Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has been campaigning in Iowa yesterday and today with U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst. After the jump I’ve enclosed excerpts from some of the news coverage of Romney’s visit. Free publicity is always helpful in a close election, but I’m not sure Romney can bring any voters who aren’t already supporting Ernst into her corner.

Social conservative talk radio host thinks appearing alongside Romney “makes absolutely no sense”: “Ernst is being blasted in endless commercials for being a corporate shill, so why bring in to campaign for you a guy Iowans just rejected in the last election as a corporate shill? Ernst already has the moderate, corporatist GOP vote all locked up.” He thinks Ernst needs to do more public appearances with solid conservatives. I think that would alienate moderate voters. What do you think, Bleeding Heartland readers?

The Des Moines Register’s headline-writers misrepresented a finding from the new Iowa poll by Selzer & Co for the Des Moines Register and Bloomberg News. Among respondents who are “likely voters” in 2014, Romney leads President Barack Obama by 41 percent to 39 percent. The Register’s headline on Jennifer Jacobs’ article read, “In 2012 re-run, Romney wins.” Not really. Not only is that lead within the poll’s margin for error, a new presidential election would bring out a presidential-year electorate. This poll sampled likely midterm voters. We know that several Democratic-skewing groups (young people, unmarried women) are less likely to vote in a non-presidential year.

I don’t expect Romney to run for president again, but likely future presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio did a “telephone town-hall” with Ernst a few days ago. Past and future presidential candidate Rick Santorum will come to Dubuque and Davenport this week.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention that in a separate piece on the latest Selzer poll, Jennifer Jacobs reported that Romney “leads Clinton in 2016 matchup.” Sorry, no. The poll shows Romney barely ahead of Hillary Clinton by 44 percent to 43 percent among Iowa respondents considered likely 2014 election voters. That doesn’t tell us whether Romney would be ahead among a presidential year Iowa electorate.

James Q. Lynch reported for the Cedar Rapids Gazette on Romney’s event with Ernst in Cedar Rapids today. (Click through for a video clip.)

“I want to see common sense Iowa principles working in Washington (and) that’s why we need Joni Ernst in Washington,” the former Massachusetts governor told more than 200 people who packed a meeting room at the Marriott Hotel in Cedar Rapids.

“The Washington way has go to end. We’ve got to get the Iowa way in power,” Romney said, adding that Ernst, a state senator from Red Oak, will “get the Iowa way … the common sense way in Washington.”

Romney, who lost Iowa to President Barack Obama by a 52 to 46 percent margin, said the president’s handling of domestic policy – failure to enact trade policies that would have helped farmers, to improve schools, reduce poverty and income inequality – were matched by his lack of leadership on foreign policy.

Ernst built on that theme as she sought to tie her opponent, U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, to the unpopular commander-in-chief.

Braley, she said, “has supported every single one of those failed policies.”

The Iowa Republican’s Kevin Hall reported from Romney’s Sunday evening event with Ernst and Governor Terry Branstad in West Des Moines.

“She’s going to be an extraordinary breath of fresh air in Washington. I can’t wait until she goes there and makes them squeal,” Romney said to loud cheers from the audience. […]

“(Obama) said in this race that his policies were on the ballot. Now, I know that Iowa voted for President Obama twice, but Iowa is not going to vote for Bill Braley, and vote for him a third time. That’s for sure,” Romney said. […]

Mitt Romney kept his speech short. However, in less than five minutes, he landed jabs at Braley and Obama, told a decent joke, and heaped huge praise on Joni Ernst.

“She’s a person of unprecedented character and humility,” Romney said. “A farm girl, a mom, an auditor, and yes, a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard. She has experience leading. We send a lot of people to Washington who can talk great but they don’t know how to lead. This woman knows how to lead.” […]

Joni Ernst shredded Braley’s record during her speech Sunday evening. She noted he voted eight times in eight years to raise the debt ceiling, and the national debt has doubled during Braley’s time in Congress.

Ernst bashed Braley for voting to defund the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan who were in harm’s way. “What he was doing was putting politics ahead of our men and women in uniform,” Ernst said.

Braley has addressed that false attack in both of the IA-Sen debates, incidentally.

Here’s the joke Romney told about Obama.

Byron York of the Washington Examiner attended the Ernst campaign events on Sunday as well. Excerpt from his write-up:

Ernst had a good Sunday. Campaigning in the crucial eastern part of Iowa, she drew solid crowds in the Mississippi River towns of Clinton and Dubuque – the 22nd and 23rd counties in her “#IowaKnowsBest” drive to visit all the state’s 99 counties. Ernst drew about 100 people to a meet-and-greet in Clinton, which was an especially good number for an event held at the church hour Sunday morning. That’s not the usual time for a political gathering, but with three weeks left before the election, Ernst will be on a demanding schedule to hit all those counties.

In Dubuque, people were standing outside the door of the Naughty Dog coffee shop as Ernst addressed a packed house inside. And then Ernst’s big RV – “Mother. Soldier. Independent leader” written on the side – made the three-hour drive to West Des Moines for an evening rally at the headquarters of the Iowa Farm Bureau with Mitt Romney and Gov. Terry Branstad. The crowd was good, probably 150, although the room wasn’t full on a chilly, misty night. […]

Romney clearly likes Ernst. “I can’t wait ’til she goes [to Washington] and makes them squeal,” Romney said, referring to Ernst’s famous “I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm” ad. It’s still an applause line.

Romney spent a fair amount of time slamming the man who defeated him in 2012. Barack Obama began his first term in the White House by traveling around the world apologizing for America, Romney said. Now, “It’s time for the president to apologize to America.”

Braley has the same policies as Obama, Romney continued. “I know that Iowa voted for President Obama twice, but Iowa is not going vote for Bill Braley and vote for [Obama] a third time, that’s for sure.” Romney messed up Braley’s first name, which is actually Bruce, but then again, nobody seems able to get Braley’s name right these days. First Lady Michelle Obama called him Bruce Bailey during a recent campaign visit, and, like Romney, former President Bill Clinton called Braley “Bill” during a campaign appearance in September.

Ernst reminded the crowd that Obama recently said that his policies are on the ballot this November. Braley is also running on those Obama policies, Ernst said: tax increases, regulations, Obamacare, federal spending, rising debt, cap-and-trade, plus naivete or outright neglect of the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. It’s time to put an end to all that, Ernst said. “We are going to fire Harry Reid.”

“Iowa is excited about the opportunity to have not just one Republican United States senator, but two Republican United States senators,” Ernst told the crowd.