Newt's campaigning in Iowa getting attention.

Newt's campaigning in Iowa -- being there 16 of 45 days -- is getting attention in the Iowa press. Jennifer Jacobs of Des Moines-Register wrote a column today highlighting Newt's recent appearances in the Hawkeye State as well as his upcoming ones.

Newt will be back in the state with the first Presidential contest next Tuesday in "in Decorah and the surrounding area."

Jacobs:

On Aug. 4, Gingrich will be the highlight of a lawn party in Des Moines’s Waterbury neighborhood. Organizers of a five-county fundraiser say he will be at their event in Tiffin on Aug. 5. And he will be at the Iowa State Fair, his spokesman said this morning.

...

Since then, he was in Des Moines for the Strong America Now debt-reduction summit on June 18 and in Indianola on a tea party bus tour stop June 25.

On Fourth of July, he marched in the parade in Clear Lake and visited with political activists in that area.

Last week, Gingrich did speeches as part of a Family Leader lecture series in Pella and Iowa City. On the same day, July 11, he met with the Iowa Conservative Union in Cedar Rapids.

Later in the week, he spoke to a conservative breakfast club in Des Moines, threw the first pitch at an Iowa Cubs game (the ball did make it to the catcher, but Gingrich was in front of the mound, not on it), and spoke at a tea party event in Lamoni.

Before his Iowa visit next week, Gingrich is scheduled to be on the East Coast, campaigning in the early-voting state of New Hampshire before traveling to Georgia for several stops, including a meeting with phone bank volunteers at the Newt 2012 headquarters who call voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Audio of Newt in Iowa Monday

Newt.org quotes an Iowa radio station:

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich says the nation’s unemployment rate is a social issue and he points to his past record as speaker of the U.S. House as proof he could balance the federal budget in five years.

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“You can’t have strong families if they can’t earn a living,” Gingrich said at the start of his speech.

Gingrich bemoaned the “passion for trivia” in politics and he touted his tenure as House Speaker as one in which Republicans worked to balance the federal budget.

“How can we have real conversations as a nation…and get beyond both demagoguery and trivialization?” Gingrich asked the crowd. “…I really believe somebody ought to stand up and say, ‘It’s time to have an adult conversation that’s not baloney.’”

During a question-and-answer period, Gingrich was asked about being in his third marriage. Gingrich talked about seeking reconciliation with God about the way he had conducted his private life, but then Gingrich turned the focus on his public life.

“You have to have somebody who has had an experience of doing some things that are real. The ‘Contract with America’ worked. The fact is we did reform welfare. The fact is we did pass the first tax cut in 16 years. The fact is that we did balance the budget for four straight years,” Gingrich said. “And the question I would ask you in looking at it is, given my total experience as a public figure, am I person you can say: “He does do what he believes in. He does stand by the country.’”

Here is the rest of the article.

Here is the audio of Newt.