A new political reality with Iowa caucuses
As six of the major Republican presidential candidates stump across Iowa on Friday, the campaign landscape has been altered. The transformation was captured by a CNN/Time/ORC International poll released Wednesday, which showed Gingrich’s support among likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers plunging, one-time long-shot candidate Rick Santorum more than tripling his support since the beginning of the month, and Romney slightly edging out Rep. Ron Paul of Texas for the top spot among the field of White House contenders.
Romney starts Friday with a campaign rally in West Des Moines before heading to New Hampshire, which holds the second contest on the primary and caucus calendar. But he’ll return to Iowa Saturday afternoon, and in a sign of increased confidence, a campaign aide confirmed Romney will spend caucus night in Des Moines — instead of his firewall state of New Hampshire, where the campaign could cushion the blow of a poor Iowa showing.