David Fitzsimmons, The Arizona Star LIVE STREAMING VIDEO OF STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH BELOW: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Here is some live blogging of President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address. This will not be as extensive as the live blogging we do here on primary debates. The first part will give you a CNN summary. Live blogging is underneath. A roundup of reaction after the speech will go on top of the live blogging. The pre-speech...

TMV Assistant Editor Pat Edaburn wrote HERE about his growing conclusions that State of the Union addresses are increasingly meaningless. He is not alone in that perception: Public Notice/Bankrupting America now has a video that calls out Presidents of both parties for making empty promises during their State of the Union addresses on fiscal discipline. There are partisans of both parties who won’t like this video because it doesn’t whitewash their parties’ complicity in the country’s...

Here is live blogging of tonight’s super-high-stakes Florida Republican Presidential Primary debate sponsored by NBC News, the Tampa Bay Times, National Journal and the Florida Council of 100. All attention tonight will be on the increasingly bitter — and politically crucial — battle between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the former front runner, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the current front runner. Romney finally agreed to release some tax returns but then demanded...

Be sure to check in with TMV tonight as we live blog the Republican Presidential debate beginning at 9 p.m. EST. We’ll also likely have posts by various TMV writers on their impression of the debate — and we invite your reaction in comments.

How far has partisanship gone? THIS FAR. TRULY reprehensible. And, oh yes: there will be people who will vote AGAINST people who do something like this. And I hope they catch these creeps and prosecute them to the fullest extent of animal cruelty laws. So now people are killing animals — pets — to lash out at those with whom they don’t agree?

It’s THIS.

In these days of ideology and partisan-based new and old media commentary, it’s extremely hard to find a book that lays out solid information, is packed with research that recounts and analyzes current events, is reliable as a valuable reference tool for anyone of any party or ideology, and is written in a style that’s lively but as seriously and skillfully as columns by the Washington Post’s late David Broder. Now there is a book that does just that. It has gotten less publicity...

A post on The Politico suggests that we may be seeing deja vu all over again. Remember how many analysts concluded that George W. Bush respected his father, but when it came to his politics and behavior as President he was determined not to make the same errors as his politically-ill-fated dad and in several ways became the Republican anti-George H.W. Bush? We now see some of the same thing in former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, whose candidacy is — despite the conventional wisdom —...

My blood is still boiling. My outrage is not your usual Internet-induced or Internet-encouraged outrage. My outrage was so great I could not write about it. But I’ll let THIS LETTER speak for me. And I’ll say: “Ditto.” Ditto to what the column says. Ditto to his reccomendation to the newspaper publisher. I worked for several newspapers over the years as a contributor and as a full-time staffer and any publisher who advocated that would quickly lose his advertisers and readers...

One of the shockers that came out in the final South Carolina Republican Presidential primary vote was that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney mainly got voters who made over $200,000 — a factor that would doom him if he gets the nomination. With the talk of his role in slicing jobs at companies acquired by Bain Capital and the controversy over his taxes, voters seem to feel he reminds them more of a cold boss than someone they’d like to have in the White House. The Politico reports...

Our political Quote of the Day is actually two Quotes of the Day on the new political landscape of the GOP in wake of the South Carolina Republican Presidential primary which ended in former House Speaker Newt Gingrich decisively defeating the former presumptive front-runner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. First CNN’s John Avlon begins his must-read-in-full-post this way: - Newt Gingrich has pulled a Double Lazarus, coming back from the dead twice in this campaign to win decisively...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has pulled off a comeback for the political books and has won the South Carolina Republican Presidential primary. And he did it by double digits: at this writing he wins with 40% and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney comes in second with 28 percent. If Gingrich had won by a little the Romney camp could spin it. But the Gingrich win — and Romney loss — is so huge that it can’t be interpreted as anything else but as conservative Republican...

TMV will be offering live blogging of the South Carolina Republican Presidential primary once polls close. This will include results and a roundup of news and blog reaction and analysis. It will be at the top of the site and updated with a new lede once the votes are all in and the evening is over. CNN is saying they may be able to project a winner as soon as polls close. Look at the top of TMV for this mega-post and be sure to refresh TMV often since it will be updated all evening.

CNN’s John Avlon notes that there are three things to watch for in tonight’s South Carolina primary results. Some excerpts: South Carolina has voted for the eventual winner of the Republican nomination since 1980. And for the conservative candidates looking to stop the inevitability narrative that has surrounded Mitt Romney’s candidacy, South Carolina is a must-win state. Here are three things to watch as South Carolinians vote. Newt-momentum again? Newt Gingrich is a political...

Longtime legendary (in)famous Democratic strategist James Carville has a must-read-in-full post on CNN which is in the form of a letter to the Republican establishment. The letter, headlined “Carville to GOP: You have a disaster on your hands” must be read in full. Here is the final part of it which makes up our political Quote of the Day: At any rate, let’s talk a minute about Mitt. He was your guy — he was methodical, meticulous, married once. He has completely blown himself...

All eyes will be on South Carolina today due to the South Carolina Republican Presidential primary — which up until last week many felt could be the next to last step in the virtual coronation of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as the 2012 Republican nominee. To be sure, the campaign could have still gone on, but the political narrative was that Romney won Iowa, then won New Hampshire would then likely win South Carolina and then win Florida. And then the endgame, no matter how much...

Most analysts agree there were two moments from last night’s CNN South Carolina Republican Party Presidential Debate that could change the narrative about former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as front-runner. These two segments are the ones that would be shown in the future by networks when they talk about debates, if these segments have the impact that many think they will. #1: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich blasts CNN’s John King for asking him about his ex-wife’s ABC interview...

Here is live blogging of tonight’s mega-high-stakes CNN Southern Republican Leadership Conference Presidential Debate from South Carolina. All attention tonight will be on the presumptive front runner former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has gotten bogged down in questions about his taxes, investments and uneven off-the-cuff comments that get him into hot water — and on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is reportedly zooming in the polls but was hit by an ABC interview with his...

We will be presenting live blogging of tonight’s Republican Presidential debate in South Carolina. It will contain live blog entries plus some parts of live blogging done on other sites. Stay tuned.

Here’s a great way to quickly compare the 2012 Presidential candidates. Go to findthedata.org’s superb comparison page where at a glance you can compare the candidates HERE.

NOTE: There was an error in our original headline and lede on this story. It has been fixed. We regret the error. Will former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney now quote Texas Governor Rick Perry and say: “Oops!” The Des Moines Register reports that final a final tally of the caucus vote finds that former Sen. Rick Santorum beat Romney by 34 votes: THE RESULTS: Santorum finished ahead by 34 votes MISSING DATA: 8 precincts’ numbers will never be certified PARTY VERDICT: GOP official says,...

Today is a big day for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, indeed.Will it be a big, bad day? First, today is the big South Carolina CNN debate — a true “make or break” debate since polls now show Gingrich coming on strong against front-runner former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (who is still 10 points ahead in one poll). New and old media punditry have been buzzing with the question: is it possible Gingrich can score an upset? Gingrich was widely viewed — putting the content...

File this in the “here we go again” file. Are we about to see another Drudge Report exclusive that will reconfigure the political horizon? Matt Drudge has a screeching headline on his site with an “exclusive” about a “civil war” raging at ABC over when to air a supposedly explosive interview with Marianne Gingrich, one of the former House Speaker’s wives. Here’s some of what he has: [UPDATE...See more below.. There have been conflicting reports about...

John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri A new CNN/Time Poll finds the Republican primary race in South Carolina is tightening: former Massachusetts Gov. Romney is staying about where he was while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is gaining ground: With three days to go until the first-in-the south primary, Mitt Romney remains in the lead in the Palmetto State, but according to a new poll, his advantage over Newt Gingrich is rapidly shrinking. A CNN/Time/ORC International poll indicates that...

Did Rick Santorum really win Iowa? The allegation has been leaking out for days now, but there are growing rumblings that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney may not have won — which means he didn’t make history by winning Iowa and New Hampshire. Here’s part of John Avlon’s must-read-in-full post on The Daily Beast: Did Rick Santorum win the Iowa caucus? That’s what it looks like if numbers from a caucus in the town of Moulton, Appanoose County, are correctly counted...