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Republicans For 2012 - Page 4

Iowa Republicans have set January 3 as the date for the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses, two members of the committee that will formally decide the date tell CNN.

Drew Ivers, a member of the Iowa GOP Central Committee, told CNN that January 3 is the "consensus date." Another member, A.J. Spiker, said, "The 3rd will clearly be the date."

Ivers and Spiker told CNN the entire committee discussed the date by telephone. Iowa Republicans said a date has not been officially decided and won't be until the committee meets formally and sets the date, but Spiker said that was merely a formality.

Iowa traditionally holds the first nominating contest in the nation and the date of its caucuses were up in the air because Florida moved its primary to the last day in January and threw the rest of the GOP calendar into disarray. Party rules call for Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina to hold the first caucuses and primaries. Ref. CNN

Republicans

Romney, Cain Lead Republican Field Heading Into GOP Debate
Mitt Romney and Herman Cain sit atop the leaderboard in the Republican race for president heading into the GOP debate tonight as new polls show the two presidential hopefuls leading in early primary states.

New NBC-Marist College surveys have the Massachusetts governor leading and the former businessman right behind him in Iowa and they have Romney with a big lead in New Hampshire on the day of the latest Republican presidential debate.

In the Granite State, 44% of likely Republican primary voters support Romney, who's making his second bid for the presidency. In New Hampshire, 13 percent support Cain and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is tied with him at that percentage. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the former front-runner in national polls, saw his stock in the state drop as it has dropped nationally following poor showings in multiple debates. Perry is now at 6 percent compared with 5 percent for former Utah Gov. And U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is at 4%, Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota at 2% and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania as well as former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson each at 1%.

In Iowa, the poll indicates Romney is at 23%, Cain at 20%, Ron Paul at 11%, and Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann each at 10%. Gingrich is at 4%, Santorum 3% and Huntsman at 1% in Iowa. Ref. Source 1

Republicans For 2012 History & Civil Business Politics

Mitt Romney and Herman Cain are essentially tied for the lead in the race for the 2012 GOP nomination, with Rick Perry dropping to a distant third, according to a new CNN/ORC poll.

But with only 33% of all Republicans saying that their minds are made up, it's far too early to say the race is over, or even that is has boiled down to a mano-a-mano fight between Romney and Cain.

Cain has seen his support nearly triple, from 9% in September to 25% now; Perry's strength has been cut in half in that same time period.

There has been little change for the candidates in single digits -- 2- to 3-point swings for Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich and little or no change for Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman.

Watch the GOP presidential candidates face off at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, October 18, in the CNN Western Republican Presidential Debate in Las Vegas. Ref. CNN

Page 4 Republicans

A new national poll released today shows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich vaulting into a virtual tie with front-runner Mitt Romney over the last month in the Republican presidential race.

The same survey indicates businessman and former talk show host Herman Cain's numbers falling during the same period. Cain has been mired in controversy for the past two weeks over allegations from four women that he sexually harassed them in the late 1990s them when he was head of the National Restaurant Association.

According the the CNN/ORC International poll, 24% of Republicans or GOP-leaning independents say Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is making his second presidential run, is their most likely choice for the party's nomination. While Romney's numbers have remained fairly steady, Gingrich surged 14 percentage points in popularity, up to 22%, since October. That 2-point difference is well within the poll's sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.

At the same time, Cain has fallen 11 percentage points from 25% in October to 14% now. The poll was conducted from Friday through Sunday, well after the news of the Cain controversy broke. Ref. CNN

Republicans

A new CNN/ORC International poll shows Newt Gingrich was the top choice by far of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents asked who was most qualified to be commander in chief.

On the eve of a CNN debate on national security issues, the former House speaker was the choice of 36% of those polled on that question -- 16 points ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and nearly triple the percentage of those choosing GOP rivals Rick Perry or Herman Cain.

In a sign of the surge Gingrich has had in preference polls over the last month, he was the top choice of 24% of those surveyed, with Romney favored by 20%. The poll's sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points means the poll is statistically a dead heat between the two.

The roles are reversed when it comes to likability: While 29% of those polled see Romney that way, only 9% say that about Gingrich. And Romney still is seen as having the best chance to beat Pr esident Barack Obama next November.

Watch the debate live on CNN and CNN.com on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET and visit CNNPolitics.com for in-depth coverage of Gingrich's resurgence. Ref. CNN

Republicans For 2012

Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul clashed over the Patriot Act at the start of Tuesday's debate for GOP presidential candidates, with Gingrich saying terrorism means "all of us will be in danger for the rest of our lives."

Gingrich, the former House speaker, added that he would look at strengthening the Patriot Act if elected. Paul disagreed, saying "the Patriot Act is unpatriotic because it undermines our liberty."

The CNN debate -- focused on national security and foreign policy issues -- is the first in which Gingrich is firmly among the front-runners in national surveys, in a virtual tie with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Watch the debate live now on CNN TV, CNN.com and its mobile apps. Ref. CNN

Republicans 2012 - Page 4

2012 Election Will Have Massive Abortion Implications

The state of the economy continues to be the issue that political commentators and the media proclaim as the number one concern facing Americans in the upcoming election of 2012. Indeed, all of the current Republican candidates for president are emphasizing economic issues as they challenge President Obama's reelection.

The economic situation of our nation is not good. Unemployment is high and the nation is suffering from large numbers of unemployed and larger numbers of underemployed who are struggling to support their families.

The state of the economy is, of course, an issue of vital concern. However, abortion and related life issues are absolute critical issues that will define the future of America. Yet, they are barely visible on the media's radar screen. The state of the economy will undoubtedly determine how millions of Americans vote in November 2012, but the future of the nation will ultimately be determined by how Americans decide the abortion/life issues.

Lincoln said that our nation cannot continue to exist half slave and half free. Ronald Reagan said, in the spirit of Lincoln, that our nation cannot continue to exist where the lives of some human beings, I.e. The unborn, are not protected under the law while others are granted such protection. Indeed, current abortion statistics are sobering. Since 1973 nearly 55 million unborn children have been killed by abortion. Abortion takes the lives of 1.3 million unborn children a year, 3,300 per day, and one every 25 seconds. Ref. Source 7

Republicans 2012 Politics Business Civil & History - Page 4

Gingrich, Bachmann Spar on Abortion in Republican Debate

Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann sparred on the issue of abortion in Thursday night's Republican debate with Bachmann making an accusation that Gingrich did not fully support pro-life efforts in Congress.

"All right. Congresswoman Bachmann, you say that Speaker Gingrich has a, quote, "inconsistent record on life" and you singled out comments he made recently that life begins with the implantation of a fertilized egg, not at conception. What is your concern?" a Fox News panelist asked her.

Bachmann responded, "Well, my concern is the fact that the Republican Party can't get the issue of life wrong. This is a basic part of our party. Just last night we gathered in Des Moines to talk about this issue, because it's that crucial to our party. And one of the concerns that I had is that when Speaker Gingrich was Speaker of the House he had an opportunity to de-fund Planned Parenthood. And he chose not to take it. That is a big issue."

However, Bachmman's claim is misleading in that the issue of de-funding Planned Parenthood did not come up until recent years and - in the 1990s during Gingrich's time as Speaker - the main votes taken in the House were on stopping direct taxpayer funding of abortions in various instances in federal government programs. On those votes, Gingrich consistently maintained a 100% pro-life voting record concerning stopping domestic or foreign abortion funding of funding of pro-abortion groups. Ref. Source 8