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A couple of Sarah Palin fans are looking at today’s article about the proposed, and ultimately dismissed, idea of writing in Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, or Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan in New Hampshire’s primary and wondering whether to try to write in Palin in the remaining GOP primaries and caucuses. If a Draft Palin movement were to begin in earnest, the best-case scenario for leave the former Alaska Governor with a decent number of delegates, but not enough to win the nomination — unless she pulled off the Tebow-esque political miracle of winning a significant number...

Mitt Romney’s campaign unleashed a multi-pronged attack against Newt Gingrich Wednesday — a sign the GOP front-runner could be worried about a surge from the ex-Speaker prior to South Carolina’s primary on Saturday. Romney rolled out a pair of new attack ads and dispatched two of his top surrogates to blast Gingrich’s erratic temperament just days before the make-or-break southern contest. “He’s not reliable,” former Missouri Senator Jim Talent slammed on a media conference call. “Yes, he can say exciting things — he also says things that undermine the conservative movement.” That theme was reminiscent of the line of attack...

There is now polling indicating a possible Newt Gingrich surge after Monday night's debate - A Rasmussen tracking survey has him just three points behind Mitt Romney. Notably, Rick Santorum may need to start wearing a lifebelt rather than a sweater vest - he appears to be sinking fast. But the surest sign that the Romney campaign considers Gingrich the main threat here in South Carolina was a conference call just now in which top surrogates for the GOP frontrunner unloaded on the former House Speaker. It was quickly followed by web ad featuring Talent slamming Gingrich as an "Unreliable...

At the now-controversial meeting of evangelicals at a Texas ranch, influential evangelical leader James Dobson made a strong pitch for Rick Santorum's wife — and noted that Callista Gingrich was her husband's "mistress for eight years," questioning whether that's what people want in a first lady, three sources told POLITICO. The moment left several attendees at the confab at the Pressler ranch stunned, according to the sources. It came on Saturday, before the group of about 150 conservatives voted on a candidate they wanted to back. On the third round of balloting, the vote went to Santorum, but Gingrich backers...

Newt Gingrich appeared incredulous after being told of the latest attacks by GOP presidential rival Mitt Romney. ”Wait, wait, wait.  Hold on. They’re saying I helped re-elect a Democrat?” Mr. Gingrich told reporters in Winnsboro, S.C., adding, “That’s just stupid.” Earlier Wednesday, the Romney campaign set up a conference call with two former lawmakers who lashed out at his leadership as House speaker, saying it helped to re-elect President Bill Clinton. The campaign also released a new Web ad,  calling him “unreliable.”Mr. Gingrich said he helped create the GOP’s first House majority since 1928. “So what did Mitt Romney do?  Who...

GOP front-runner Mitt Romney struck an especially low blow at Newt Gingrich in South Carolina Tuesday: He compared the former speaker to Al Gore. Speaking at a rally at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., the GOP front-runner derided Mr. Gingrich’s claim during a debate Monday night that he had a hand in the creation of millions of jobs during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Mr. Romney noted that Mr. Gingrich was only in his second term in the House when Mr. Reagan became president, and argued that the private sector, not government, is responsible for job creation.

Bill Clinton, the original "comeback kid" doesn't see much hope for a resurgence by Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, dissing him in a new interview as a Romney clone because of issues the former speaker has flip-flopped on.Clinton, who is on the cover of the upcoming issue of Esquire, puts down the speaker who has bragged on the campaign trail of how he worked with Clinton to reform welfare and balance the budget.Clinton doesn't giving any love back. In an excerpt provided to Whispers, the former president says, "As a private citizen he was for certain important health-care reforms and...

POLITICO's Ginger Gibson sends over this dispatch of Newt Gingrich's press conference, where he was asked about Mitt Romney's campaign's new web ad attacking him as an "unreliable conservative," who helped elect Democrats. It's rare that we do this, but the whole transcript is really worth a read. See below: Newt: That's just stupid. I mean, having fought with Tip O'Neil. Having insisted on the investigating Jim Wright. Having led the effort which defeated Tom Foley. Having created the first House Republican majority in 40 years. My only question is what did Mitt Romney do? Who did he help elect?...

It's 10 pm. It's Martin Luther King Day. You're in the South. A packed auditorium is deathly quiet. A large national TV audience is watching. The electoral stakes are sky-high. You are sweating on behalf of your favorite candidate. Then an African-American journalist calls your guy's name -- and asks a racially tinged "gotcha" question. OH NO! Hit the mute button. Take a beer break. I can't bear to watch! Why do we let liberals moderate our debates?! So it's not exactly "the 3 am phone call" from the 2008 race. No, it's scarier than that. It's the "10 pm...

After ignoring former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for three weeks, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign is renewing its assault on Newt Gingrich days before ...

Newt Gingirch knows how to unseat Mitt Romney as the Republican frontrunner. Speaking with reporters in South Carolina Tuesday, Gingrich suggested that fellow Republican candidates Rick Santorum and Rick Perry should drop out of the race and endorse his campaign. "I am respectful that Rick [Santorum] has every right to run as long as he feels that's what he should do," Gingrich said. "But from the stand point of the conservative movement, consolidating into a Gingrich candidacy would in fact virtually guarantee a victory on Saturday." While there’s no way to say for sure, a Santorum-Perry backed Gingrich could pose...

Is Newt-mentum returning?... Even if so, Gingrich faces two challenges: time and math… Romney’s wealth and Bain Capital have been THE story in the GOP race for the past 10 days (and counting)… Are the first Obama TV ads going up? If so, they will come earlier than the first Clinton and Bush ads did in their re-election years… And Dem convention goes from four days to three days, creating a potential speaking-scheduling problem. *** Newt-mentum returns? There are some increasing signs -- though all of it anecdotal for now -- that Newt Gingrich is gaining some momentum three days...

A big moment of last night’s debate came when moderator Juan Williams and Newt Gingrich argued over Gingrich’s comments that many have seen as condescending towards blacks. However, Williams really should have been offended due to Gingrich’s incredibly insensitive pronunciation of the word “Juan.” At least, that’s the opinion of Chris Matthews who accused Gingrich of a racial motive in the way he used Williams’ name.RELATED: Newt Gingrich And Juan Williams Rumble Over Proposed ‘Child Janitors’ ClaimMatthews’ comments came during an appearance on Andrea Mitchell Reports in which he and Mitchell discussed the tone in yesterday’s all white audience. Matthews...

If you think you’ve already heard everything there is to know about Mitt Romney, think again. A 200-page document that appears to be Sen. John McCain’s entire 2008 election-year opposition research file on the former Massachusetts governor hit the Internet with a vengeance Tuesday evening. And it’s an eye-opener. The file explores everything from the assessed value of Romney’s house (“$3.162 million”) to his views on the Boy Scouts’ ban of homosexuals (“publicly opposed … in 1994 and 2002 campaigns”). It was made public Tuesday on the social media website Buzzfeed, although it appears to have been accessible online for...

Newt Gingrich identified the very core of conservatism with his remarks in the first South Carolina presidential debate. His vision of conservatism is the one that most Republicans don't understand and most Democrats don't want you to know. Gingrich was asked to explain his views on work ethic and the government erosion of that ethic through (at least in part) federal and state entitlement programs like food stamps. He suggested that poor high school students be given opportunities to perform janitorial services in their schools as a way to earn money and to learn how to work at a job....

Buoyed by his strong debate performance in Myrtle Beach, Newt Gingrich has called his rivals to drop out of the race because "consolidating into a Gingrich candidacy" would "virtually guarantee victory" in the South Carolina primary and stop Mitt Romney becoming the Republican nominee. Making the case to a crowd of almost 200 in an art gallery in the old railroad junction town of Florence, South Carolina he said: "If you look at the polling, I’m the only conservative who realistically has a chance to be the nominee.

How great is the LOVE the Father has lavished on us, that we should be cllled children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1 Newt has stepped up to the plate of history in our great American experiment. Just like Mr October in the early 70’s or the Great Bambino in the 30’s how does America not watch and cheer? There is no use comparing him to Ronald Reagan since he is actually far more articulate than even the great communicator...

FLORENCE, S.C. — Mitt Romney delivered a 13-minute speech here on Tuesday morning, shook hands with an audience that filled only a small part of a ballroom and caught a plane for a fund-raising gala in New York, a clear sign that he is looking beyond South Carolina. The outward confidence in Mr. Romney’s posture belied a deeply uncertain and fluid conclusion to the Republican presidential primary here. His rivals have shifted away from assailing his business record and are reminding conservatives through radio and television advertisements about the health care bill he signed as governor of Massachusetts and about...

In a hypothetical one-on-one match-up between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney for the GOP presidential nomination, Gingrich beats Romney by a wide margin. In our national scientific telephone survey last night, we asked Americans who said they’d vote in their state’s Republican primary or caucus for whom they’d vote if only two candidates were on the ballot. We asked for responses to three head-to-head hypothetical contests: Gingrich-Romney, Paul-Romney, and Santorum-Romney. Gingrich topped Romney 48%-33%, Santorum edged Romney 45%-39%, and Romney beat Paul 61%-23%. The results give credence to the argument that there’s a robust anyone-but-Romney (and Paul) movement among likely...

It's 10 pm.  It's Martin Luther King Day.  You're in the South.  A packed auditorium is deathly quiet.  A large national TV audience is watching.  The electoral stakes are sky-high.  You are sweating on behalf of your favorite candidate.  Then an African-American journalist calls your guy's name -- and asks a racially tinged "gotcha" question.  OH NO!  Hit the mute button.  Take a beer break.  I can't bear to watch!  Why do we let liberals moderate our debates?!So it's not exactly "the 3 am phone call" from the 2008 race.  No, it's scarier than that.  It's the "10 pm question."  And...