“I’m suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distractions and the continued hurt caused on me and my family,” Herman Cain said Dec. 3.
Cain’s announcement set off a mad scramble for his supporters and staff.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., a Tea Party favorite like Cain, says she’s already seeing the impact of the Georgia businessman’s departure.
“A lot of Herman Cain supporters have been calling our office, and they’ve been coming over to our side,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
However, with just over four weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, it’s former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who has emerged as the Republican front-runner. The latest polls show 25 percent of Iowans say they’ll vote for him.
He’s followed by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Still, there remains a large bloc of undecided voters.
“What we are hearing is, 60 to 70 percent of the people in Iowa are still undecided,” GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum told ABC’s This Week.
Meanwhile, Romney continues to be viewed with suspicion by many conservatives, who say he has changed his stance on abortion and health care.
There is also a sense that the GOP front-runner position could change yet again.
“We have had the flavors of the month up and down so far in this campaign,” Paul noted.
“Look, I was supposedly dead in June-July,” Gingrich said. “I am apparently not, so I’m not going to say any of my friends can’t suddenly surprise us.”
With another debate scheduled for next Saturday, many of the GOP candidates face a week of heavy campaigning in Iowa.
“This 2012 election is really going to be an election which presents a choice to the American people about what kind of America we are going to have,” Romney said at Sunday’s Fox News GOP presidential forum.
“Boy, it’s been a while and a woolly ride in this primary, and I suspect that’s going to stay the same,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry remarked.
