A state battle over climate-change legislation in 2008 is leaving former House Majority Leader Adam Hasner to explain to the GOP base why he voted for a measure that appeared to bring the state closer to a cap-and-trade system -- a policy that is anathema to most conservatives.

Hasner responds that the bill was actually an attempt to fight a climate-change proposal being pushed by one of his opponents.

Since entering the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination in June, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has surged in national polls and surveys of key states -- and a new poll has her leading the pack in Iowa, home of the first caucus. Previous polls had shown Romney, who placed second in the caucus when he ran in 2008, ahead of the field in Iowa.

A new poll unveiled on Sunday, commissioned by TheIowaRepublican.com and taken by Voter/Consumer Research, reveals that Bachmann has moved ahead of former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts in the Hawkeye State.

Craig Miller, the former CEO of Ruths Chris who ran for the Republican nomination for a Central Florida congressional seat in 2010, is expected Tuesday to announce that he is entering an already crowded primary to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.

Miller, a Vietnam veteran, has expressed interest in entering the race since early May. Besides touring the state since first leaving the door open, Miller has met with Republican leaders in Washington. They have made Nelson, who is seeking a third term, one of their top targets in the 2012 election cycle.