Tag: romney

Though it was presidential candidate Mitt Romney who hardened his stance opposing same-sex marriage during Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate in Sioux City, Iowa, it was his strongest rival, Newt Gingrich, who demonstrated his commitment to excluding same-sex couples from marriage by signing the National Organization for Marriage‘s “Marriage Pledge” hours before the debate.

Yet another Iowa poll of likely caucus-goers has shown Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann with a small lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

The first meaningful Republican debate of the 2011-2012 primary was held in New Hampshire Monday, and the candidates had much to say on how they would handle immigration.

GOP 2012 presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney has decided to pass on the Iowa straw poll this summer, a warm-up event for the election-year Iowa caucuses, which increasingly have become a sort of warm-up event for the real primary campaigns. Romney's decision is making headlines as a risky move but the fact is non-incumbent winners of the GOP Iowa caucus don't win the GOP national nomination in any kind of consistent way. And the record of caucus winners is even less a predictor for success in the general election. As Romney knows and as the New York Times suggested Saturday, Iowa is now way too Christian right and Midwest parochial to serve as a barometer for Republican America.

Although there have been plenty of comings and goings over the past two weeks, the one event that had the largest impact on Iowa politicos was an official announcement from Mike Huckabee that he would not be a 2012 contender. The news, combined with perceived negatives by establishment candidates, allowed for additional forward momentum in the second tier.

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart appeared as a guest on Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor last night and ran down his take on GOP presidential candidates. While Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann got mention, more as a punchline — “If Sarah Palin doesn’t run, Michele Bachmann could definitely put on that blazer” — Tim Pawlenty got props for seeming “like a reasonable guy.” But, Stewart added, Pawlenty has left Minnesota in worse shape than did, say, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

In this fourth edition of The Iowa Independent’s 2012 Presidential Power Rankings, the panelists give nods to their widest field of potential candidates thus far, spreading their predictions between 13 individuals. Most also see 2012 shaping up as an outsiders-versus-establishment gambit, with the establishment winning if the grassroots are fractured.

Results from a Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday show that so far, President Obama has the edge over his GOP counterparts in the next presidential election.