2012ers begin approaching Iowa delegation
Politico published an article Wednesday detailing the early moves by potential Republican 2012 presidential candidates to curry favor with elected politicians in the first three nominating states: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Politico highlights two members of Iowa’s delegation who have received the most attention to date: Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Steve King. Both Iowans told the publication that they intend to endorse a candidate sometime next year.
“„“I’m not going to do anything until I see how much time they’re going to put in Iowa because that’s what the people of Iowa demand,” Grassley told POLITICO. “The second [consideration] is whether or not when they’re done with Iowa, they got money to go on. Because I can back the very best candidate and they can win Iowa, with or without Chuck Grassley. But if they can’t compete in New Hampshire, what good does it do?”
Grassley and King represent diverging strains of the Republican Party, with Grassley coming from the more traditional, moderate wing and King as a standard bearer for the far-right, tea-party attitude that defined the GOP in the last election. But both have received visits in Washington by former Sen. Rick Santorum, who traveled frequently to the first-in-the-nation state in 2010.
