December 11, 2007

Iowa '08: The Talons Come Out

Not counting the week between Christmas and New Year's, when presumably even Iowans will want to leave politics behind in favor of eggnog and football, the presidential candidates really have only about two weeks left of campaigning in the crucial caucus state -- and it shows. John Edwards is rolling up his sleeves for an eight-day Iowa bus tour. Barack Obama's showing off his most glamorous accessory. And yesterday, for the first time in his prolific ad campaign, Mitt Romney went negative.

The GOP contender became the first on either side of the aisle to purchase air time for an attack ad this week amid the continued rise of Mike Huckabee in both Iowa polls and national surveys of likely Republican primary voters. Romney's new spot blasts Huckabee's record on an issue that has proven to be a lightning rod for Republicans in Iowa -- immigration. Today's Ad Spotlight (subscription) has more details on the ad. Meanwhile, perhaps blunting the ad's blow to Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor was endorsed by Jim Gilchrist, founder of border security group the Minutemen, in Iowa this morning. MSNBC has more.

New numbers out this week reveal that not only is Huckabee gaining in national polls of Republican voters, he is now statistically tied with Rudy Giuliani for first place in surveys from CNN/Opinion Research Corporation and CBS News/New York Times. See today's Poll Track (subscription) for analysis of those numbers, plus new figures showing Obama closing in on Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Like everyone else inside the Beltway, The Gate will be keeping a close watch (or shall we say a hawk's eye) on Iowa this week. Check back at 2 p.m. EST on Wednesday and Thursday for liveblog coverage of the GOP and Democratic debates, respectively, hosted by the Des Moines Register. They will be the last televised debates before the Jan. 3 caucuses.

Posted at 12:59 PM
Posted to: Campaigns, Democrats, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Republicans, WH 2008
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