VIDEO:
Well-funded negative ad campaign is pulling Gingrich’s poll ratings back to earth
Why is Obama doing better in the polls?
There is polling evidence that Obama’s payroll holiday tactic is working with voters - Greg Sargent in the
Washington Post
PowerLine, however, explains the small Obama bounce by divisions in the GOP field: “The GOP candidates should be showing a united front, directing their fire at Obama and competing to be the most effective anti-Obama candidate in the fall.”
Nate Silver posits better economic expectations for Obama’s recovery but warns that those expectations are reversible.
Fred Barnes on Obama’s big tactic
“Short of an economic turnaround and a suddenly booming housing market, Obama is wary of running on his record. Instead, he’s trying to turn middle class Americans against Republicans, accusing them of defending the interests of the rich. And he’s shaped his policies—on taxes, especially—and his speeches to promote this division.” - Fred Barnes in the
Weekly Standard
In
The Hill Judd Gregg urges Republicans to call Obama’s bluff on taxing millionaires: “Take away the president and his party’s primary issue of sophistry built on raising taxes on the super-rich, and make them debate what they hate — reducing the size of the government.”
Gingrich asks Romney to get negative ads off the air
“The Super PAC backing presidential candidate Mitt Romney, which has blistered Newt Gingrich in this state, became the center of controversy on Tuesday, when Mr. Gingrich demanded its attack ads be pulled and said Mr. Romney was being “purely dishonest” in his refusal to intervene.” -
WSJ
“I don’t object to being outspent, I object to lies,” Gingrich told reporters in a feisty press conference Tuesday after he spoke to a group of employees at a manufacturing plant here in rural Southeast Iowa. “I object to negative smear campaigns.” -
LA Times
“He’s running neck and neck with Romney in two national polls released yesterday: tied at 28 in the CNN poll, tied at 30 in Washington Post/ABC news sample. But he has totally collapsed in Iowa–down to the mid-teens after his feverish ascent to the mid-30s…was it only last week? In one poll, he’s even running behind Rick Perry. The difference is that Iowa has been bombarded with anti-Gingrich advertising. The ads have been brilliantly effective.” -
TIME
Romney: The Choice is Merit Society or “Entitlement Society” -
WSJ
“Mitt Romney framed the 2012 presidential election in a speech here Tuesday night as a choice between an “entitlement society” dependent on government welfare and an “opportunity society” that enables businesses to flourish.” -
Washington Post
Romney says his 25% rating is a floor, not a ceiling: “One of the things that’s sort of hard for me to figure out is why we didn’t say this about John McCain four years ago. He never broke the 25%,” said Mr. Romney. “I don’t recall people who got 40% or 50% until the primaries began.”" - Quoted by the
WSJ
Iowa faith leaders endorse Rick Santorum -
USA Today
Santorum is the one candidate who could do a Huckabee in Iowa -
NRO
Why Rick Santorum is more impressive in person than Rick Perry - Walter Shapiro for
The Ticket
"The RNC’s new nominating contest paves the way for a protracted delegate fight this spring, likely drying up the resources of the presumptive nominee before the general election." -
Roll Call
Is a brokered convention just a fantasy? A splintered Republican field and new party rules mean it just might happen - Michael Medved for the
Daily Beast
2011 was the year in which ObamaCare began to unravel without much help from Republicans -
Daily Caller