DES MOINES, Iowa — The plate clatter grows around dinner time at Spaghetti Works here in Des Moines’ historical district. A family enters with two young boys. I look at them and my eyes tear up. A couple comes in with a teenage son. I think about what I read months ago about an ill-fated teen and feel a huge sense of grief. I’m thinking of the horrific final moments of some kids who didn’t deserve to die or die before they reached adulthood. They didn’t deserve their unspeakably...

A new CBS News/New York Times poll finds big support for mandating contraception coverage – including among Catholics: Amid continued controversy surrounding an Obama administration policy mandating that women working at religiously-affiliated institutions be provided with free access to contraceptive health care, a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows that most Americans – including Catholics – appear to support the rule. According to a survey, conducted between Feb. 8-13, 61...

I’m still scratching my head on this one. I’m sitting here in my motel in Darlington, Wisconsin, and was just about to put a political Quote of the Day up on TMV when I visited a few websites and saw THIS. This underscores why Mitt Romney a)is having trouble with conservatives because to many he seems to be someone who says whatever he thinks he needs to say to get votes, b)will have trouble and be almost a political candystore to Team Obama. Our political Quote of the Day is for the...

The Rick Santorum surge continues — as does the Newt Gingrich collapse. What’s important in polling is whether various polls show a trend. And this one is the latest to show Santorum gaining steam, fast: Rick Santorum has pulled slightly ahead of Mitt Romney in Republican primary voters’ preference for the presidential nomination, a national CBS News/New York Times Poll shows. Ron Paul is now in third, followed by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. More than ever, Gingrich...

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com Two new polls suggest former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney now has big problem. In the “Wizard of Oz” Dorothy thinks if she an say “There’s no place like home” she can return home. At this weekend’s big conservative CPAC powwow in Washington Romney seemed to believe that if he used the word “conservative” more than two dozen times and said he was a “severely conservative” governor it would convince his party’s...

Make no mistake about it. If former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney loses the Michigan Republican Presidential primary he is in big trouble. It’ll be a body blow to his imagery, will likely mean an even greater infusion of money into the candidacy of his chief rival former Sen. Rick Santorum. And no matter how many times he says the word “conservative” or says he was “severely conservative” as Governor, the party’s conservative base and Tea Partiers will continue...

The phrase “going postal” has become part of American culture since those awful days in the early to mid-80s when there were news accounts of mass murders at American post offices — murders usually committed by employees or former employees. Wikipedia even has an entry on the expression “going postal” — which explains: “The expression derives from a series of incidents from 1983 onward in which United States Postal Service (USPS) workers shot and killed managers,...

The news that GOPers in Congress will soon move to try and make it so any employer (not just a religious organization) can deny women birth control coverage will likely not help how Republicans in Congress are faring. Just keep the newest push in mind when you read this poll: While positive ratings for Congress remain at an all-time low, more voters than ever see the Republican agenda in Congress as extreme. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 35% of Likely Voters...

Just declared: the Republican Party’s war against contraception.

File this in your Department of Sour Grapes file. Former Sen. Rick Santorum is suggesting that former Massaschusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may have rigged it so he won the CPAC straw poll vote: Rick Santorum suggested on Sunday that Mitt Romney’s campaign may have rigged a straw poll of conservative activists by paying the entrance fee for supporters. Romney beat Santorum by 7 points Saturday in a straw poll of almost 3,500 attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Santorum...

A new poll finds that Catholic voters support President Barack Obama’s new — and controversial — contraceptive policy compromise: Catholic voters largely approve of President Obama’s new policy on contraception, according to a poll released Saturday by groups that support the policy. Supporters say the poll shows that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and congressional Republicans, who oppose the new policy as an affront to religious freedom, are out of step with the...

Pavel Constantin, Romania If this report is accurate, it’ll mean a new low for the Syrian government, putting it more than ever guilty of war crimes: Syrian government forces are using detained civilians as human shields, placing them on tanks in the besieged city of Homs to prevent the opposition Free Syrian Army from fighting back, an opposition activist said. The latest tactic came as shelling rained on city’s Baba Amr neighborhood once again Sunday, residents say, marking at least...

Our political Quote of the Day comes from Time’s Adam Sorenson who notes that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s two clear-cut wins yesterday mean he has re-seized control of the political narrative. Sort of: Mitt Romney, the perpetually questioned front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, had a rough week. Three embarrassing losses to Rick Santorum in Tuesday’s non-binding contests led to questions about Romney’s conservative bona fides just in time for GOP activists,...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, still painting Barack Obama as a mere “community organizer” and suggesting Obama is unworthy of Amnerican troops, delivered a speech that galvanized many at the 2012 CPAC convention. She pushed all the hot buttons she does so well: resentments, a warning to the GOP elites to listen to the Tea Party and give them more power within the party, layers of snark and sarcasm aimed at Obama and few (if any) specific policy suggestions . But it shows why Palin...

The conventional wisdom a)is like a yo yo on this Republican presidential nomination race, b)will continue to operate like yo yo c)is made trickier with the news that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has just won the Maine caucuses vote on a day when conservatives at CPAC in effect went along with his insistence that he was a “severely conservative” Governor and is a conservative now. The latest good news for Romney: Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney bounced back from...

After a terrible political week, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has gotten some good news in terms of imagery and the argument he’s making that he is conservative and was a “severely conservative” governor: he has won the highly touted Washington Times/CPAC straw poll, which many had expected former Senator Rick Santorum to win: Mitt Romney won The Washington Times/CPAC Presidential Straw Poll on Saturday, and also nipped Rick Santorum as the top choice of conservatives...

How is former Massachusetts Mitt Romney doing among some conservatives? To be sure, he seems to be winning some over, but not all. For instance, add conservative icon Richard Viguerie to those who are skeptical. Here’s his latest e-press release in full: Richard Viguerie Says Mitt Romney is a Severe Conservative Impersonator Manassas, VA — Richard A. Viguerie, the Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, issued the following statement regarding Mitt Romney’s speech at the Conservative Political...

First polls showed former Godfather CEO Hernan Cain surging in the polls as conservative GOPers felt they found their viable alternative to former Massachusetts Mitt “I-was-severely-conservative” Romney. Then he fizzled. Then polls showed former House Speaker Newt Gingirch surging in the polls as conservative GOPers felt they found their viable anti-Romney. And now a PPP national poll find that it’s Senator Rick Santorum’s turn: Riding a wave of momentum from his trio of victories...

Did former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney just put his food in what seems to be his most accustomed spot again when trying to convince conservatives he’s one of them at the big conservative gathering in Washington, D.C.? It certainly seems so. Our political Quote of the Day typifies the raised eyebrows a particular quote of Romney’s has generated among many movement conservatives. It comes from Red State’s Eric Erickson: Mitt Romney got a warm reception at CPAC, standing ovations...

As the crisis — and brutality — continues to unfold in Syria, keep an eye on Iran, its role and its designs. Michael Youhana has a must read in the NYU Local. Here’s part of it: The Syrian regime’s appalling crackdown — which has left around 6000 dead — has been one of the most violent government responses to the Arab Spring’s wave of uprisings. On Friday, bad became worse when, according to conservative counts, 181 people were massacred in the Syrian city of Homs by Bashar...