney and contrasted their positions, he also dismissed rival Ron Paul.
He said the Republican Party would not nominate the three-time presidential candidate, citing his stances on Israel, Iran’s nuclear program, his support for legalizing some drugs and the controversial newsletters that were published under his name over a decade ago.
« If I was going to take on wrong Ron Paul I would take him on – he writes about my being a serial hypocrite and he can’t remember the newsletters he apparently made money from for 10 years, » Gingrich said during an editorial board meeting with the Iowa Gazette on Monday. « I don’t think about Ron Paul. »
The former House speaker also handicapped his chances in the caucuses, insisting he will achieve a victory, whatever the outcome.
« I don’t think I’m going to win. I think if you look at the numbers, I think that volume of negativity has done enough damage, » Gingrich told reporters in Independence. « Whatever I do tomorrow night will be a victory because I’m still standing. »
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The lesser-known Santorum’s campaign reported that his surge in the polls was fueling a 300%-400% increase in fundraising on a daily basis over the past 10 days — more money over the last month than it has raised in the last six months, according to a senior Santorum adviser.
Santorum said his strong background as a social conservative better positions him for a win in 2012 rather than a more moderate candidate.
« I would suggest that if you look at the history of Republican nominees, that moderate voters, moderate candidates who are there to appeal to more moderates ended up losing, » Santorum said in an event in Polk City.
In yet another sign Santorum is rising among rivals, Rick Perry continued to pile on the former Pennsylvania senator.
The Texas governor, whose standing in polls declined after a series of lackluster debate performances, pointed to weak points in Santorum’s history including his double-digit loss to recapture his Pennsylvania Senate seat in 2006, poor national organization and past support of Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, who later switched parties to become a Democrat.
« His … argument is ‘I’m the guy that can win,' » Perry said of Santorum on Monday on MSNBC. « He got beat by 18 points in his last race. I mean this guy has proven that he can’t win races when it matters against a liberal Democrat. »
Michele Bachmann, who released her final ad in Iowa Monday, made similar comments during a campaign stop in West Des Moines, while also criticizing earmarks he supported while serving in Congress.
Third-time presidential candidate Paul also piled on Santorum. While campaigning with his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul Monday, he drew sharp contrasts to his limited government philosophy with Santorum’s history.
During an interview with CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash, Paul called Santorum « very liberal, » a theme he continued throughout his day of campaign events.
« I mean, have you looked at his record? Go look at his record, » Paul said. « He spends too much money. He wasn’t leading the charge to slash the budgets and vote against big government. »
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