From the Politico daily newsletter:
Fractured results in the initial primaries and caucuses disrupt Mitt Romney’s plan to rack up a series of convincing wins ahead of the big states where Giuliani expects to run well. It’s harder to build a head of steam when you’re fighting gnats, and any success the also-rans achieve will dilute [...]

Well, looks like that strong showing in the straw poll helped quite a bit after all.
From CBS:
While the Democratic contest in Iowa has been a three-way battle for some time, most polls have shown Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, with a strong lead in the Hawkeye State, dominating the GOP field. Recent surveys, however, have [...]

More news that makes Hillary look like a faker.
From Fox News:
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s campaign admitted Friday that it planted a global warming question in Newton, Iowa, Tuesday during a town hall meeting to discuss clean energy.
Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elliethee admitted that the campaign had planted the question [...]

This podcast covers the MSNBC Democratic debate in Pennsylvania. Specifically, we discuss (1) Hillary Clinton and immigration, (2) the styles of Obama and John Edwards, (3) how the campaign has progressed since the debate, (4) Biden and his quips and more…
[Note: audio problems have been corrected in this podcast...many thanks for your patience]
[Listen Online][Download]
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Just read on MSNBC about how the GOP is shunning Ron Paul, but he’s picking up the politically independent in Iowa.
I like his thoughts on how to phase out pieces of the welfare state. Not all at once, but doing it in a common sense, gradual manner…
Since most Americans have become accustomed to the [...]

And Edwards is fading…
From TIME:
The University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll, released at 8 a.m. Monday morning, shows Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in a heated battle on the Democratic side. Clinton leads the poll with 28.9% while Obama garnered 26.6%. John Edwards trails with 20%, a 6-point drop from the last Hawkeye poll in August.
For [...]

From TIME:
On the Republican side, the Hawkeye poll showed that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has widened his overall lead by 8 percentage points, to 36.2%. But Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, has gained ground despite spending just $1.7 million compared to Romney’s $53.6 million. Huckabee is up from less than 2 % [...]

“Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary.”
Really?
It struck some Iowans as odd too…
“That was a little weird,” said Sioux City resident Joe Shufro. “I don’t know what God had to do with choosing Iowa among other states. I found that a little [...]

I’m heartened to finally hear somebody on the Republican side talking about fiscal responsibility and not talking about tax cuts as the only sound economic policy.
New York Post:
August 18, 2007 — DES MOINES, Iowa - Fred Thompson wandered very close to getting into the 2008 presidential race yesterday in his first foray here - riding [...]

The answer that question is yes…and also no…
See, for all intents and purposes, Saturday was a disappoinment for Ron Paul because Mike Huckabee got the spot where he wanted to be. And not only that, it turns out that Huck was indeed the defacto winner since he spent so little money and placed so high. [...]

Well, Mitt actually placed first, and that was to be expected.
But what wasn’t expected is that Ron Paul would lose to Huckabee, Brownback and Tom “Bomb Mecca” Trancedo.
From the Des Moines Register…
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had said his campaign’s future depended on a strong showing in Ames. He finished in second place, with [...]

UPDATE 2:
Apparently it’s not a heavy turnout…
Campaign officials estimate that around 14,000 Iowans cast straw ballots today. That’s about sixty percent of the 23,500 who voted in 1999. So, turnout is clearly low. But that’s not surprising, given that three major candidates refused to attend.
And who’s leading?
Right now, Romney tops the polls in Iowa with [...]

First off, Paul’s wife has been hospitalized, and I wish her speedy recovery. From reports, though, looks like she’s doing fine so good news there.
Now then…expectations are high and apparently Ron Paul supporters are out in full force today. This has the media paying attention, and they’re starting to make non specific promises that [...]

I’ve written about this pretty extensively now.
Wired picks up the meme:
Paul’s offline poll numbers remain low. Just 2 percent of Iowans surveyed at the end of July said they would vote for him in the 2008 Republican caucus among the field of current GOP presidential candidates, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday. [...]

There are always those moments in a dark horse’s political campaign where they know they have to win a particular contest or it’s probably not going to happen for them. Again, I’m going to draw a parallel to Howard Dean. You Roniacs may not like this, but oh well, the comparison is apt in my [...]

Edwards, Hillary, Barack…oh my!
We’re in for an interesting race, but something tells me that Edwards could have an advantage in Iowa since he was there just a few years ago and secured the Des Moines Registers’ endorsement. But would that essentially make Iowa moot in the campaign cycle, since his chances of securing the nomination [...]