Gop, Iowa | featured news

Donald Trump withdrew Tuesday as the moderator of a debate planned for later this month in Iowa, citing his interest in possibly still running for president as an independent. Trump pulled out of a debate he had planned to host along with the conservative magazine Newsmax, scheduled for Dec. 27, just days before the Iowa caucuses. All the GOP presidential candidates save for Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum said they would not participate.

Mitt Romney may have some help in Iowa: Ron Paul. The Texas congressman's allies and others say that he drains support from the rising Newt Gingrich, and, if that turns out to be the case during the Jan. 3 caucuses and Paul manages to triumph here, the theory is that Romney would benefit in the long-run.

The polls of the two earliest states in the presidential nominating contest both show significant progress for Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, who has moved up about 20 points in each state since October.

The real estate mogul will moderate a debate with conservative media outlet Newsmax a week before Iowa caucus.

With just seven weeks to go before Iowa holds the first nominating contest of the GOP presidential primary, voters in the state remain ambivalent about their choices.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is trying to stay above the fray in the GOP nominating campaign. The former Massachusetts governor is visiting eastern Iowa counties he won in his 2008 bid for the state's leadoff caucuses. He's also sticking with his strategy of shadowing President Barack Obama and trying to present himself as the most electable Republican. Obama also visited eastern Iowa in the fall.

Republicans in Iowa and other early voting states seem to be giving presidential candidate Herman Cain the benefit of the doubt for now.

Ed Rollins, GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann's former campaign manager, had some harsh words on Monday for the Minnesota congresswoman.Speaking to ABC News, Rollins said that Bachmann has little chance of victory in next year's Iowa caucuses and that she is "out of money and ideas."

Sensing an opening, Romney is stepping up his Iowa campaign and talking about winning the state after months of taking a more low-key approach. He probably will return to Iowa in November and hold a conference call with thousands of Iowa GOP caucus-goers.

Republican candidates have been test-driving themes and previewing attack lines online for months, foreshadowing the TV ad war that's all but certain to start soon in Iowa, New Hampshire and other early voting states.