DES MOINES, IOWA — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is in town today to be a walking Daisy ad on behalf of his father, Ron. His main target: the surging Rick Santorum. …

How Romney Turned His Rivals Against Each Other

The Iowa caucuses are in less than 24 hours and Mitt Romney is edging out a lead at exactly the right time, polling neck and neck with Ron Paul for first place in a state where even a top three finish might be enough to put him on a glide path toward the nomination. But you wouldn’t know it from the other campaigns’ latest attacks: Rick Perry is bashing Rick Santorum. Michele Bachmann is attacking Paul. Paul is bashing Newt Gingrich. And none of their ads go after Romney particularly hard.

The current free-for-all is only the latest lucky break for Romney, whose rivals have been unable to unite against the frontrunner since the earliest days of the campaign. And it’s a maddening source of frustration for his Republican and Democratic opponents alike, who complain he’s getting an easy ride to the nomination as a result.

Today On The Trail: January 2, 2012

Good morning,

It’s officially campaign season. TPM will be putting together The Tip Sheet each weekday morning to guide readers through the big events and themes of the day. The Iowa caucuses are a day away; here are the 10 things you need to know today:

• New Iowa Poll: Public Policy Polling released the latest numbers out of Iowa and all frontrunners are within 2 points of each other. Ron Paul leads with 20% of the vote, followed by Mitt Romney with 19% and Rick Santorum with 18%. PPP was in the field interviewing Iowa caucus-goers over the weekend and is the most up-to-date poll going into tomorrow’s caucuses.
• Romney’s Big Lead in New Hampshire: Nine days out from the New Hampshire primary and Mitt Romney leads the pack by a sizable margin. A Suffolk University/7News Poll released late Sunday night has Romney with 41% of the vote, followed by Paul with 15%, Gingrich with 11%, and despite his efforts, Jon Huntsman trailing with 9%.
• Romney campaigns in Iowa: Mitt Romney is holding four “grass roots” rallies in Iowa on Monday, according to the campaign. He will remain in Iowa Tuesday for the caucuses.
• Democrats Hit Romney on Bain Lay-offs: Randy Johnson, who lost his job at American Pad and Paper after Bain Capital took it over in the 1990s, will speak in Iowa Monday to discuss “Romney’s decades-long record of putting profits before people,” according to the DNC. The event is scheduled for 15 minutes after Romney wraps up his first rally in Davenport, Iowa, Monday morning.
• Democrats’ Rebuttal: Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will speak to the press at 10:30am EST to preview the Iowa caucuses, with a likely focus on Mitt Romney’s campaign and positions on the issues.
• Newt’s Media Blitz: Newt Gingrich will hold five meet-and-greet events in Iowa on Monday. In addition, he will make a series of TV appearances: He will hold a tele-town hall at 5:30 CT, then appear on CBS Evening News, Piers Morgan on CNN at 8pm CT and Fox News’s Hannity at 8:25pm.
• Santorum Media Blitz: Rick Santorum has a packed schedule in Iowa a day before the caucuses with five meet-and-greets in the state. In addition, Santorum will do two radio interviews in the morning on 1460AM Sports Talk Radio in Des Moines and on Laura Ingraham’s national radio show. At 8pm CT, He will appear on “Hannity” on Fox News.
• Ron and Rand campaign in Iowa: After spending the weekend in Texas, Ron Paul is back in Iowa with a packed day of six events. His son, Sen. Rand Paul, will be campaigning for his father in Iowa. TPM’s Evan McMorris-Santoro will be covering the events from Iowa.
• Huntsman puts personal finances into campaign: Jon Huntsman, who has failed to gain traction in New Hampshire, is getting desperate. Although he said he would not use his own money to finance his campaign, he will be personally matching donations through Wednesday.
• With high poll numbers comes great scrutiny: Rick Santorum says he’s not afraid of the scrutiny that comes with leading poll numbers (via Politico): “The good thing about this is that this isn’t my first rodeo…I’ve had the national media crawling up anywhere they can crawl…It’s not perfect, and I’m sure you’ll hear from my friends about my warts - we all have them…I didn’t advocate for those [unspecified] things…you didn’t see me advocating for the bad or promoting those things.” That’s good, because the attacks are already coming and won’t let up before the caucuses. And RedState’s Erick Erickson is questioning his electability and his record.

What They’re Scared Of: Mitt’s Existential Rhetoric Resonates With Iowans

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA — As he’s pivoted back to a campaign focused almost entirely on President Obama, Mitt Romney has raised the alarm: 2012, he says, is about nothing less than the very “soul of America.”

Iowans I talked to at two of Romney’s campaign stops Sunday were in full agreement. So I asked them what scares them about a second Obama term. I got answers ranging from the creep of socialism to concerns that Obama’s best-known vice will encourage kids to take up smoking.

Just Who Votes In The Iowa Republican Caucuses?

The Iowa caucuses. Every four years the participants are the first to choose in the presidential race, and while Iowans are always hard to pin down, this year has been an especially difficult.

But who are the midwesterners who will show up on Tuesday night, and for whom will they vote? TPM took a look through the most recent polling data to sketch out exactly what a participant in the Iowa Republican caucuses looks like this year.

How Ron Paul Won Over Iowa’s Evangelicals

Ron Paul has displayed surprising strength among evangelical voters in recent polls despite intense (even desperate) attempts from candidates like Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry to win over the religious community. Paul’s position is no accident, however — the campaign has for months been aggressively reaching out to area churches to try and secure sympathetic pastors’ endorsements and smooth over the rougher edges around Paul’s libertarianism.

Mitt Romney Gives Rick Santorum The Courtesy Of Attacking Him

ATLANTIC, IOWA — Rick Santorum really has arrived, it seems. After meeting with voters in a diner here Sunday, Mitt Romney hosted a rare press conference where he was more than happy to take Santorum on in the way he has other surging candidates in the past.

It’s a sign that Santorum’s surging poll numbers have caught the attention of Romney, who’s pushing hard to win here in Iowa, a state he wasn’t able to win during his 2008 White House run. Anecdotal evidence suggests some voters are choosing between the two men — three undecided Iowans I talked to before Romney arrived said Santorum and Romney were on their short lists.

‘The Die Has Been Cast’: Ron Paul Makes Closing Argument Ahead Of Iowa

Ron Paul’s closing message ahead of the Iowa caucuses goes a little something like this: I’ve always been here, you guys just started noticing.

“It’s not because I’ve changed my message,” he told FOX News’s Chris Wallace, in one of several interviews on the Sunday political talk show circuit. “This is what I’ve worked my whole career to warn people about,” he said, dismissing criticism that he’s a candidate of the lunatic fringe.

Paul remains in good position to win on Tuesday — he’s polling just a few points behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in trial heats tracking likely GOP caucus-goers, but the real key is his campaign organization. Known for being the most fervent and best organized in the state, Paul is betting his core support will be more committed to getting out and caucusing than Romney’s.

Des Moines Register Poll: Santorum Edges Toward A Lead

You can’t tie Iowa Republicans down. They just love who they love. And with three days to go until the presidential caucuses, they might just be in love with former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

The Des Moines Register (DMR) poll, regarded as the best of Hawkeye polling, shows a basic trend that’s been developing for the last week or so in the state: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead with 24 percent, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) right behind with 22, and Santorum moving to third with 15 in a late sprint to the finish.

Rick Santorum: ‘I’m The Tortoise’

OTTUMWA, IOWA — Rick Santorum saw this coming.

For months, he’s promised reporters (and anyone else that would listen) his moment was just around the corner. With the results of the final Des Moines Register poll before the Iowa caucuses showing him moving into second place behind Mitt Romney over the past two days, I asked him if he thought the numbers vindicated his old-school Iowa campaign strategy.

“Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses,” Santorum said. “Mitt Romney has a lot of money, I have a lot of energy. And that’s the difference and I think the people of Iowa can determine what’s going to make the person successful — whether you have energy and ideas, willing to face the tough questions and do the tough interviews and be available to reporters, or someone who can raise a lot of money.”