On the Trail: Dec. 20

The GOP establishment backs Romney; Paul is on the rise.

Michele Bachmann - Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann placed second in the  Tea Party Patriots’ straw poll conducted over the weekend with 28 percent, a surprisingly good showing given her recent single-digit polling numbers. Bachmann also took aim at rival Newt Gingrich, who won the poll with 31 percent, accusing him of speaking to her in a condescending manner during the last GOP debate. “If [Gingrich] disagrees with my assertion, then he needs to make that claim and put it on the table,” she said on NBC’s Meet the Press. (Photo:  Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Michele Bachmann - Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann placed second in the  Tea Party Patriots’ straw poll conducted over the weekend with 28 percent, a surprisingly good showing given her recent single-digit polling numbers. Bachmann also took aim at rival Newt Gingrich, who won the poll with 31 percent, accusing him of speaking to her in a condescending manner during the last GOP debate. “If [Gingrich] disagrees with my assertion, then he needs to make that claim and put it on the table,” she said on NBC’s Meet the Press. (Photo:  Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Newt Gingrich Slams Mitt Romney for Super PAC Attack Ads  - Restore Our Future, a Super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, drew the ire of Romney’s opponent, Newt Gingrich, when the group began running a slew of negative attack ads in December 2011. A recent spot slams the former House speaker for being reprimanded by the ethics committee among other claims. “Newt attacks because he has more baggage than the airlines,” the ad declares. (Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Newt Gingrich - Newt Gingrich won the Tea Party Patriots’ weekend straw poll with 31 percent of the vote, and in an effort to keep far-right conservatives interested, he’s espousing some scary judicial views. In an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation, the former House speaker said that if the president or Congress disagrees with a Supreme Court ruling, the ruling should be ignored.(Photo:  Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Jon Huntsman - Jon Huntsman’s dogged determination to win the upcoming New Hampshire primary is starting to pay off — kind of. He received two newspaper endorsements Sunday, from the Valley News and the Keene Sentinel. He earned third place in the state in last week’s Suffolk University/7NEWS poll of likely Republican primary voters.(Photo:  Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images)

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Jon Huntsman - Jon Huntsman’s dogged determination to win the upcoming New Hampshire primary is starting to pay off — kind of. He received two newspaper endorsements Sunday, from the Valley News and the Keene Sentinel. He earned third place in the state in last week’s Suffolk University/7NEWS poll of likely Republican primary voters.(Photo:  Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images)

Rick Perry - Texas Gov. Rick Perry is taking a bus tour across Iowa, doing what his campaign says he does best, engaging with voters face to face. But at a town hall event Sunday, he tangled with a college student over natural gas extraction and then again with a 14-year-old girl about gays serving in the military, who asked why Perry wants to “to deny them their freedom when they're fighting for your rights." (Photo:  Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Rick Perry - Texas Gov. Rick Perry is taking a bus tour across Iowa, doing what his campaign says he does best, engaging with voters face to face. But at a town hall event Sunday, he tangled with a college student over natural gas extraction and then again with a 14-year-old girl about gays serving in the military, who asked why Perry wants to “to deny them their freedom when they're fighting for your rights." (Photo:  Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Ron Paul - Iowa is looking more interesting, thanks to Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Just two weeks before the state’s Republican primary caucuses, he’s leading a new Public Policy Polling survey with 23 percent, followed by Mitt Romney (20 percent) and Newt Gingrich (14 percent). The new numbers have pundits whispering: Could Paul win the Hawkeye State?(Photo:   Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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Ron Paul - Iowa is looking more interesting, thanks to Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Just two weeks before the state’s Republican primary caucuses, he’s leading a new Public Policy Polling survey with 23 percent, followed by Mitt Romney (20 percent) and Newt Gingrich (14 percent). The new numbers have pundits whispering: Could Paul win the Hawkeye State?(Photo:   Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

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Mitt Romney - GOP voters may not be feeling the love for Mitt Romney, but the establishment sure is. The former Massachusetts governor picked up new key endorsements in the past few days, from South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the Des Moines Register, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) and former GOP senator and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole. (Photo:  Richard Ellis/Getty Images)

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Mitt Romney - GOP voters may not be feeling the love for Mitt Romney, but the establishment sure is. The former Massachusetts governor picked up new key endorsements in the past few days, from South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the Des Moines Register, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) and former GOP senator and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole. (Photo:  Richard Ellis/Getty Images)

Rick Santorum - Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum got a couple of endorsements Monday. Popular conservative radio host from Iowa, Sam Clovis, has thrown his support behind the long shot, as has thriller author Brad Thor, ABC News reports. In addition, Iowa secretary of state Matt Schultz and a number of high-profile ministers are supporting Santorum.

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Rick Santorum - Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum got a couple of endorsements Monday. Popular conservative radio host from Iowa, Sam Clovis, has thrown his support behind the long shot, as has thriller author Brad Thor, ABC News reports. In addition, Iowa secretary of state Matt Schultz and a number of high-profile ministers are supporting Santorum.