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Mitt Romney mailer

From NBC’s Alex Moe

With 37 days until the Iowa caucus, the mailers in Iowa are out in full force. Voters in the Hawkeye State found literature from Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, and Ron Paul in their mailboxes this weekend.

Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn tweeted earlier Saturday: “Final sprint to Jan. 3 #iacaucus begins. Today's mail at home included pieces from Cain, Paul & Romney. Plus a [Michele] Bachmann autodial.”

Romney’s Iowa campaign sent out at least two Iowa mailers (there are multiple versions being sent throughout the state but the campaign would not confirm how many) -- large postcards that seem to attack President Obama rather than any of Romney’s GOP rivals.

Romney, who visited the first-in-the-nation caucus state for the third time in roughly a month last Wednesday, seems to be pushing harder in the state. “It’s up to you, Iowa,” both of Romney’s pieces say.

One Romney postcard, which seems to be aimed at social conservatives, tells voters that Mitt Romney is “the strongest Republican to beat Barack Obama and protect our values.”

The campaign, which opened its official headquarters two weeks ago, was also filming an ad at Romney’s event in Eastern Iowa earlier this month.

NBC News

Ron Paul mailer

Paul’s mailer came in a large manila envelope. It was seven pages long, including a page asking for donations and a copy of his “Plan to Restore America.” He was critical of three GOP rivals in his letter to voters, as well: Rick Perry, Cain and Romney.

“Only one candidate for president will fully balance our budget within three years,” Paul starts in his letter.

Newt Gingrich, now leading in many polls nationally, has not sent out any campaign literature or run any paid advertisements in Iowa as of yet. He is scheduled back in the state Thursday.

All eyes are on the GOP hopefuls who are taking the stage tonight in Washington, D.C., at a debate sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute, the Heritage Foundation and CNN.

The NBC political team will be live-tweeting the debate, offering minute-by-minute updates and analysis.

Tweets from NBC producers and correspondents  will appear in this post as the debate begins at 8 p.m. ET.

Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain is claiming his race will help him win over African American voters.

In a seven-page mailer sent to Iowans over the weekend, Cain writes, "as a descendent of slaves I can lead the Republican Party to victory by garnering a large share of the black vote, something that has not been done since Dwight Eisenhower garnered 41 percent of the black vote in 1956."

But while Cain might believe he'll garner a larger share of the black vote in a head-to-head match-up against President Obama, this month's NBC/WSJ poll — which had an oversample of 400 African-American respondents — tells a different story.

In a hypothetical general election matchup, according to the poll, Obama gets support from 93 percent of African Americans, while Cain gets just 6 percent.

Against Romney, Obama performs similarly among black voters. Ninety-two percent of African Americans would support Obama, versus just six percent for Romney. According to the 2008 exit polls, Obama got 95 percent of the African American vote.

Even with sliding poll numbers, Cain has attracted large crowds at recent events — but supporters attending Cain rallies are overwhelmingly white.

The mailer is the latest sign of Cain's increased fundraising haul at work. The campaign raised more than $1 million for its “Iowa Fund,” and earlier this month Cain announced he had brought in more than $9 million since Oct. 1.

From NBC’s Alex Moe & Andrew Rafferty

ALTOONA, Iowa – After an emotional roundtable discussion, six Republican presidential candidates put on their party hats and headed to Adventureland to kiss the ring of the don of Iowa politics.

Cliff Owen/AP

Iowa Gov. Terry Brandstad takes part in the Health and Human Services Committee meeting at the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Gov. Terry Brandstad celebrated his 65th birthday tonight, and five candidates – Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul – stopped by to celebrate and address the nearly 300-person crowd.

Newt Gingrich was the only candidate to attend the Family Leader Thanksgiving Forum but not speak at the birthday party.

The former House speaker did show up late, however, and apologized to the governor for his tardiness, explaining he needed to fulfill an obligation he made with Fox News.

Perry, the Texas governor, was first to take the stage at Adventureland Palace Theater just outside Des Moines.

With his wife, Anita Perry, by his side, he joked, "We just got through with a little debate downtown and she asked me -- she said, ‘Where do you want to go,’ and I said, ‘Let's go to Adventureland.’”

Cupcakes bearing the Iowa governor’s likeness – with a special emphasis on his signature mustache -- were served up as dessert.

Bachmann, the Republican Minnesota represtnative, said, "I bought my own mustache and so because there's cameras here, I won't put it on. But just to let you know, I'm for you Terry Branstad, happy birthday!"

The candidates weaved between doling out Brandstad birthday wishes and giving abridged versions of their stump speeches in front of a crowd filled with many likely caucus voters.

The two noticeable candidate absences tonight were Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman. Speaking to reporters, Brandstad made it clear he did not approve of Romney missing out on his party.

“I think they made a mistake by not being here,” said Brandstad of Romney’s absence.  “I hope they'll spend a lot more time between now and January 3rd here is Iowa.” (Romney plans to be there Wednesday.)

Still, the night was not all politics and at times resembled a roast of the longest serving governor in Iowa history.

"I was a little surprised,” Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, joked, “last I heard he was 39 and now all of a sudden he is 65. How did that work out?”

Charlie Neibergall/AP

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during the Thanksgiving Family Forum sponsored by The Family Leader as former CEO of Godfathers Pizza Herman Cain looks on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.

By NBC's Carrie Dann, Alex Moe, Andrew Rafferty and James Novogrod

DES MOINES, Iowa -- At an emotional two-hour forum focused as much on the candidate's personal and spiritual lives as on their policies, six Republican candidates spoke at length Saturday about their faith but skirted direct discussion of misconduct by either twice-divorced Newt Gingrich or Herman Cain, who has faced allegations of sexual harassment.

During the Des Moines forum sponsored by the Family Leader group and moderated by pollster Frank Luntz, Gingrich disclosed a time in the 1990s when he felt that he was "failing personally," even turning to the Alcoholics Anonymous handbook because he felt "truly hollow."

"I wasn't drinking but I had precisely the symptoms of somebody who was collapsing under this weight," he said after Luntz directed candidates to "bare your soul."

The former House speaker, who has previously disclosed that he was engaging in an extramarital affair with his current wife while prosecuting the Clinton impeachment, acknowledged Saturday that his struggles "required a great deal of pain."

"I've been very blessed. Callista and I have a wonderful marriage," he said, going on to describe his closeness to his children. "But all of that has required a great deal of pain, some of which I have caused others, which I regret deeply. All of which required having to go to God to seek both reconciliation but also to seek God's acceptance that I had to recognize how limited I was and how much I had to depend on Him."

Earlier in the forum, Gingrich won the biggest laugh of the night for telling Occupy Wall Street protesters to "go get a job right after you take a bath."

In a rare moment, Cain, who typically sticks to displays of humor and defiance on the campaign trail, choked up when talking about his wife, Gloria, and the struggle he faced with cancer.

When Cain received his diagnosis, he said, he told his wife "I can do this." She replied "WE can do this," he said of his wife of 42 years, who accompanied her husband to the forum for her first campaign appearance in Iowa this weekend.

Cain later struggled past tears in describing one consequence of his business success. "I didn't believe that I was home enough when my kids were growing up," he said.

The Atlanta businessman made no mention of at least four women who have accused him of sexual impropriety. He said Saturday that he believes he has experienced a "series of little failures rather than one great big disaster."

Also shedding tears Saturday was Rick Santorum, who delivered an emotional recounting of his disabled daughter's struggles for life.  "I had seen her as less of a person because of her disability," the former Pennsylvania senator confessed when describing one moment when his daughter's life was in danger.

Rick Perry, telling a familiar story about the academic failures that prevented him from achieving his dream of becoming a veterinarian, smiled broadly when delivering a line that could perhaps also apply to the rocky start of his once soaring campaign. 

"If you want to see God laugh, tell him your plans," Perry said.

The Texas governor related details of his humble biography, saying that his presence on the stage after growing up in near-poverty was "a stunning story of America." He discussed, as he did at a speech at Liberty University in September, a period of time when he felt "lost" and "too busy for God" before turning to Christ at age 27.

The unusual format -- with the six candidates seated around a table topped with Thanksgiving accoutrements -- allowed each candidate to offer lengthy responses to questions about gay marriage, abortion, morality, and the role of faith in public life.

While largely focused on the candidate's philosophical views, the candidates also discussed their view of the federal government through the prism of morality. 

"The states have a right to be wrong," Rep. Ron Paul alleged, dovetailing on a back-and-forth he had with Gingrich about the meaning of "liberty." "The Constitution is a restriction on the federal government, not a restriction on the states."

Rep. Michele Bachmann spoke about her views of the spiritual nature of the oath of office, relating a story disputed by some historians that George Washington added the words "so help me God" and kissed the Bible upon delivering them. (The Bachmann campaign pushed back via Twitter on questions about the anecdote's veracity, citing author David McCullough.)

Bachmann also separately attacked Gingrich on his abortion record.

Republican frontrunner Gov. Mitt Romney, along with longshot Gov. John Huntsman, was notably absent from the Iowa forum, choosing instead to conduct a fiery town hall in New Hampshire. While the other candidates declined to take shots at the absent former Massachusetts governor, moderator Frank Luntz did take a dig at Romney, noting that he was not present to respond to critiques of the individual mandate for health care, an idea included in the plan he signed into law in 2006.

Romney’s absence was also noted by event organizer Bob Vander Plaats, who told reporters after the forum, “Romney was the only one who stiffed us.”

“I think that’s gone with his persona, in how he’s treating Iowa, which happens to be a swing state,” Vander Plaats added. “And he wants to win the presidency -- which tells me he lacks judgment.”

By NBC's Andrew Rafferty

Aides to Herman Cain are pointing to a Libyan military commander with ties to the Taliban to vindicate the candidate’s suggestion yesterday that the former militant ruling party of Afghanistan is playing a role in the formation of Libya’s new government.

Cain spokesman JD Gordon cites Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, Libya’s Islamist military commander who fought with the Afghan Taliban, as proof that Cain’s remarks were accurate.  Gordon, a former spokesman for the Department of Defense, said he knows Belhaj has taken an “oath of loyalty” to Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

 In Orlando on Friday, Cain rhetorically asked reporters at a press conference, “Do I agree with siding with the opposition? Do I agree with saying that Ghaddafy should go? Do I agree that they now have a country where you've got Taliban and Al Qaeda that's going to be part of the government?”

The comment came after the former Georgia businessman faced another question about a mangled answer he gave to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board when asked if he agreed with how President Barack Obama handled Libya.  Cain took an extended pause before beginning to answer, and at one point needed to start over.

His suggestion that the Taliban, now dispersed through Afghanistan and Pakistan, is playing a role in forming the new Libyan government was quickly picked up by media as another example of a foreign policy gaffe.

"He’s not suggesting the Taliban is running Libya, he's just saying we did not do a good enough job vetting who the opposition is,” Gordon told NBC News.

Gordon cited several news agencies having to update or correct initial stories after too abruptly reporting Cain had made another gaffe.

“You guys oughtta do your homework,” Gordon said when asked for his reaction to media coverage of the candidate’s remarks.  “It's interesting that he knows more than the media in this case." 

But it is Al Qaeda, not the Taliban, that U.S. officials most frequently cite as a concern for the role they may play as Libya forms a new government in the wake of Moammar Gadhafi’s death.

Cain’s comments to the editorial board followed a foreign policy debate where he faced criticism for a lack of specificity in his answers, often saying he would rely on the foreign policy advisers around him to make decisions.

By NBC's Alex Moe

KNOXVILLE, Iowa -- Rick Santorum paid a visit Friday night to Herman Cain's old stomping grounds -- a Godfathers Pizza.

Alex Moe/NBC News

Rick Santorum tries his first piece of Godfathers Pizza in Knoxville, Iowa Friday night.

"Good job Herman, good stuff," Santorum said as he ate a slice of sausage pizza and gave the former CEO of Godfathers a thumbs up.

"I thought it'd be fun to have something at Godfathers Pizza. And as I just tweeted out, I am looking for the 9-9-9 special and in fact they have a 9-9-9 special so I think it's fun," Santorum told reporters before his seventh and final event of the day. (The Godfather himself, Cain, stumped in Florida today.)

The former Pennsylvania senator, the only candidate in the race to visit all of Iowa's 99 counties, spoke inside a packed room to at least 35 people and drew more media than usual.

Santorum focused his brief speech mostly on national security before taking questions from the audience. He also commented on the lead up to the first-in-the-nation caucuses and various candidates having their moment in the spotlight.

"I'd rather have my moment in late December than in late July," Santorum said. "We still have 6 1/2 weeks [until the caucus] -- that's an eternity in politics."

By NBC’s Ali Weinberg

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Herman Cain isn’t scared of the media or editorial boards, he said Friday night.

He told reporters here that he sought the Secret Service not to shield himself from the media but because he sometimes felt "a little bit uncomfortable" on the campaign trail, including a New Hampshire situation on which he did not elaborate.

Cain asked for the security and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and congressional leaders approved his request Thursday, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirmed to The Associated Press.

"No, it's not because you all are too scary," Cain said to reporters outside the Times-Union Performing Arts Center, where he had just given a speech.

Cain also said he was not afraid of editorial boards, even as the influential New Hampshire Union Leader board canceled a meeting with Cain after the campaign first said CSPAN could not film the meeting and then cut it down to 20 minutes.

Cain reiterated that the meeting was canceled due to a scheduling conflict and that he would do an hour-long interview with an editorial board in the future.
  
"Look, do you think I'd be running for president if I was scared of an editorial board or scared of the media or anybody? No! I'm not scared to go in front of the media," Cain said. 

Of Union-Leader publisher Joe McQuaid’s comments that he doesn’t think Cain is "going anywhere from here at this point, anyway," Cain said plenty of people shared McQuaid’s sentiment.

"The fact that he feels that way, welcome to the club. There are a lot of people out there who feel that way," Cain said.

One thing Cain definitely was not afraid to do was promote his 9-9-9 plan. After his press secretary J.D. Gordon, put an end to the gaggle and Cain began to walk away, he suddenly returned to the cameras and said, "One last thing, please: Jobs, jobs, jobs equals 9-9-9. You knew I had to get that in there, didn’t you?"

During his press conference today in Florida, Herman Cain was asked about his pregnant pause on Libya in his sit-down with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

In his response, Cain appears to believe -- mistakenly -- that there are elements of the Taliban in Libya that will have sway with the new government there. Cain said:

The Libya question was- the question was too broad. Now, I do admit that I was a bit fatigued but the question was too broad and so I paused and what they didn't show was I asked the reporter to be more specific. Well, he didn't get more specific.

His question was and I hope you all show this or write about it. Do you agree or disagree with President Obama on Libya? What part? Do I agree with the part where we intervene with rockets and missiles? Do I agree with siding with the opposition? Do I agree with saying that Khaddafy should go? Do I agree that they now have a country where you've got Taliban and Al Qaeda that's going to be a part of the government? Do I agree with not knowing what the government is going to do? Which part was he asking me about? And I was trying to get him to be specific and he wouldn't be specific. Then I went on to say, they didn't show this. If it were me as president, I would have wanted to know more about the opposition because now we see that not all the people in the opposition are our friends. I would have wanted to know more about well what was  the result in government going to look like.

Herman Cain's campaign is pushing back against the suggestion it requested Secret Service protection as a way to keep media at bay and limit the access reporters will have to the candidate.

"It has nothing to do with the media, it has nothing to do with reporters," campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon said of the request for Secret Service protection.

Gordon said the campaign had requested protection "a couple weeks ago" after having received a series of threats. But Gordon said he would not comment on the nature of the threats or any specific instances.

Gordon's comment to NBC News came after a report by the Washington Post, in which Gordon seemed to indicate that the members of the media trailing his campaign were contributors to the decision to request a Secret Service detail.

Cain's Secret Service detail began last night, though the number of agents assigned to his detail or the extent of resources devoted to the former Georgia businessman is still unknown.

The news came just a day after reports had emerged of multiple altercations involving journalists covering Cain in Florida on Wednesday. In one instance, a reporter was struck by a man who later revealed himself as a plainclothes police officer.  At an earlier stop that day, a video journalist yelled at the media scrum for shoving her.

Gordon said Secret Service can help prevent those situations from happening again, but they did not spur the campaign to make the request.

The Cain campaign has had noticeable growing pains as the candidate has risen from the bottom towards the top of the polls, one of the biggest of which has been dealing with the increased media attention.

Events have been scheduled at venues that cannot accomodate both supporters and the media. Rarely is space set aside for cameras to film open press events.

Local police will often be called to assist with crowd control and protection -- as was the case in Florida this week. But when Cain works the crowd after speeches, he is usually surrounded only by one security guard and a member of his staff.  He will frequently field questions from the media scrum surrounding him, causing reporters to jostle for position.

But Gordon said the popularity of Cain is a large part of the problem.

"There is an intense interest in Mr. Cain that you don't see for other candidates," he said.

Nashua, N.H. -- Herman Cain said at a campaign rally Thursday afternoon that it was a newspaper, not his campaign, that nixed a meeting with its editors this morning, a cancellation which Cain said he wasn't disappointed about.

Amid an ongoing war of words, Cain told supporters in Nashua: "You aren't going to believe it, but they canceled,"

The "they" to whom Cain referred were editors of the New Hampshire Union Leader, an influential paper in the Granite State, which hosts the nation's first primary contest on Jan. 10. Stopping to meet with the paper's editors has become a pasttime for presidential candidates, who usually agree to have the sessions on camera.

When asked by NBC News if he was disappointed to miss an opportunity to meet with the Union Leader, Cain simply said, "Nope."

Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon detailed their side of the saga, telling NBC News that the paper "cancelled with one of our advance staff at approximately 9:00 a.m. today."

Gordon said the campaign and newspaper had been discussing "the length and format of the interview since Monday."

Perhaps the only thing on which the campaign and Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid agreed was that Cain's representatives requested to schedule a meeting lasting only 20 minutes and without video, significantly shorter than the traditional hourlong session, usually with C-SPAN cameras present.

"We are looking to reschedule the next time we visit New Hampshire," Gordon told NBC News.

However, the publisher who helms the paper might not be quick to agree. McQuaid said there are limited opportunities for such meetings before the holidays and January 10 primary.

Cain, who claims today was his 22nd visit to New Hampshire, also called editorial board meetings "optional" on the campaign trail.

This two-day controversy with New Hampshire's only statewide paper comes as Cain made his first trip back to the state since several women emerged to allege sexual harassment of Cain during his time as head of the National Restaurant Association.

Cain also publicly addressed other doubts plaguing his campaign. He indirectly responded to his recent Libya gaffe by defending his foreign policy credentials in his speech at the rally. Cain said the next president does not need to know "every detail" about every country in the world. Instead he would hire a team of experts.

"We need a leader, not a reader!" he exclaimed at a rally, for which he was an hour late. The crowd was thinner – at about 100 attendees – than Cain’s campaign had initially advertised.

Cain then turned to the recent allegations of sexual harassment, arguing that they did not matter to his supporters.

"The people that are on the Cain train they don't get off because of that crap," Cain said.

The former pizza magnate flies to New York City tonight to tape an appearance with David Letterman.