Iowa, 2012 Presidential Election | featured news

The presidential candidate, in danger of slipping from front-runner status, says criticism from fellow Republicans is 'reprehensible.' Facing slipping poll numbers, an angry Newt Gingrich lashed out at his Republican presidential rivals Monday, calling their criticism of him "reprehensible" and helpful only to President Obama's reelection.

The Des Moines Register endorsed Mitt Romney for president on Saturday night, saying his "sobriety, wisdom and judgment" fit the times and outweigh what they called his tendency to "pick his way through the political minefields."

Donald Trump withdrew Tuesday as the moderator of a debate planned for later this month in Iowa, citing his interest in possibly still running for president as an independent. Trump pulled out of a debate he had planned to host along with the conservative magazine Newsmax, scheduled for Dec. 27, just days before the Iowa caucuses. All the GOP presidential candidates save for Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum said they would not participate.

Mitt Romney may have some help in Iowa: Ron Paul. The Texas congressman's allies and others say that he drains support from the rising Newt Gingrich, and, if that turns out to be the case during the Jan. 3 caucuses and Paul manages to triumph here, the theory is that Romney would benefit in the long-run.

Is it too late to fire the moderator? Two more Republican candidates -- Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry -- said thanks but no thanks to an invitation to participate in an Iowa debate managed by real estate mogul Donald Trump.

A "super PAC" associated with Republican Mitt Romney's presidential campaign launched a $3.1 million ad buy in Iowa on Thursday, starting with an ad attacking President Obama's job-creation record and touting Romney's.

The polls of the two earliest states in the presidential nominating contest both show significant progress for Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, who has moved up about 20 points in each state since October.

The real estate mogul will moderate a debate with conservative media outlet Newsmax a week before Iowa caucus.

With just seven weeks to go before Iowa holds the first nominating contest of the GOP presidential primary, voters in the state remain ambivalent about their choices.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is trying to stay above the fray in the GOP nominating campaign. The former Massachusetts governor is visiting eastern Iowa counties he won in his 2008 bid for the state's leadoff caucuses. He's also sticking with his strategy of shadowing President Barack Obama and trying to present himself as the most electable Republican. Obama also visited eastern Iowa in the fall.