Iowa

“We will have a new day.”

The words of Minnesota congresswoman and presidential candidate Michele Bachmann were shorn of political rhetoric as she shared a message of repentance and hope with Point of Grace Church in Iowa on Sunday, reported The Des Moines Register.

On the second day of her three-day, 10-stop bus tour of the state, Bachmann gave speeches at two separate worship services at the evangelical church in Waukee, in which she shared several personal stories, including her own “conversion” and how a miscarriage led her husband and her to provide care to foster children. more >>

Nearly every politician gets it wrong at some point. Sometimes gaffes stick and sometimes they don’t. Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann is hoping for the latter.

On Sunday during an interview with Fox News in her childhood hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, the presidential candidate confused John Wayne with John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Saying she’s a natural fit for the state’s first-in-the-nation caucus voters, she made this statement: “I want them to know just like John Wayne is from Waterloo Iowa, that’s the spirit I have too. It’s embracing America. It’s sacrificing for America.” more >>

Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney are statistically tied for the lead in a new poll in Iowa. The news represents more of a blow to Tim Pawlenty than Romney, however.

The Romney campaign had already decided to not campaign in Iowa and instead focus their energies on New Hampshire, the first state to hold a primary election. Romney, who received 23 percent of the vote, has also decided to skip the Iowa straw poll in August.

Romney won the Iowa straw poll in 2007, but ended up losing the state to Mike Huckabee in the January 2008 caucus. His decision to bypass Iowa this time indicates that he believes his previous decision to spend resources there was a strategic error. more >>

The Basilica of St. John in Des Moines, Iowa, canceled a May 16 presentation by Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista, about Pope John Paul II, according to a local media report.

Basilica officials canceled the event because the former speaker of the house is considering a run for the presidency and they believed his speech could have been considered a conflict of interest, according to the Des Moines Register.

Last year, he went to Poland to co-produce a documentary about the pope called “Nine Days that Changed the World.” Gingrich converted to Catholicism in 2009 after spending most of his life as a Southern Baptist. more >>

The pool of Republican candidates possibly running for the GOP nomination in the 2012 presidential race just got a little wider.

Former Alabama Supreme Court Judge Roy Moore launched an exploratory committee Monday, announcing that America is ready to return to its God-given morals and values.

Moore, best known for his refusal to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state’s judicial building, made the announcement from Iowa where he has been engaged in speaking appearances since Friday. more >>

While business mogul Donald Trump tests the waters in Iowa and New Hampshire, a noted evangelical says the “Apprentice” star needs a compelling narrative to draw voters.

A top aide of “The Donald” visited Iowa Monday to gauge the level of interest for a presidential run. Michael Cohen, Trump’s executive vice president and the ShouldTrumpRun.com co-creator, flew aboard one of Trump's two planes to Des Moines to speak with state Republicans.

“We do understand that Iowa is the first stop if anyone is interested in the presidential election. Certainly ... we are very anxious to learn about Iowa and be able to report back to Mr. Trump when he hopefully decides to run in June," Cohen told Reuters. more >>