GOP Presidential Primary

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said the GOP should consider shutting down the government in its bid to defund the Democrats' healthcare reform legislation.

She made the comments ahead of a weekend trip to New Hampshire as she appears to mull a run for the GOP 2012 presidential nomination. 

"We will not vote for the next continuing resolution until it contains language that would bring back that $105 billion into the treasury," Bachmann told the New Hampshire Union Leader.

A shutdown of the government might be necessary, she added. "And we need to fight over this even if it means temporarily shutting down the non-essential services of government. That will cause a disruption, but it is essential that we get people's attention and the attention of Barack Obama so that he gives the money back that I believe was wrongly taken from the people."

The congresswoman is in the state to attend a private fundraiser on Friday and a brunch benefiting the state party on Saturday. She's also meeting with activists in Manchester, Nashua and Barrington, according to the paper. 

Bachmann said she will make the "momentous decision" about whether to run for president in the summer.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a backer of likely 2012 presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, said in an interview that he expects conservatives to give Romney a pass on the healthcare plan he championed as Bay State governor. 

"At least Romney had a right to do that healthcare plan," Hatch said in ABC's latest "Subway Series" interview with Jonathan Karl. "And keep in mind that 85 percent of that State Legislature hated everything he did and threw all kinds of things into that bill that probably shouldn't be in there."

The healthcare plan Romney signed into law as Massachusetts governor is now seen as one of his greatest liabilities in a run for the Republican presidential nod next year. The law includes an individual mandate like the one contained in the president's healthcare law, routinely derided by conservatives as "ObamaCare."

This past weekend in New Hampshire, Romney said of his plan: "Some things worked, some things didn't and some things I'd change." Speaking to a group of Republicans in the early primary state, he advocated the repeal of Obama's healthcare law.

"It's hard to think that conservatives will not [support him] because Romney basically is a conservative, there's no question about that," said Hatch. "But he's a smart conservative, somebody who's practical." 

One of President Obama's potential GOP challengers is set to deliver an economic speech on the commander in chief's home turf before he heads to Iowa, a key early primary state.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is set to appear before the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce's political action committee for a fundraiser on March 14. He will also give a speech titled "The Need for Economic Growth and Job Creation."

Individual tickets start at $150 and donors can contribute $5,000 to earn a "sponsorship" title. The event will be held at the Mid-America Club, which bills itself as "Chicago's premiere business club."

Barbour has been active on the speaking circuit as he weighs a presidential bid. The governor, who is in is final year in office, blasted Obama and job growth during a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington last week. 

The speech takes place a day before the former Republican National Committee chairman is set to appear at an Iowa Republican Party event.

Barbour has said he will decide whether to run for president by the end of April. 

h/t CNN

Two of the party's best-known figures, Chris Christie and Sarah Palin don't seem to like each other very much.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich offered up a fiery critique of President Obama in Iowa Monday night, urging Republicans to unite in 2012 to defeat the values of the "secular, socialist left."  

Gingrich was one of five potential presidential candidates to speak Monday at a gathering hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. It was billed by organizers as the unofficial launch to the 2012 race for the Republican nomination.  

Despite the absence of a number of top tier Republicans, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the event marked the first time this many rumored GOP hopefuls shared the same stage, which translated into an extraordinary level of attention as rumored contenders made an early case to potential Iowa caucus-goers.

"We are at a crossroads that we cannot hide from," Gingrich said, calling the 2012 presidential election as central to the future of America as the election won by Abraham Lincoln in 1860.  

Much of the likely Republican presidential field will be at a suburban Des Moines megachurch Monday night to court a large gathering of social conservatives.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (Minn.) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.) are the top contenders on the program at the event hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition.

"It's not a debate; it's not a straw poll. We didn't want to do anything to scare them off," said Steve Scheffler, who heads the group formerly known as the Iowa Christian Alliance.

Despite the inviting nature of the forum, former Gov. Mitt Romney (Mass.) and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (Ark.), the top-two finishers in the 2008 caucuses, weren't able to attend.

Businessman Herman Cain and former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer are the likely candidates rounding out the program.

In addition to having 10 minutes to endear themselves to the socially conservative audience, the potential candidates also have the chance to mingle with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and activist Ralph Reed.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was also invited, but couldn't make it because of a "scheduling conflict," Scheffler said. "We expect her to participate in our events down the road."

Organizers are expecting a "capacity crowd" of up to 800 for the event at Point of Grace Church in Waukee, Iowa.

—Updated at 12:21 p.m.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is seen by many as the early front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2012, but statistically speaking, the race is as wide open as it has ever been for Republicans at this stage of the game. 

According to the latest Gallup numbers, Republicans have no clear favorite for the nomination next year, breaking a pattern that has held since the race for the GOP nod in 1952.

Historical data from Gallup shows the Republican side with a clear front-runner by this point in the cycle in all 10 competitive GOP presidential primary contests since that year. And in all but two of those contests, that early front-runner went on to capture the Republican nomination. 

A national survey of Republicans released by Gallup late last month showed Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin all in a dead heat, with no clear 2012 preference. Huckabee led the way with 18 percent to 16 percent for both Romney and Palin. 

Those numbers are backed up by other recent national surveys that show a largely undefined race for the Republican nomination.

One of real estate mogul Donald Trump's top business advisers will head to Iowa Monday to meet with GOP activists and lawmakers in the state ahead of a potential Trump presidential bid. 

Michael Cohen, a vice president in Trump's vast real estate development empire, will fly to the state on a Trump private jet, the Associated Press reported on Friday.

Cohen is expected to meet with top Iowa Republicans in a visit that could begin laying the groundwork for a potential 2012 presidential run. 

Earlier this week, Trump pledged to wage a vigorous campaign for the Iowa caucuses should he decide to make a run at the Republican nomination next year. He told the Des Moines Register that he plans to head to Iowa soon and will make it a point to "meet many, many people -- maybe all of the people" in the state if he launches a campaign.    

Trump has already said he's willing to pour a "tremendous" amount of his personal wealth into a presidential bid, but it's unclear how the Republican base would respond to his candidacy. 

Last month, he was generally well received at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, telling conservative activists that he was "tempted" to run in 2012 because the United States is currently the economic "laughingstock" of the world.

During a trip to Georgia on Thursday, Newt Gingrich confirmed he's entering a new exploration phase as he moves toward a presidential run.

Before his meeting with Gov. Nathan Deal (R) at the state Capitol in Atlanta, Gingrich told radio host Martha Zoller that he will launch a website, newtexplore2012.com, on Thursday.

"It's an effort to reach out to folks and say, ‘We really want to get back to being a country of American exceptionalism, and we really want to create jobs competing with Germany and China and India, and we really want to shrink government, get power out of Washington and balance the federal budget," the former House speaker said, according to a transcription by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

"Lots of folks are going to have to decide that that’s a project they want to be engaged in. Callista and I are prepared to see if there are enough folks who want to get this country back on the right track. And it's a great challenge, but it's one we both take very, very seriously. Both as citizens and on behalf of our grandchildren and all the young people in America."

Gingrich's announcement is his first declared step toward running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.

After his meeting with Deal, Gingrich took one question from the assembled reporters. According to the AJC, he told them: "We have today established a website, newtexplore2012.com. We'll look at this very seriously. We will very methodically lay out a framework of what we'll do next."

--Updated at 2:38 p.m.

Iowa will remain the first nominating contest in the 2012 presidential campaign, the state’s GOP chairman told reporters Thursday. And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich could have an edge over his potential rivals if he decides to run.

Florida, which hosts the GOP convention next year, has scheduled its presidential primary for January 2012 — ahead of Iowa, the traditional lead off state. National party officials want it pushed back behind the caucuses that are tentatively set to be held in February 2012.

Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus held a conference call Monday and he was "very direct in laying out what the consequences were to any states that aren’t in compliance."

"I would think those sanctions would be even more acute if the convention happened to be in your home state," Strawn said. "At the end of the day, I don't think that there's any question when it comes to the order of the states, it will be Iowa; it will be New Hampshire; it will be South Carolina."

Strawn said he was "optimistic" the Iowa caucuses would remain in February, but he said that could change depending on what Florida decides to do.

Several GOP candidates, including the eventual nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), bypassed Iowa in 2008, but the chairman said that wouldn’t happen in 2012.

Strawn said he expects the full field of Republican candidates to compete in Iowa — at least to some degree. "I don't know why you would want to take yourself out of the national conversation by not participating in Iowa," he said.

Even a figure as well known as Sarah Palin bypasses the state at her peril, he said. "History would suggest that’s a very risky strategy related to the Iowa caucuses."

And when it comes to the general election, Strawn added, "I don’t think you can write off Iowa's electoral votes if you’re the Republican nominee." But it could be more difficult to win Iowa for a Republican in the general if he didn't compete in the caucuses. "One thing that Iowans don't want to be is taken for granted," Strawn said.

Strawn said the level of engagement with candidates had "picked up dramatically" in recent weeks, at least at "the subterranean level."

Gingrich is expected to give some signal about his intentions Thursday, and Strawn said he could do well in Iowa.

"He was one of the more active national Republicans in Iowa helping us in 2010," Strawn said. "I think it starts the conversation."

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) also has an edge because of his proximity to the state. "Geographic proximity plays a role because retail politics are so crucial to success in the Iowa caucuses," he said.