Michele Bachmann has overtaken Mitt Romney and is now leading the Republican presidential field in Iowa, according to a new poll conducted by TheIowaRepublican.com. The Minnesota Congresswoman received support from 25 percent of likely Caucus-goers, with Romney coming in second at 21 percent. The poll also shows former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and businessman Herman Cain in a statistical tie for third place.

She hasn't even decided if she will run for president yet, but former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin thinks she could beat President Obama in the 2012 election.

"The people of America are desperate for positive change, and deserving of positive change, to get us off this wrong track," Palin said in an interview with Newsweek. "I'm not so egotistical as to believe that it has to be me, or it can only be me, to turn things around. But I do believe I can win."

Republican South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint will host a presidential forum in his state on September 5. The forum, to be held in Columbia, will feature a different format than a traditional debate, and not every GOP candidate will be invited to attend.

From CNN:

The Labor Day event, called The Palmetto Freedom Forum, will be more of a question-and-answer session rather than a debate, event organizers said. The GOP candidates will be asked to offer concrete plans for fixing the debt and growing the economy.
 
Not every Republican hopeful will be invited, though. Candidates must meet a threshold of 5 percent in an average of national polls conducted by the website RealClearPolitics.

Questions will come from three panelists: DeMint, Iowa Rep. Steve King and Robert P. George, founder of the American Principles Project, which is sponsoring the event.

The latest poll conducted by Public Policy Polling shows Democratic Los Angeles City Councilman Janice Hahn leading Republican businessman Craig Huey ahead of Tuesday's special congressional election in California by a margin of 52 to 44 percent. Four percent of likely voters are undecided. Hahn and Huey are vying to replace ex-Rep. Jane Harmon, who resigned her seat earlier this year to run the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. California's 36th district traditionally leans blue.