By JIM RUTENBERG and JEFF ZELENY
c.2010 New York Times News Service
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Republican presidential field for 2012 is beginning to take shape in a period of intensive upheaval set off by the rise of the Tea Party movement, expanding the roster of potential candidates but presenting a more complicated road to the nomination.
The opportunities and pitfalls were on full display Friday – in some ways a kickoff to the Republican contest – as no fewer than six possible contenders made appearances in Washington and, in one especially closely watched case, here in Iowa, the first stop on the path to the White House. At least as many more Republicans already are taking steps to test candidacies of their own.
At a gathering of conservative activists in the capital, Mitt Romney hewed closely to the issues of small government and low taxes that have driven Tea Party activists this year, suggesting the Obama administration’s economic policies are “one reason they will serve only one term.” Romney, who has assiduously courted conservative support since his unsuccessful campaign in 2008, mocked those who once declared Republicans an “endangered species.”