cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser is here to tell us where some of the candidates are campaigningsee you. let's start with texas governor rick perry. where is he this morning? >> good morning, alina. he's back in south carolina. remember, it was one week ago today that the texas governor formally jumped into the race for the white house with a speech in charleston, south carolina. from there, he went to iowa. and then new hampshire and then iowa, and then he went back to new hampshire. now he's back in south carolina. he's hitting all three of those very crucial early voting states. iowa, the first caucus state leads off the caucus calendar. south carolina, of course, is the first southern state to vote in the race for the white house. rick perry, very busy on the campaign trail, just in his first week. let's also talk about herman cain subpoe cain. he's up in new hampshire today. he opened up his hq up there in new hampshire and of course, former godfather's pizza ceo and radio talk show host. very outspoken last night saying, listen, everybody thinks there's only a three-person

let's go to paul steinhauser live in des moines. paul, if the straw poll can't pick the winner, at least with any great frequency, why is it so important? >> here's why, brooke. it is a real test in presidential campaigns, organizational strength and grass roots outreach and while it may not always pick the winner for the republican nomination down the road the following year, it can often break a campaign. it was four years ago that former wisconsin governor tommy thompson running for governor on the republican side, didn't do so well at aims, dropped out a few days later. mike huckabee didn't win four years ago, you're right, mitt romney had but huckabee had a strong second place finish. he went on to win the iowa caucuses so it can definitely make or break some campaigns. the straw poll as well as the state fair right here, three crucial days for the race for the white house on the republican side. a lot at stake, and this race may be very different after this weekend is over. some candidates have a lot at stake tonight. the first

we want to go live to washington and cnn political deputy director, paul steinhauser. the newest gop candidate, rick perry, and he's back in south carolina today, isn't he? >> he sure is. it is a week ago today, alina, that he announced his presidency for the united states, and where'd he do it? south carolina. the first southern state to vote in the primary and caucus calendar. from there he went on to iowa and new hampshire, the very other crucial early voting states, back to new hampshire, and now he's back in south carolina, the second straight day campaigning there. it's been a whirlwind first week for him, not only his visits, but some of the controversial things he's said. it's been quite a week for rick perry. >> and who else is on the campaign trail today? i heard newt gingrich may be in hawaii? >> his campaign has been quite modest, you can say, on a shoestring budget. he is in hawaii today. he's going to be doing an event with the maui gop, fund-raising out there, and fweguess what, i his 11th anniversary, his third marriage, newt gingrich on the campaign tra

let me bring in our paul steinhauser who is there at the fair.ot of excitement around her arrival, but do you imagine that the kacandidates appreciate her stealing some of the spotlight after rick perry stole so much of the spotlight yesterday as well? >> reporter: i guess the answer to that will be too bad. they really don't have a choice. all the action last niem was in ames, iowa, 30 miles from here. it's right here at the state fair. this is retail politics at its best i guess where the candidates come, shake hands, meet and greet. seven of the presidential candidates are here. in fact, ron paul was just walking around. i saw don lemon just a few moments ago trying to talk to congressman paul. but as you said, stealing the spotlight, crashing the party if you will, sarah palin. we remember that one nation bus tour from earlier this summer, a lot of headlines, started in d.c. it, went to new hampshire, another crucial state. we learned earlier this week sarah would be in iowa right here at the state fair. will she or won't she? we don't know.

. >> we're also going to be joined by paul steinhauser who's joining us from ames, iowa, keeping a close eye on this as well. jim just mentioned, paul, nikki haley, she got great support from the tea party, she was already on the stage there at this conservative gathering. but you have to wonder. the tea party -- would the tea party and its backing of governor perry be as influential going into this race as perhaps the tea party has been backing other candidates before so much recent criticism of congress? >> reporter: yeah. this is going to be fascinating how the tea party plays in the race for the white house on the republican side. no doubt about it. remember, the tea party activists were extremely influential in 2010, last year, in the mid-term elections and influencing those republican primary battles. they've got a lot of favorites, it seems, right now. michele bachmann, the congresswoman from minnesota, is a darling of many tea party activists. ron paul, a lot of supporters in the movement as well. now that rick perry is jumping into the race, it's an interesting dynamic and a lot

t.j., back to you. >> our thanks to paul steinhauser there. you can tune in to candy crowley later this morning. "state of the union" coming your way at 9:00 eastern time. >>> at 11 minutes past the hour now, day two of the philadelphia's expanded curfew brought fewer reports of arrest. we saw at least 50 people rounded up when they broke curfew friday night. teenagers between the age of 13 and 17 have to be off the streets by 9:00 p.m. that used to be midnight. the city kept 20 recreation centers over to give teenagers an at alternative to thank hanking out. >>> pakistani police have detained several possible suspects in the wake of an american held. there have been no claims of responsibility or ransom demands. >>> also, do you remember this video? we showed it here to you on cnn. it angered a lot of people once it hit the web. it's a young man beaten during the riots, and people acted like they were going to help him, but then they started robbing hill. they went through his backpack. took what they wanted while he was still standing there

our paul steinhauser has been there for us. paul, good morning to you, once again. we keep saying it's a -- i even had some viewers right in and say, what exactly is a straw poll? why is this a big deal 15 months out? you know, put this in perspective for them, real, why is today, this day, this poll such a big deal, 15 months ahead of the election? >> reporter: you know, some people, t.j., say this is the unofficial start of the road to the white house. and while the general election is in november of next year, remember, the primaries and caucuses, they begin beginning in next year, probably february, maybe january. this is the first real organizational test of the candidates and their campaigns, how much strength they have. their grassroots efforts. that's why this is so important. we're at the iowa state campus, in ames, iowa, and of course, iowa's the first state to vote in the primary and caucus calendar. and this straw poll today, t.j., is an interesting and pretty influential test. it may not anoint a nominee, it probably won't, but it could weed out some of

. >>> now for our political ticker let's bring in our deputy political director paul steinhauser who beautiful des moines, iowa. you know, if i had to make a choice between presidential debates and corn dogs at the iowa state fair, you know where i would come down. i know you were at the debate. so give us some analysis. >> well, that's okay, ali. i got a fried twinkie back there in the stand. i'll be sending it your way. listen, remember our debate, the last presidential debate two months ago, michele bachmann was the real star at that debate? since then a real back and forth between bachmann and tim pawlenty, the former minnesota governor, who's been getting pretty nasty on the campaign trail. it kind of boiled over last night at this debate between those two candidates, and it was definitely pretty contentious. bachmann criticizing pawlenty when he was governor of minnesota. almost at one time comparing him to barack obama. and pawlenty basically questioning her credentials and what she's done. i think you have a little sound of that back and forth. let's take a listen. >> she's d

>> let's turn to washington where paul steinhauser is standing by.t is the latest on governor christie, i know the gop field may be set but it feels there's pressure on him to step in. >> reporter: a source close to the new jersey governor says the pressure has been intensifying since the straw poll in iowa and sunday when tim pawlenty dropped out of the race. for him to reconsider. as of now, the source says no he has not reconsidered. good reporting by peter hamby. another report saying that focus groups are being conducted on behalf of the governor to see if there is a pathway for him to the nomination. two sources, one telling hamb yfrks and one telling myself that's not true. randi, people have been talking about republicans and christie for a long time. he kept saying forget about it, forget about it. maybe that is changing now. we'll keep our eyes on the new jersey governor. >> he's not the only one that some people are talking about who may enter the race? >> reporter: there's talk about the house budget chairman as well. maybe pressure on hi

paul steinhauser is there again for us today. paul, besides sarah palin arriving there today, tell me what's the big story emerging? >> reporter: not much going on, brooke. everything you just said. okay. so this is the state fair. let me give you, here it is. we got the bus here. this is basically today, the center of the universe for retail politics. peter was just with palin. he'll be here in a second to tell you about that. we've seen a bunch of the other candidates, seven of them, in fact, talking at what's called soapbox. a stage with straw behind the bus here. we really had fireworks today with tim pawlenty and a gay rights activist. it was interesting, reminiscent of yesterday with mitt romney yesterday when he was talking. this is all leading up to tomorrow and that straw poll in ames, iowa, 30 miles from here. for pawlenty, bachmann and the other candidates, a lot on the line. it could hurt a campaign, no doubt about it. >> let's talk about that, paul steinhauser. it could claim casualties in one or more campaigns. let's

paul steinhauser looks back into the week. >> what a difference a week makes.a candidate as president for the united states. >> in the week since rick perry jumped in, he has grabbed the spotlight thanks to tough talk by ben bernancke that sparked controversy. >> if this guy prints more money between now and the election, i don't know what you will do to him in iowa. we would treat him pretty ugly down in texas. printing more money to play politics at this particular time in american history is almost treasonous. >> perry took on former massachusetts governor mitt romney. >> take a look at his record when he was governor and look at my record. >> romney trying to keep his focus on president obama. he did not bite. >> i'm not looking to be in a give and way. >> and what about michele bachmann about winning the straw poll in iowa last weekend. >> what we saw happen today is this is the very first step toward taking the white house in 2012 and you have just sent a message that barack obama will be a one-term president. >> we expected the congresswoman from minneso

we go to paul steinhauser. paul, john huntsman and rick perry are in a feud over global warming.it isn't so. >> reporter: yes, i guess you could say the story is heating. jumped for the race -- he was in new hampshire and asked a question about global warming at a political forum. take a listen. >> i don't think from my perspective that i want america to be engaged in spending that much money on still a scientific theory that has not been proven and from my perspective is more and more being put into question. >> reporter: well, about 24 hours ago, that elicited a response from john huntsman. remember him the former utah governor, former u.s. ambassador to china, also running for the white house. not getting as much attention fair to say as rick perry. theers what we tweeted. i believe in evolution and trusts scientists on global warming, period. call me crazy. interesting. you normally don't hear that from a candidate going after another candidate. that's something more the campaigns would do. we'll see what happens next on this one. >> we're all on twitter these days. what are

cnn's deputy political director paul steinhauser.n, if you win, this nobody gives you a prize. you don't win an office. but still, you're showing today, whether it's first, second, third, or fourth, is a big deal. >> reporter: it is a big deal. t.j., this is a straw poll unlike any other. we're here on the campus of iowa state university, ames iowa. that's the hilton coliseum. we brought the bus, of course. we brought it up here today. listen, this is part party, part fund-raiser, and definitely part of straw poll, early test, early barometer of a campaign strength. while it may not an nount any republican nominee, it could weed out some of the candidates at the lower end, candidates who don't do well here. the party's already beginning 50 yards to the left of me. tim pawlenty's campaign is set up their tent area. they have a band rocking already. that's what happens. everybody votes inside behind he there in hilton coliseum. that's where they give their speeches but the campaigns have tents all around the coliseum. there's music, th

paul steinhauser has been monitoring his remarks. paul, what has he said?eporter: he was talking health care workers and talking health care. it was a two-day swing. last saturday also in south carolina that rick perry announced for president. the texas governor now back there. of course, south carolina is the first southern state to vote in the primaries. yesterday, he was in new hampshire for a second straight day and he got a little bit of a different reception. take a listen. >> stop attacking middle class families, rick perry! stop attacking middle class families! >> reporter: you can hear it up there as he was making rounds and doing a meet and greet. those are democratic protesters from the alliance for retired americans and heckling perry because of his stances on social security and medicare. last year he suggested creation of social security may have violated the constitution in the 1930s. but he is not saying that now. keep an eye on everybody else on the campaign trail and report back to you. >> sounds good. your next political update in an hour

paul steinhauser joins me from washington. debt reduction, what do americans really want the super committee to do besides clean up the mess? >> reporter: they definitely want washington to clean up the mess. randi, we asked that and we went in the field and did a poll. check out this brand new results just out today. right off the bat, let's talk about taxes. do americans want increased taxes on the wealthy and on businesses? do they want the committee to do that? take a look there. the answer, at least according to our poll is yes, 63% would be fine if the committee proposed increasing taxes on the wealthy and businesses. randi, definitely a partisan divide. one thing they agree on. go to the next number. no way, no how, they don't want increased taxes on middle class or lower-income americans. you can see there 87% of all americans saying no. it's pretty wide agreement in both parties on that one, randi. >> what's the feeling about spending cuts? >> they like them to a degree. check out this first number here. 57% say yes t

. >>> and now let's get to paul steinhauser who is keeping an eye on the political fiticker. ul. >> reporter: let's start in new hampshire where ron paul, the congressman from texas is making his third bid for the white house. he's campaigning there. last night he opened up his campaign headquarters in concord, new hampshire, the state that votes send in the primary caucus calendar, the first primary state in the nation. you know what? he took a little bit of a dig, it seems, at rick perry, the texas governor who just jumped into the race. he said i've been going after the fed for a long time calling for it to be audited and abolished and talking, of course, about the controversial comments from rick perry this week on the fed chairman ben bernanke. randi? >> and paul, i also understand that rick perry was actually heckled a little bit, wasn't he? >> reporter: this stuff happens on the campaign trail. we saw that mitt romney getting a little bit of heckling last week in iowa and rick per they morning in portsmouth, new hampshire, making the rounds like a candidate would. democ

paul steinhauser is in manchester, new hampshire, this morning with all of the numbers. paul. >> reporter: did you need more evidence that rick perry ace entrance into the race is shaking things up? check out this poll. at the top the long time texas governor 27% say they want him as their nominee for the party. look at that. mitt romney who was the front-runner in about every poll earlier this summer, well, the former massachusetts governor at 14% and palin 10% and bachmann at 9% and as is giuliani. palin and giuliani flirting with ruan for the white house and haven't announced. take them out of the mix and it looks at perry 32% and romney 18% and bachmann at 12% and gingrich at 7% and ron paul who is making his third run for the white house at 6%. a lot of people who jumped into the race late in elections past have also jumped quickly to the top of the polls and interesting to see if rick perry has staying power. five presidential debates including two cnn ones coming up in the next several months. a lot of things to test rick perry coming up. >> that's true. you rememb

deputy political director paul steinhauser standing by with much more on this.e battle for the gop nomination essentially a three-way race? >> a lot of people are saying that, randi. a lot of people are saying that, things could be different, a different race for the republican nomination than it was a couple days ago. it has changed. tim pawlenty is out. rick perry is in. you have the results of the straw poll in iowa, michele bachmann winning. we have a top tier. number one on the tier would be former massachusetts governor mitt romney. he's still the front-runner in most polls. he's the overwhelming front-runner in new hampshire. michele bachmann part of that tier as well. she's the front-runner in iowa and winning the straw poll cements that status. let's add rick per toy that tier. he's climbing in the national polls and has a formidable organization we think. that's where he was today and will be tomorrow. in iowa. he announced in south carolina the other day on the day of the straw poll. that maybe upset people in iowa. he went to iowa. he's there today a

our deputy political director paul steinhauser in des moines. who are these two?ey are sarah palin and rick perry. t.j., you are right. campaign fallen is definitely on iowa this weekend. why you have a debate tonight here in iowa. first since our own cnn debate in new hampshire would months ago. have you the state fair. that's where i am. this is a must-stop for anybody running for the white house. of course, have you that straw poll in ames, iowa, saturday. which is crucial on the republican side. guess who is coming here. sarah palin. yes. former vp nominee on the republican side, former alaskan governor. her one nation bus tour will resume at the state fair in iowa. maybe today or tomorrow. we will find out. you know what? she says she will decide by september if she is going to run for the white house. every time she seems to fall out of the spotlight boom, she is right back in there. there is rick perry. in an interview with "time" magazine that came out this morning, pretty clear this guy is going to be running for president texas governor will be in south

paul steinhauser has the history to prove it, right? >> reporter: the iowa caucuses don't pick the gop nominee and doesn't happen all the time. four years ago it was mike huckabee who won the caucuses. a big come from behind victory i guess you could say but he didn't win the nomination. nrve nr john mccain did. george bush won the nomination in 2000 and the presidency. bob dole went on to win the nomination. in '88 dole won it but didn't win the nomination. bush won the caucuses in 1980 but ronald reagan won the presidency. what about the other candidates today? rom nominee in new hampshire a second straight day and seems to concentrate more in new hampshire than iowa. and part of his strategy may not go after rick perry. romney has been trying to run a general election campaign focusing just on barack obama. at the same time, it will be hard for him to ignore rick perry now he is in the race. the dynamics have changed. michele bachmann is in south carolina today. a couple of days down there. remember, south carolina votes first in sou

paul steinhauser standing by with the freshest news off the ticker.in with the news on on ron paul and a former obama staffer. >> yeah, let's start with that. elizabeth warren is her name. she was in the new as lot last year. remember she was the economic adviser to barack obama who set up the consumer financial protection agency, which is a brand new agency set up last year. and it was not well loved by a lot of republicans. they would like to see it scrapped. last year she set up the agency, but she wasn't named to head it. she went back to harvard university and today she took the first formal steps to maybe launch a campaign and take on scott brown. she launched a website. there are seven other democrats in the race, but not a lot of national recognition. brown was pretty popular, he won the special election. he has about $10 million in the bank. so that will be one heck of a senate race up there in massachusetts. >> you were at the state fair in iowa closely following the republican race for the white house. what's the latest today on that in. >>

let's bring in cnn deputy political director, paul steinhauser, who is there for us. paul, good morning to you. and i didn't really overstate it here, necessarily. if you don't have a bad showing -- if you don't have a good showing, rather, in iowa, today, could be the beginning of the end for your campaign. because you need that momentum going forward. >> reporter: yeah. let's go back four years to the last straw poll here. there were a bunch of republicans taking part. former republican governor tommy thompson of wisconsin didn't do well here. the next day, he quit the campaign. so we're going to look and see what happens today, t.j., and some of the candidates near the bottom, do they have -- can they keep going? we'll see. in fact, rick santorum, the former senator of pennsylvania, he told our candy crowley yesterday that if he doesn't finish in the top five, he may have to re-evaluate. but, t.j., yeah, it is a party atmosphere here. the music has just stopped from the pawlenty tent, which is right next to us, but we went over there earlier and have some video of t

cnn's deputy political director paul steinhauser has more in the political look ahead. >> hey, joe.ite house runs through iowa this week. thursday all of the major republican candidates face off at the first presidential debate in the state which holds first in the primary caucus and calendar. two days later there is a crucial gop straw pole. tim pawlenty, herman cain are spending a lot of time in the state in advance of the straw poll. just about all the candidates, even front-runner mitt romney who is not showing up in the straw poll, they all make stops at the iowa state fair. rick perry won't be there, but he is heading to south carolina, the first southern state to vote. the texas governor who appears to be closer and closer to jumping into the race for the white house. he speaks at a major conservative gathering put on by eric erickson. >> recall walker! >> reporter: this past winter's protest over a plan to strip workers of some of their labor rights rocked the state assets capitol. tuesday some of the lawmakers who had a part face reelections. joe? >> for the latest politica

political team on television is on the ground in iowa, among them cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser. why is this one poll so important when a lot of people say other straw polls are insignificant, don't matter? >> well, hey, good point there. this is nonbinding. candidate, campaigns can pay for their people to come in and vote, so it is not very scientific either. why does it matter? this is like no other straw poll. and, shannon, you know this as well from covering, this is part straw poll, part festival because all the candidates and campaigns have tents around here, free music and entertainment and food. it is also a fund-raiser for the party. but here's why -- besides all that it is so important. it is the first true early test of a campaign's strength, of their grassroots outreach and while it may not anoint anybody in the race for the republican nomination, it could bring some candidates down, knock them out of the race if they don't do well. we have seen that happen in past ames straw polls. fred? >> so, shannon, what is the real atmosphere like? if most people are getting th

cnn political deputy director paul steinhauser has an envee able job this morning. he's live in des moines where the state fair is going on with some morning analysis. good morning, paul. >> reporter: good morning, ali. you guys were talking about it. a lot of story lines in this debate. this was the first presidential debate in two months. what happened to our debate in new hampshire? michelle really shined. since then she's been doing very well on the polls. the other governor, tim pawlenty, not door very well. he questioned the congresswoman's agenda, she in a way comparing him to barack obama. those are fighting words. take a listen. >> i didn't cut deals with special interests where you put pro life issues with tax increase issues. that's a fundamental, a nonnegotiable. when we come to a nonnegotiable, we must stand. >> if there with two things, bills increased and we were stripping away prolife productions which we weren't, then it's a double against it. she voted for it. >> i need to respond to that. i need to respond to that. >> just a little taste there of t

we have paul steinhauser speaking about the poll.eporter: good morning, t.j. the republican presidential straw poll in iowa. there is no other straw poll like it. this is a spectacle. it is part vote and party and fund-raiser for the iowa gop. here is how it works. the campaigns can bring supporters in as long as they live in iowa or students in the state. they can pay for them, their tickets and have them vote for the candidate. candidates have tents on the complex. there is food and partying and music. it is a party atmosphere. there is serious stuff about it as well. there is a lot at stake for the candidates. that is why i want to bring in our political reporter, peter. what is on the line? >> there are three candidates that people are keeping an eye on today. ron paul. tim pawlenty and they are looking at michele bachmann. republicans are thinking they will finish in the top three. rick santorum could play around that third or fourth spot. things might have changed after the debate last night. that is what we are looking at. paw

deputy political director paul steinhauser live in washington. i can remember a lot of grubling about the crawford ranch and now we've just changed crawford ranch to grumbling about the president in martha's vineyard. i will say the economy pretty much stinks, everyone does want to know what he's going to do about jobs. >> absolutely. when president bush was in office, be he was spending too much time at crawford when the wars in afghanistan were raging, same thing with bill clinton in the white house in the 1990s. presidents get blamed. it's an election year almost. the campaign under way. presidential candidates that's part of their job to criticize the president, why they're out there, one of the reasons. they didn't wait for the president to head yesterday to martha's vin-yard. mitt romney this week twice criticized the president for the vacation. take a listen. >> the president this week is in three states on a bus tour campaigning and then he's going to be going on a vacation to martha's vineyard for ten days. a lot of democrats in martha's

paul steinhauser, part of the best political team on television is live from the political desk in washington, tell us what happened here. what does this indicate? the fact that the republicans were able to come out on the winning side of this. >> republicans will tell you, suzanne, that this is validation, the republican governors, the freshmen elected last year in the midterms with spo support from tea party activists, they will say this is elevation with the budget cuts. they will tell you that. democrats will say the opposite, but they did hang on, and because of this, they will still control the state senate in wisconsin, and it is a victory for them at the polls. listen, this was a national story, not just a wisconsin story. it has implications and reverberations around the country what happened here and republicans are rejoicing today. there was a lot of money spent on this. these were local elections, but a lot of money spent not only by labor unions and progressive unions, but tea party groups. trying to get republican voters out there, and i guess it worked to a degree. >> and one r

paul steinhauser is in washington. is it possible to make too big of a splash as this newbie presidential candidate comes forward? >> reporter: yes, now they involved president barack obama as well. live pictures for perry right now at a political forum in new hampshire speaking this morning. this controversy started in iowa two nights ago when perry saying that if ben bernanke prints more money it would be treasonist and we would treat him ugly down in texas. yesterday in that interview with wolf blitzer, the president responded to those comments and other things perry has said about barack obama. take a listen. >> mr. perry just got in the presidential race and i think that everybody who runs for president, it probably takes them a little bit of time before they start realizing that this isn't like running for governor or running for senator or running for congress and you have to be a little more careful about what you say but i'll cut him some slack. he has only been at it for a few days now. >> reporter: minutes a

team on television is on the ground in iowa and that's where we find the deputy director, paul ste steinhauser, so just an hour before polls close in this straw poll? >> reporter: yeah, polls close in about an hour and we could get results around 6:00 eastern, more likely close to 7:00. people have been voting behind me. and the bus is the cnn express and behind that is the campus of iowa state university. this is a pretty crucial straw poll for a lot of reasons, but one of them is an early indicator of how campaigns are doing, and the popularity of the candidates. and right now, those candidates have been inside the coliseum speaking to the audience and they're giving their final pitches. herrmann kaine is speaking, our former godfather speech, the ceo, let's take a listen to what he has to say. >> number two, before i commit any of our brave men and women in uniform, to go into war on behalf of this nation, i will make sure that the mission is clear, i will make sure that the definitions of victory was clear and i will make sure that it is clear how it is in the best interest of the united s

paul steinhauser, mitt romney, michele bachmann pointing fingers at the president. >> surprise, surpriseat did you think, they would compliment the president? no. not going to happen. mitt romney on the campaign trail up there in new hampshire and he was on the president over what happened. take a listen. >> the failure of the president to reignite this economy and to get people back to work is one of the reasons we're seeing such high lechl levels of deficit an debt continues to grow at an alarming rate. we need to put more americans back to work, and i'm afraid the president is out of his depth when it comes to understanding how the private economy works. >> that's part of romney's argument. the president doesn't know what he's doing on the economy, and romney, former businessman, does. he was quick to point out when he was government of massachusetts they upgraded it not downgrade period upon you'll hear more from the campaign troil throughout the week. >> americans are not too happy with members of congress

mark preston, and paul steinhauser our deputy political director. guys, let's get to it.ry being rick perry or is this a candidate looking for some big buzz? >> you know, randi, i think it's rick perry being rick perry. he's starting to hit his stride and feel more comfortable on the campaign trail. this may not always work to his advantage. when he says comments like this, it will draw the ire of democrats who will start turning their attention, their fire on him. might also be alienating himself with independent or middle of the road republicans. he has to be very careful what he says on the campaign trail. but you know what, he is getting buzz, there's no doubt about that. >> he certainly is. paul a lot of people are saying that rick perry will give mitt romney a pretty good run for his money. what does romney think about perry right now? >> romney is getting asked about perry nonstop. it's day two for romney campaigning in new hampshire and he had an event at miles an hour mack at a business plant there a couple hours ago. he was asked about perry again. maybe he's ge

the best political team on television is on the ground there in iowa, among them paul steinhaus steinhauser. why is this poll so important, beyond what i mentioned, iowa being the first caucus state? >> reporter: yeah, it's called almost the unofficial race for the white house on the republican side. it really can break a campaign, while it may not anoint a nominee, it rarely does, some of the candidates who finish lower down here may drop out. we saw that four years ago. tommy thompson of wisconsin did not do well here. he dropped out of the race for the nomination the next day. as you said, it really is a key test of a campaign's organizational strength, grassroots effort because the campaigns can bring their supporters here to vote. it's a key test of how they can do here in iowa, fred. >> what is the atmosphere there like? >> reporter: here's how it goes right now. right behind our bus is the coliseum, the hilton coliseum where the candidates will speak and where the voting take place. but all the action is right around the coliseum. we were walking around earlier. we saw a bunch of vol