Bumpy start to G.O.P. presidential race
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will officially announce on Monday that he will seek the Republican nomination for president. As CBS political correspondent Jan Crawford reports he'll be joining a GOP field that's off to a bumpy start.
Pawlenty to announce candidacy in Iowa
When Newt Gingrich criticized fellow Republican Paul Ryan's congressional budget plan, conservatives went ballistic and Democratic operatives went to work -- on television attack ads.
"Newt Gingrich says the Republican plan that would essentially end Medicare is too radical," goes a Priorities USA Action ad.
Gingrich: I wasn't talking about Ryan's plan
The ad then takes aim at presumptive Republican front-runner Mitt Romney -- implying he flip-flops on issues.
"But with Mitt Romney you have to wonder, which page is he on today," goes the ad.
And it's not just Democrats on the attack. The influential Wall Street Journal editorial page -- as well as other conservative outlets -- have skewered both Romney and Gingrich.
Their missteps help Pawlenty, who said earlier this month that despite their differences, Republicans have common ground.
"The one thing we all agree on is we can't improve this country with the president that we have," said Pawlenty.
But the early stumbles from Gingrich and a lack of enthusiasm for Romney also have Republicans looking for someone else.
Popular Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a budget cutter known for his financial discipline, is under enormous pressure to get in the race.
Daniels has said he will decide by the end of the month -- and certainly is sounding like someone who could run.
In an interview this week with the Indianapolis Star, Daniels even outlines how he would run a presidential campaign, saying he would sleep in voters' homes as he did when he ran for governor.
And with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee deciding not to run, there's also an opening for a social conservative, such as Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a former state senator and federal tax attorney.
Bachmann is a favorite of social conservatives and Tea Party activists and she'll be in Iowa next week for a big speech to Republicans. Mitt Romney will be in Iowa as well on Friday. So, perhaps, the race that got off to a slow start may be picking up fast.