What Iowans are getting in the mail
The Republican presidential candidates have been busy meeting voters ahead of next Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, but the GOP candidates are relying on more than just face time to get out their message. As part of their multimedia campaigns, the candidates and the groups supporting them have been barraging Iowans with a stream of flyers in the mail.
CBS News and National Journal collected an assortment of flyers sent to Iowans last week, many of them revealing that the other candidates were focused on chipping away at Newt Gingrich's standing in the polls. Based on the latest CNN poll, they may have made a dent -- Gingrich came in fourth with 14 percent in Iowa, where he previously was the frontrunner.
Here's a look at what Iowans are getting in the mail:
Gingrich and Romney "very troubling" on union issues
The National Right to Work Committee, which bills itself as a nonpartisan organization opposed to labor unions, sent a letter to Iowans calling into question whether Romney or Gingrich would stand up to "union bosses."
The organization sent each Republican candidate a survey regarding workers' rights issues, and the group praises Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Ron Paul for responding. The group slams Romney for failing to respond to the survey, and it highlights Gingrich's evolving position on the National Right to Work Act .
"Newt Gingrich's past opposition and Mitt Romney's vacillation are very troubling," the letter says while soliciting donations.
"With allies like this, who needs the left?"
Mitt Romney's presidential campaign mailed out two brochures using the same lines of attack against Gingrich the campaign employed in two of his television ads -- casting Gingrich as an "unreliable" conservative.
One flyer targets Gingrich for criticizing the Paul Ryan Medicare reform plan and features a quote from Paul Ryan: "With allies like that, who needs the left?"
The second flyer slams Gingrich for filming a climate change ad with Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. The largest print on the brochure reads, "When Al Gore needed allies... they turned to Newt Gingrich."
"Newt Gingrich: Making millions, selling out conservative principles"
Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign mailed out four brochures featuring Perry's conservative values while questioning the values that Gingrich and Romney follow.
One brochure touts Perry as "America's Jobs Governor." Like his television ad that casts Perry as the "Main Street" candidate, Perry's flyers charge that Gingrich's record is "a story of insider access and million dollar paydays." The flyer also hammers Romney for his work at Bain Capital, accusing him of "killing jobs to maximize profits."
A second brochure focuses largely on Perry's personal background, sharing vintage photographs of the governor, including a picture of Perry as a child standing next to his Shetland pony. In the flyer, Perry promises to "End Obama's war on faith" and charges that Gingrich and Romney have supported tax-payer funded abortion.
Two more flyers similarly compare Perry's conservative credentials on issues like the health insurance mandate to Romney and Gingrich.
"We come from small town America."
The Perry campaign also sent out a positive letter ahead of the holidays from Perry's wife Anita. Mrs. Perry wrote about her husband's humble beginnings, helping his parents grow cotton and wheat. "He's not the most polished candidate or the best debater, but he is a principled fighter for conservative values," she wrote.
"Counterfeits"
The Ron Paul presidential campaign mailed a flyer calling the Texas congressman a "true lifelong conservative." By contrast, the flyer called Romney, Gingrich, and Perry "counterfeits."
The Paul campaign also mailed out a seven-page letter focusing on his opposition to abortion. It features pictures of the candidate holding a toddler, a sonogram, and a photo of Paul's daughter -- who, like her father, is a physician -- holding a baby.
The usual promises
A pro-Ron Paul super PAC, called Revolution PAC, sent Iowa voters a letter from libertarian author Thomas E. Woods. The author writes that this election is filled "the usual promises" to bring about change. "But whose record shows he really means it?" Woods writes.
The letter doesn't mention the other GOP candidates but does take aim at the president: "Liberal federal policies peddled by Barack Obama and others are eroding the individual spirit that is America," Woods writes.
The super PAC also mailed out a pamphlet that lays out Paul's views on the war on terror, foreign policy, his economic plan and other issues.
Ron Paul "predicted the crisis and has its solution"
Iowa voters received one lengthy pamphlet that says it was paid for by an individual supporting Ron Paul and not supported by any candidate or committee.
The pamphlet argues that Paul can restore the economy while "other candidates propose we drift afar from our founding principles."
The five-page brochure spells out Paul's positions on immigration, foreign policy and defense, health care. It highlights his Iowa endorsements and includes a quote from Ronald Reagan praising Paul.
