It’s been quiet in Iowa but Newt Gingrich’s tiptoe toward entering the wide-open race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination may finally perk things up. “That probably gets the other candidates to get serious about setting up a political operation here,” says Steve Scheffler, president of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, a leading social-conservative group, and a Republican National Committee member. “Newt’s step this week will get them to thinking that they better take comparable steps.”
Four years ago, Iowa was overrun by Democratic and Republican hopefuls vying to win the nation’s first presidential contest. This time around, it’s been sleepier – until maybe now. (See 10 elections that changed America.)
With the 2012 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses less than a year away (they’re scheduled for Feb. 6) no one has officially entered the race. (Gingrich, the former U.S. House Speaker, said Thursday he is launching a website to explore a presidential bid.) Only Gingrich, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum have reportedly started to really mobilize in Iowa, while former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has visited only twice since Nov. 4, 2008. (Romney came in second in the 2008 caucuses after
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