Potential 2012 Candidates Hit the Campaign Trail

ROAD TO THE WHITE HOUSE

Video Playlist

• Presidential Summit on Spending and Job Creation (4/29)
• Donald Trump in Las Vegas (4/29)
• Jan Mickelson Show (4/26)
• Iowa Public Radio show “The Exchange” (4/27)
• Jim Fisher Show (4/28)

Washington, DC
Sunday, May 1, 2011

As more Republicans begin to emerge as potential candidates in the 2012 presidential campaign, C SPAN’s “Road to the White House” is back to capture the events leading up to the election.
Friday night, several potential Republican presidential candidates were in Manchester, NH to speak at the Americans for Prosperity Foundation’s (AFP) “Presidential Summit on Spending and Job Creation.”
Among the event’s speakers were former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Senator Rick Santorum, former Godfather Pizza CEO Herman Cain and Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul also made headlines this week, as the latest hopeful to announce the launch of an exploratory committee. He made the announcement at a press conference in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday.
Iowa is the focus of much attention; with the state’s caucuses 10 months away, C‑SPAN visited local radio stations this week to hear what listeners thought about the candidates and the upcoming presidential campaign. The state is one of the top stumping grounds during election season, being the first state to hold a caucus and considered to be very influential in selecting the presidential nominees.
The Jan Mickelson Show from Des Moines was the first of the three programs. Mickelson spoke with callers from Iowa and around the country about the 2012 presidential race and Iowa caucuses. The chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, Matt Strawn, was also in the studio for part of the program.
“The Exchange,” a production of Iowa Public Radio in Iowa City, was simulcast Wednesday. Host Ben Kieffer and two political science professors discussed the early stages of the 2012 presidential campaign and President Obama’s release of his Hawaiian birth certificate.
The president’s birth certificate continued to be a topic of conversation Thursday on the Jim Fisher Show. Guest host Dan Kennedy was joined by two local reporters who also talked about the Republican presidential field and the state of the economy.