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

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.

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.

A new poll shows Santorum surging ahead of Mitt Romney nationally

Are the American people tuning out of politics altogether?

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

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?

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

Take the quiz.

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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

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 [...]

Today’s New York Times is reporting that Sheldon Adelson, who’s given millions of dollars to the pro-Gingrich SuperPAC Winning Our Future, isn’t necessarily wedded to backing the former Speaker forever: LAS VEGAS — Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino executive keeping Newt Gingrich’s presidential hopes alive, has relayed assurances to Mitt Romney that he will provide [...]

Romney continues to roll up decisive victories while Gingrich gets increasingly bitter and nasty.

Someone took a clip of a Romney/Gingrich debate exchange, added in a classic comedy routine, and had a little fun:

Regarding why he did not congratulate Mitt Romney on his Florida win, Newt Gingrich said the following: "They outspent me five to one to quote destroy Newt Gingrich?" Gingrich said in an interview on CNN’s "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." "You know, I think that doesn’t deserve congratulations. I think that’s reprehensible, I think [...]

Newt Gingrich won’t be holding the traditional post-caucus victory party in Nevada tonight, and that has led some to wonder about the state of his campaign: Instead of the traditional election night party, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will hold a press conference after the Nevada Caucus on Saturday, raising new speculation about his future [...]

UCLA political scientists, Lynn Vavreck shows in a post at Erza Klein’s WaPo blog that the unemployment rate is not the best predictor of election outcomes.  Instead, the place to look is GDP growth: The data suggest that for every 1 percent growth in GDP from the fourth to the second quarter of an election [...]

Rod Dreher highlights this clip from a recent Mitt Romney stump speech where he makes a claim that is completely untrue: Andrew Kaczynski, however, takes note that there are plenty of pictures on the Internet of those darn foreigners putting their hand over their heart when their nation’s anthem is played. Even the Chinese! This [...]

“Economic conditions are entirely different today than they were in Reagan’s era, and different conditions demand different policies. Those who say otherwise are simply engaging in cookie-cutter economics — proposing whatever was popular and seemed to work once, without regard to changing circumstances”—Bruce Barlett in a WaPo piece entitled “Why the GOP should stop invoking [...]

Mitt Romney’s statements about the planned early draw down in Afghanistan make no sense whatsoever.

When I first heard news that Heath Shuler was “retiring” from Congress at the end of this term last night, my reaction was to scoff at the notion of someone “retiring” after a mere five years in a job. No, that’s just quitting, I noted. But Josh Lederman’s piece for The Hill (“Rep. Shuler to [...]

The January jobs report was the best we’ve seen in more than three years.

Thanks in large part to an organization that’s been in existence since the 2008 election, not to mention a significant population of Mormons, Mitt Romney looks to be headed for a huge victory in tomorrow’s Nevada Caucuses. Yesterday, for example, we got a poll from the Las Vegas Review-Journal showing Romney leading Newt Gingrich by [...]

Why is the Republican frontrunner pandering to a megalomanical showman?

Is the presumptive Republican nominee too handsome, too rich, and too pompous to win the hearts of ordinary Americans?

Newt may challenge the winner-take-all allocation of delegates.

Things aren’t all sunshine and roses for the Obama 2012 campaign.

Matthew Dowd asks: What happens in an election when two candidates who are each unelectable run against each other in the fall?

It looks like Mitt Romney is headed for a big win in Saturday’s Nevada Caucuses: A new poll shows Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney headed for a blowout victory Saturday in Nevada’s GOP caucuses. Romney wins support from 45 percent of Nevada Republicans who said they plan to participate in the caucuses, the survey commissioned [...]

The clown show that is the race for the Republican nomination is about to get even more ridiculous: LAS VEGAS — An advisor to Donald Trump says he will make a major announcement in Las Vegas tomorrow. Sources tell the 8 News NOW I-Team Trump will endorse Newt Gingrich. According to Trump advisor Michael Cohen, [...]

If Romney loses in November, it could be the start of a bitter fight insider the Republican Party.

Mitt Romney stumbled a bit during his victory tour this morning.

During the lead up to the South Carolina Primary, there was some evidence of a growing problem for Newt Gingrich with female voters in the wake of the new allegations made by one of his ex-wives. As it turned out, no gender gap materialized in the South Carolina Exit Polls. That wasn’t true last night [...]