With a new poll showing him slipping in Iowa, which holds the first presidential caucus in less than three weeks, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich turned his focus to the Hawkeye State this week.
A Rasmussen Reports poll of likely Iowa Republican caucus voters released on Thursday found that Gingrich is fading. Romney leads with 23 percent followed by Gingrich with 20 percent. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is coming on strong in Iowa taking a solid third with 18 percent. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is in fourth with 10 percent, followed by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota with 9 percent. Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania takes 6 percent, while former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah, who has focused on New Hampshire, follows with 5 percent. The poll of 750 likely Iowa Republican caucus voters was taken on Dec. 13 and had a margin of error of +/4 percent.
In a poll taken by Rasmussen in the middle of November, Gingrich was out front in Iowa with 32 percent, followed by Romney with 19 percent and businessman Herman Cain, who dropped out of the race earlier this month, with 13 percent and Paul with 10 percent.
Looking to turn things around in Iowa, Gingrich unveiled a new ad hitting the state Thursday.
These are challenging and important times for America. We want and deserve solutions. Others seem to be more focused on attacks rather than moving the country forward. Thats up to them, Gingrich says in the ad. I believe bold ideas and new solutions will unleash Americas creative spirit. When I was speaker, our budget was balanced and 11 million jobs were created. We can do it again and rebuild the America we love.
Gingrich also announced that his campaign had named 28 chairmen in 22 of the states 99 counties on Thursday.
The support of these dedicated Iowans continues to show our solutions-based message is resonating with the people of Iowa and across the country, Ginrgich said. I am honored to have the support of these fine individuals and happy to continue to show the strength of this innovative and diverse team.
Gingrich unveiled the backing of former Iowa Congressman Fred Grandy earlier in the week. Grandy is best known outside Iowa for playing the role of Gopher on the The Love Boat back in the 1970s-80s.
"I am proud to support Newt's campaign for president, Grandy said in a statement. I believe that his optimistic, solutions-oriented message is resonating well with the people of Iowa and with all Americans.
As someone who worked with Newt while in Congress, I also am saddened to see some of his former colleagues attack his leadership style," Grandy added. Newts leadership is the major reason Republicans won control of Congress in 1994 and enjoy a majority today. I believe that Newt is the best candidate to unite our party as we seek to unseat Barack Obama next year."
While Gingrich continued to build his operations in Iowa, Romney opened fire on him on Thursday.
When Republicans needed a leader to stand up against cap-and-trade, Speaker Gingrich did an ad with Nancy Pelosi about global warming, Romney said in a statement. When Republicans took one of the most courageous votes Ive seen in at least a decade to call for the reform of Medicare under the Paul Ryan plan, he goes public and says this is a right-wing social engineering plan. Recently, he even called it suicide. I know it can be popular with some people to use extreme language, but were talking about the presidency of the United States.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
