Ron Paul

Des Moines
Rand Paul indicated today that he believes it would be bad for the Tea Party if his father, Ron Paul, decides to run as a third-party presidential candidate. But the younger Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, declined to say if he would support his father if Ron Paul does end up running on a third-party ticket.

PPP polled likely Iowa GOP caucus voters on Saturday and Sunday and found that the race is "headed for a photo finish":

Ron Paul is at 20%, Mitt Romney at 19%, and Rick Santorum at 18%. Rounding out the field are Newt Gingrich at 14%, Rick Perry at 10%, Michele Bachmann at 8%, Jon Huntsman at 4%, and Buddy Roemer at 2%.

In an article at the New York Times, James Kirchick focuses on Texas congressman Ron Paul's "penchant for conspiracy theories":

Des Moines
The conventional case against Ron Paul's fiscal policy is that it's unrealistic because it's too bold. That's true enough: Ronald Reagan couldn't abolish one department; Ron Paul wants to abolish five (Education, Energy, HUD, Interior, and Commerce). But there's a much stronger case to be made that Paul's fiscal policy is not that bold at all. It is, in fact, the most timid fiscal policy put forward by any Republican presidential candidate this year.

SaintPetersBlog: "Latest Florida poll: Mitt Romney 27%, Newt Gingrich 26%; no one else in double digits"

Kevin O'Brien: "Hilda Solis is on her high horse over kids on the farm"

Rick Perry’s presidential campaign released a tough new ad Thursday targeting Rick Santorum and his history of supporting earmarks in Congress. Why is Perry attacking a candidate who has been mired in single digits in Iowa despite living there for most of the past several months?

CNN: "Romney's Iowa confidence grows"

Philip Klein: " Why I'd back Obama over Ron Paul"

Jon Huntsman has a new web ad out hammering Ron Paul's racist, anti-Semtic, conspiracy-minded newsletter:

Des Moines
While campaigning in Iowa on Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul praised the Occupy Wall Street movement, comparing it to the Tea Party movement. "In many ways, I identify with both groups," Paul said. Both groups are fed up with problems in Washington and "the two-party-system," Paul said while speaking at an insurance company in Des Moines.

Des Moines
Iowa state senator Kent Sorenson, who had served as Michele Bachmann's state campaign chairman, announced this evening at a Ron Paul rally that he is pulling his support from Bachmann and now backs Paul. Sorenson said in a statement: 

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On Monday, a former aide to Ron Paul named Eric Dondero issued a statement in which he claimed that Ron Paul's isolationism is so extreme that "he strenuously does not believe the United States had any business getting involved in fighting Hitler in WWII. He expressed to me countless times, that 'saving the Jews,' was absolutely none of our business."

The latest CNN poll of Iowa and New Hampshire Republicans show Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, in the lead in both states. The New Hampshire poll confirms Romney's long-held advantage over his GOP opponents at 44 percent, 9 points up from a similar poll conducted by CNN earlier this month.