From the Chronicle -- for my 2301s -- potential presidential candidates meet with party activists in Iowa:
In these preliminary stages of the contest for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Iowa conservatives have begun to flex their muscles, and the candidates are responding.
Five potential candidates - party veterans and long shots alike - came here Saturday for a day of attacks on President Barack Obama's policies, talk of constitutional principles and a chance to gauge the mood of the most conservative wing of the GOP base.
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, one of the most conservative members of the House, hosted the daylong conference, which drew hundreds of activists. It was the second conservative gathering of the month in the state to draw a handful of presidential hopefuls - the first was hosted by a religious conservative group - and was another reminder of how deeply intertwined fiscal and cultural issues are in the state with the nation's first presidential caucuses.
The possible presidential candidates included Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, businessman Herman Cain, and former United Nations ambassador John Bolton. But it was Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., who lit up the gathering with a rapid-fire denunciation of the president that had the audience on its feet cheering.
"Are you in for 2012?" she called out to the audience. "Are you in? Are you going to make it happen? Are we going to take our country back?" As the applause built, she concluded by saying, "I agree with you. I say we do. I say I'm in. You're in. We will take this back in 2012."
