YOU HEAR THE DARNED-est things in Iowa these days: Newt Gingrich is a greedy influence peddler with zany ideas. Mitt Rom-ney's core principle is getting elected. Ron Paul fights for our right to buy unpasteur-ized milk with gold. And Rick Perry can't remember three things at once. The 2012 Republican presidential campaign heads into the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses on a decidedly negative note, with the candidates scorching one another nonstop. The noise within the party is making it harder for voters to hear its message: that America's lingering economic blues won't go away until a Republican is elected President in November. But the attacks are so fierce in part because the race is so muddled. After a year of campaigning that occasionally felt like a theater of the absurd (thank you, Herman Cain), Romney, Paul and Gingrich are now closely bunched in a top tier of candidates. And it's not certain that the Iowa results will make things any clearer.
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