Six Republican presidential hopefuls battled for votes on Saturday in the Iowa straw poll, the first big test of the 2012 campaign, as Texas Governor Rick Perry formally launched a White House bid that could reshape the race, according to Reuters. Voters swarmed the straw poll site and lined up early to cast a ballot in Iowa's nonbinding mock election that is traditionally an early gauge of strength in the state that holds the first Republican nominating contest next year. In South Carolina, Perry formally jumped into the race with a blistering attack on President Barack Obama. "We cannot afford four more years of this rudderless leadership," Perry told a conference of conservatives, promising to reduce taxes, regulations and government intrusion in people's lives. The straw poll and Perry's campaign launch, coming less than six months before Iowa's nominating contest, promise to reshuffle the Republican field fighting for the nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012. Perry, a staunch social conservative with a strong job creation record in Texas, is expected to immediately vault into the top tier of contenders along with front-runner Mitt Romney. Perry visits Iowa on Sunday. Perry is not on the straw poll ballot and Romney skipped the event, but six other Republicans pleaded for support from voters who rolled into the site in dozens of buses and jammed candidate tents for music and free barbecue. Lines were long at the tents hosted by Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann, who are competing for the votes of the social conservatives who dominate the Iowa nominating contest. "I will restore America's promise," said Pawlenty, who has spent $1 million in his Iowa campaign and needs a strong showing to stay alive. "I don't just talk about it, we'd get the job done." Supporters of libertarian Ron Paul swarmed the arena floor as Paul spoke, while Bachmann exhorted her supporters to follow her straight to the voting booth. 'COME WITH ME' "I'm heading to the voting booth now. Come with me," she said after praising the conservative values of Iowans. Clara Bulens of Grinnell, Iowa, said she voted for Bachmann because "she's beautiful, brilliant, very personable and I love her platform." The poll, a fund-raiser for the state party, created a carnival atmosphere around Iowa State University's basketball arena. Any Iowa resident over 18 could show up and participate, with many allowing a candidate to buy their $30 ticket. Organizers said the big crowd could threaten the record turnout of nearly 24,000 voters in 1999, when then-Texas Governor George W. Bush won on his way to the White House. Candidates organized buses to haul in supporters from around the state in a warmup for the organizational effort needed in the Iowa caucuses, scheduled for Feb. 6. Pawlenty and Bachmann have the most at risk in the straw poll, which traditionally weeds out the poor performers and boosts those who do better than expected. Bachmann's appeal to fiscal conservatives of the Tea Party movement and social conservatives has shot her to the top of opinion polls in Iowa, but a flat performance by the Minnesota congresswoman could slow her early momentum. Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, is mired in single digits in state and national polls. He ripped Bachmann's record in Congress during a debate on Thursday at the straw poll site. Four other Republicans -- Paul and fellow U.S. congressman Thaddeus McCotter, businessman Herman Cain and former Senator Rick Santorum -- also paid the fees and bought tents and speaking time at the event. Romney, along with former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, did not pay to participate in the straw poll but will be listed on the ballot.
