CORALVILLE – Rick Santorum got a lift when a new poll showed his support jumped from 5 percent to 16 percent just a week ahead of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses. After running the most intensive campaign of anyone in the GOP field of 2012 presidential hopefuls, ...

In the final run-up to the Jan. 3, the GOP presidential hopefuls are calling in favors from their friends and families to help them reach every likely caucusgoing Iowa. Newt Gingrich’s daughters, Kathy Lubbers and Jackie Gingrich Cushman, arrived in Iowa Dec. 27 to help dad ...

    DAVENPORT, Iowa — Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, keying on a speech President Barack Obama made in Davenport four years ago this week, said Tuesday the president abandoned his campaign promises to unite the country and “demonizes our fellow Americans,” and he cast the election ...

  DES MOINES – Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum said his goal is to “exceed expectations” when Iowa Republicans meet next Tuesday to choose the candidates they want to be the party’s presidential nominee in 2012. “My feeling is we have to exceed expectations and the expectations ...

Caucus emotions: It’s probably safe to say that Ron Paul relies less on emotional appeals than other Republican presidential hopefuls when he makes his pitch for support in the Iowa precinct caucuses. However, if emotions rule caucus night, the Texas congressman could come up a winner. That’s ...

  It’s hard to find a straight Republican in Iowa. It seems they’re all leaning. With a week to go before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation precinct caucuses, few Republicans have landed solidly on one candidate. A recent Iowa State University/Gazette/KCRG-TV9 poll of likely caucusgoers found the race “remarkably fluid” ...

  For ex-pat Iowans home for the holidays and others who are hoping to do a little caucus tourism this week, the opportunities are limited, but growing. The candidates are returning from Christmas break and haven’t released their full schedules. Here’s what we know: Rick Santorum is the ...

Christmas truce: It hardly compares to the famed Christmas truce between the British and Germans during World War I, but the a “super PAC” supporting Mitt Romney has decided to stop broadcasting its ad attacking Newt Gingrich today and Christmas Day. For his part, Gingrich started ...

UPDATED with comments from Ron Paul Texas Gov. Rick Perry stepped up his criticism of Ron Paul on Wednesday, calling him a “backbencher” in Congress who has been hypocritical by opposing federal spending but still asking for earmarks. Paul responded later in the day that he supports ...

  MANCHESTER – Rolling through northeast Iowa, Michele Bachman is taking aim at her rivals as she works to win the support of “values voters.” “The people of Iowa are looking for the one, true, core conservative in this race,” she said outside the falcon Civic Center ...