Friedman shifts from calling for a third party, to calling on the GOP to get serious.

The NYT has an interesting piece on the ongoing limted v. big governemnt debate.

Newt Gingrich may soon find it very hard to compete against Mitt Romney, or even Rick Santorum, now that the man who was funding his SuperPAC with multimillion dollar donations has decided it’s time to close the checkbook: Newt Gingrich was just days away from the Jan. 31 Florida Republican presidential primary when he told [...]

I wholly agree with James Joyner’s statements earlier today about the general uselessness of any straw poll, including the one conducted annually at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which this year was won by Mitt Romney. Which is why I find Rick Santorum’s whining about the process rather amusing: A groggy Rick Santorum, donning suit [...]

The Massachusetts Moderate has won the Conservative Political Action Conference poll for a fourth time.

The popular notion that the United States military is monolithically Republican is mistaken.

At the very least, nominating Santorum would let the GOP test a hypothesis that’s been debated for years.

If the reaction at this year’s CPAC is any indication, Mitt Romney still has some work to do to seal up his party’s base.

Late yesterday, the nation’s Catholic Bishops came out with a statement that noted at least two strong objections to the revised contraceptive coverage plan unveiled yesterday by the White House: Hours after calling the Obama administration’s contraceptives compromise a “first step,” the Catholic bishops said Friday night they have “two serious objections” to the new [...]

A new poll shows Santorum surging ahead of Mitt Romney nationally

Via the AP:  US Marines posed with Nazi symbol in Afghanistan The Marine Corps on Thursday once again did damage control after a photograph surfaced of a sniper team in Afghanistan posing in front of a flag with a logo resembling that of the notorious Nazi SS — a special unit that murdered millions of [...]

The Obama Administration’s proposed solution to the impasse over contraceptives is unlikely to end the debate.

There must not be any serious problems left for the Arizona State Legislature to worry about, because they are presently considering a bill that would bar teachers and professors from using bad language: In what has to be the most hilariously unconstitutional piece of legislation that I’ve seen in quite some time, senators in the [...]

Are the American people tuning out of politics altogether?

ABC News’s Jake Tapper is reporting this morning that the Obama Administration will be offering a compromise of some form regarding its controversial new rule requiring employers to provide coverage for contraceptives to their employees: With the White House under fire for its new rule requiring employers including religious organizations to offer health insurance that [...]

Should we just hand “marriage” over to churches and have civil unions for everyone else?

William F. Buckley Jr. was once quoted as saying that he’d rather be ruled by the first 400 names in the Boston telephone directory than the faculty at Harvard. Apparently, most Americans feel the same way: The public’s perception of Congress has sunk to yet another new low, with 43 percent of likely voters believing [...]

Maggie Gallagher’s anti-gay marriage argument is an example of pure conservative thinking.

One analyst sees a way that the current GOP race could indeed lead to a brokered convention.

Mitt Romney has apparently realized that people don’t like him much, so he’s working to come across as less robotic.

Andrew Kaczynski at Buzzfeed uncovers this video from 2008 when Rick Santorum not only endorsed Mitt Romney, but campaigned with him: As conservatives gather here at CPAC, it’s a pretty good refection of how much things have changed in four years. Back then, Mitt Romney was the conservative hero fighting against John McCain and Mike [...]

Pretty low, it would seem. Via Gallup:  Congress’ Job Approval at New Low of 10%

I know that Doug Mataconis has already noted the turnout figures, but I like the way Ron Elving put in it in a write-up for NPR: Not only was the Missouri vote a "beauty contest," binding no delegates, but the turnout there was less than 6 percent of the voting-age population — a paltry number [...]

Are culture war issues about to make a comeback in the 2012 campaign?

It may be time for Republicans to start worrying about turnout in their primaries. With the exception of the South Carolina primary, voter turnout in all the primary and caucus contests this year has been down from 2008 levels, and yesterday’s numbers were among  the worst of all: Missouri 2008 Turnout —- 588,720 voters 2012 [...]

Rick Santorum swept three states that are off the media radar screen. Will it revive his campaign?

Yep, more gridlock.

Romney polls the winner in any head-to-head matchup within the GOP candidiate pool.

Take the quiz.

Once again, a government entity thinks the average person is too dumb to take care of themselves.

There are some signs that the Obama Administration may be looking for a way out of the controversy it has found itself in with Catholics and other religious groups: The White House may be open to compromising on a new rule that requires religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth [...]

A victory for proponents of same-sex marriage today in the Ninth Circuit.

The Obama Campaign is being criticized for agreeing to play the SuperPAC game like everyone else does.

Last week, Doug Mataconis noted the claim by Mitt Romney that Americans “are the only people on the earth that put our hand over our heart during the playing of the national anthem.” Doug linked to some photographic evidence that contradicted that claim.  For those who prefer moving pictures, I give you Glenn Kessler. Why [...]

If one has views that one will not change even in the face of the best case scenario for new data against those views, then one cannot claim to be an analyst.

What may have been the best chance for Democrats to hold on to Ben Nelson’s Senate seat has apparently slipped away: OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Former Sen. Bob Kerrey said Tuesday he will not run for the Nebraska Senate seat he gave up more than a decade ago, shutting down hopes for a bid both [...]

As they did four years, ago the New York Giants will get a parade in New York City today. Some are wondering when Iraq War vets will get theirs.

If the polling is accurate, Rick Santorum may do well in the contests tonight in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado: Rick Santorum could be headed for a big day in today’s contests in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri. Missouri looks like a probable win for Santorum. He’s at 45% there to 32% for Mitt Romney and 19% [...]

Via the AP:  Roseanne Barr seeks Green Party presidential nod Barr has submitted paperwork to the Green Party for her candidacy. The party’s presidential nominee will be selected at a convention in Baltimore in July. Well, I didn’t see that coming.  Is Barr even famous enough to qualify as a celebrity candidate at this point [...]

Congressman John Fleming of Louisiana had some egg on his face this morning: Meet John Fleming, the unfortunate Republican U.S. Representative from Louisiana who made that wonderful and all-too-common mistake of thinking that an Onion article was real and telling his Facebook followers to read it. Fleming’s Facebook status was posted by Literally Unbelievable, a Tumblr that collects images of Facebookers who [...]

Was Clint Eastwood’s Chrysler ad a political message, or just a well done commercial?

Will the Obama Administration’s decision on contraceptive coverage by the Catholic Church have an impact in November?

Trying to open a new business can be a massive and costly headache.

I speculated last week that, notwithstanding the American public’s rather obvious war wariness,  making the public case for military action against Iran wouldn’t be all that difficult given the three decades of antipathy between the United States and the Islamic Republic that started with the Iranian Hostage Crisis. A new poll from The Hill would [...]

The Nevada GOP has finally released the final certified results from Saturday’s caucus: (CNN) – Mitt Romney won Saturday’s Nevada caucuses with his highest portion of a state’s vote yet, just over 50%, according to certified results released Monday by the Nevada Republican Party. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who also won the state’s GOP [...]

US society cannot so easily be placed into a maker/taker divide

Former Republican Congressman Pete Hoekstra, now a candidate to replace Debbie Stabenow as one of Michigan’s Senators, apparently thinks it’s a good idea to run this ad during the Super Bowl on Michigan’s NBC affiliates: This ad truly has it all. The racially stereotyped Asian woman speaking accented English, the dumb names, and yet the [...]

There’s no question that Mitt Romney won the Nevada Caucuses last night, but that’s about all we know because the most populous county in the state has only turned in about half of its votes so far: The voting ended half a day ago. The networks have called the race. The GOP presidential candidates have [...]

Last night, we saw the beginning of the end of the Newt Gingrich campaign whether he realizes it or not.

If you can remember back four short weeks ago to just before the Iowa Caucuses, you’ll recall that in late December Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum started coming out of nowhere in Iowa to surpass Newt Gingrich, who had been rising in the polls since early December. Santorum ended up winning the Iowa Caucuses by the [...]