, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Herman Cain defended
his character in a debate of Republican presidential contenders
on Wednesday, saying Americans “deserve better” than the
controversy over sexual harassment allegations against him.

Cain, the former head of Godfather’s Pizza, has kept his
spot near the front of the Republican race despite accusations
by four women, which he has denied.

, Nov 9 (Reuters) – Republican Herman Cain
will try to move past an escalating sexual harassment
controversy on Wednesday during a U.S. presidential debate on
economic issues held in the hard-hit manufacturing state of
Michigan.

The debate will be a homecoming for Cain’s rival Mitt
Romney, who was born in Michigan and hopes to consolidate his
status as the candidate-to-beat in the Republican race to
choose a 2012 challenger to President Barack Obama.

DES MOINES, Iowa, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Five Republican
presidential hopefuls auditioned for Iowa’s party insiders at a
fund-raising dinner on Friday, sparing each other from
criticism but dishing up plenty of red-meat attacks on
Washington and President Barack Obama.

Two months before Iowa kicks off the battle for the
Republican presidential nomination, the two candidates who led
a recent state poll — Herman Cain and Mitt Romney — skipped
the chance to address about 1,000 party activists.

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) – Something is missing in Iowa’s kickoff presidential nominating contest, and the Republican candidates are running out of time to find it.

The grassroots “ground game” — the labor intensive, neighbor-to-neighbor campaign organizations long considered a key to building support in Iowa — is off to a slow start.

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) – Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain’s struggles could open the door in Iowa for rival Rick Perry, who has stepped up his visits and advertising two months before the state kicks off a wide-open nominating race.

Cain’s controversy over sexual harassment allegations from the 1990s threatens to erode his support in the state, where he led a key recent opinion poll, and shift the fight for the loyalty of Iowa’s big bloc of social conservatives.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Herman Cain tout their real-world business experience as the cure for an ailing U.S. economy, but political history suggests it is rarely a deciding factor in elections.

The two men who lead the pack in the shifting Republican race to choose a challenger to President Barack Obama in 2012 are hoping the lingering economic downturn will make this the year voters put a corporate manager in the White House.

DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) – Republicans Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann took veiled swipes at surging presidential rival Herman Cain on Saturday as six of the party’s White House hopefuls courted social conservatives at an Iowa forum.

Appearing separately before about 1,000 conservative activists, the Republican candidates all pledged to protect the unborn, defend traditional marriage, limit government and bring an end to the presidency of Democrat Barack Obama.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Reuters) – Despite months of campaign-trail neglect, Iowa could still be the unlikely launching pad for a Mitt Romney run to the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

Romney led one recent poll in the state that holds the first nominating contest of the race, even though he has rarely visited Iowa since a crushing second-place finish here put his 2008 campaign on a path to failure.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Rick Perry put the political obituaries on hold on Tuesday, firing a volley of attacks at Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney in his strongest and most energetic debate performance.

With his poll numbers sliding after a string of poor debates, Perry accused Romney of hypocrisy on immigration and belittled his record on jobs in a feisty and sometimes personal fight that seemed to energize the Texas governor.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Rick Perry put the political obituaries on hold on Tuesday, firing a volley of attacks at Republican presidential rival Mitt Romney in his strongest and most energetic debate performance.

With his poll numbers sliding after a string of poor debates, Perry accused Romney of hypocrisy on immigration and belittled his record on jobs in a feisty and sometimes personal fight that seemed to energize the Texas governor.