After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton

An American Research Group poll released on Wednesday, of likely votes in the Iowa Republican caucus, found that former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has moved to the front of the pack of Republican presidential candidates in the Hawkeye State -- while businessman Herman Cain and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., have collapsed there. Gingrich takes 27 percent in the poll, followed by former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts with 20 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, places third with 16 percent.

Speaking of the budget deadlock on Capitol Hill, Rick Perry said, "We never would have gotten to this situation if I were president." "I would have worked day in and day out. We would have a 20 percent flat tax and a 20 percent corporate rate," he said at Tuesday night's GOP debate. Rick Santorum said a hyper-partisan and campaigning president "has poisoned the well in Congress." Putting the supercommittee's task in perspective, Michele Bachmann noted that the panel was asked to cut spending by $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

Ron Paul dismissed the idea of a unilateral Israeli attack on Iran, and said the Jewish state does not need U.S. help. "They can take care of themselves. Why do we have an automatic program to send our money to Israel?" the Texas congressman said at Tuesday night's GOP debate. Rick Perry said he favors sanctions against the Iranian central bank to "shut down their economy" and deter that country's nuclear program. Newt Gingrich called for the "defeat of the Iranian regime with a minimal use of force" before that country gets a nuclear weapon.

Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry disagreed on how America should deal with a shaky Pakistan in the global war on terror. "Pakistan lies, but it also shares intelligence data on al-Qaida. We need to demand more," Bachmann said during Tuesday night's CNN debate in Washington, D.C. Rick Perry said, "Until Pakistan shows they have America's best interest in mind, I would not send them one penny." Bachmann called Perry's remarks "highly naive" and labeled Pakistan "too nuclear to fail."