Iowa Republicans prepared to cast the first votes of 2012 presidential contest Tuesday night, marking their choice for a candidate to challenge president Barack Obama in November. Polls show the race in Iowa has turned into a three-man contest among front-runner Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum, who is quickly gaining ground with voters in the Midwestern state.
“We’re going to win this thing,” Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, told a rally on Monday on the last full day of campaigning. But that was not certain. He’s virtually tied in the polls with Texas Rep Paul, a small-government libertarian who has found fertile ground in Iowa for states’ rights, antiwar message. Former Pennsylvania Sen Santorum is gaining ground on both men, playing heavily on his conservative Christian, anti-abortion record with like-minded Republican voters in the heartland state.
Romney may withstand the challenges because Republicans see him as the candidate most likely to defeat president Obama. The president is vulnerable because of the struggling American economy and continuing high unemployment as the country has been slow to rebound from the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Republican voters in Iowa will gather at 0100 GMT for sessions that last two hours. In the living rooms of private homes, school auditoriums and libraries, they will hear from the candidates’ local representatives for a final sales pitch before they write down the name of their favorite on blank pieces pf paper handed out to each caucus-goer.