Some good news for Mitt Romney: a new CBS News poll finds that the former Massachusetts Governor is the only GOPer in the race could beat President Barack Obama.

But is it? Are most voters still tolerant of the greed machine? Even the Wall Street Journal is probing the history of Bain Capital. While it persists in claiming Romney was an “excellent CEO” of Bain, it showcases the failures… … A researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said the rate at which Bain’s target companies ran into trouble at some stage “seems...

You’d think someone in politics as long as Mitt Romney (OOPS! He is just a businessman who has dabbled in politics off and on) would know better. But he doesn’t. He made a remark about enjoying firing an insurance company — but it’s the enjoying firing part of it that’s now be jumped on by his opponents. They seem (NOT!) to be forgetting other parts of the statement. This is somewhat...

For years Democrats have complained that in national and even more local elections Republicans would “Swift Boat” Democrats. And even in the most aggressive Republican contests, many GOPers would at least pay lip service to Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment about making nice to other Republicans. No more (and why should that be surprising when many conservatives today reject some of the things...

RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

It is all over! In a much-awaited development, Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd Palin, has just announced to a with-bated-breath-waiting world that he is endorsing Newt Gingrich for president. According to ABC News, “Todd Palin said he believes that being in the political trenches and experiencing the highs and lows help prepare a candidate for the future and the job of president.” King maker Palin...

Just in time, our frayed nerves go back to the quiet and calm of “Downton Abbey” in World War I after a weekend of Republicans crying havoc over Barack Obama, pausing only in sniping at one another for restful outbursts of road rage, blaming the President for everything wrong in the 21st century world. Robotic Mitt Romney, as befits a frontrunner, leads the pack in letting “slip the dogs of war,” stabbing...

Another Obama Chief-of-Staff bites the dust….. From a New York Times Breaking News Alert: William M. Daley, Obama’s Chief of Staff, Stepping Down, White House Officials Say William M. Daley, President Obama’s chief of staff, is stepping down, White House officials confirmed Monday. The news was first reported by The Los Angeles Times. Mr. Daley, a former commerce secretary and the son and brother of...

A new Gallup Poll has bad news for both political parties and (relatively) good news for Democrats and bad news for Republicans: The percentage of Americans identifying as political independents increased in 2011, as is common in a non-election year, although the 40% who did so is the highest Gallup has measured, by one percentage point. More Americans continue to identify as Democrats than as Republicans, 31%...

ROMNEY CAMPAIGNS IN SOUTH CAROLINA Coming off of his razor-thin victory in the Iowa caucuses, tomorrow’s New Hampshire primary is Mitt Romney’s for the taking, but it is South Carolina’s January 21 primary that will determine whether a man who a year ago appeared to be the inevitable Republican nominee can finally leave the competition in the dust. This is because if Romney wins South Carolina,...

Tea Partiers claim to support smaller government but are most enthusiastic about Rick Santorum, who hearts earmarks and right-wing nanny state paternalism, and Newt Gingrich, who would use big government to finance colonies on the moon. How to explain this contradiction? First of all, I suspect that many Tea Partiers really don’t know what they stand for other than identity politics. Secondly, I suspect...

WINDHAM, N.H. — It isn’t every day that political candidates are asked whether the 10th Amendment allows states to nullify federal laws, but that was precisely the question Rick Santorum faced at a forum here a few days ago organized by a libertarian-leaning group. To his credit, Santorum did not pander to the nullifier. “We had a Civil War about nullification,” Santorum said with...

For 4 decades America could count on Egypt as a reliable ally in managing Middle East affairs. For 4 decades American military aid guaranteed Egyptian government would stick by its western allies. Well that chapter in history is over and a new chapter begins. As Islamic movements grab power across the Middle East, the US can no longer count on Egypt as a reliable ally. When Mubarak`s regime began to sway in...

With a double-header debate this weekend, memories arise of the legendary Satchel Paige who, before baseball was integrated, was the greatest pitcher in America, often starting two games in a day and was considered by Joe DiMaggio et al the best they never had to face in the big leagues during his prime. Satchel pitched well into his sixties, famously saying, “Never look back, something might be gaining on...

The only people I have more contempt for than those who would send our young men and women to get shot at, get maimed and get killed in unnecessary wars, are those who support sending our young men and women to get shot at, get maimed and get killed in unnecessary wars while they themselves refused to, declined to serve, had “other priorities,” or had all kinds of excuses for not serving in those very same...

Who’s doing the best job? Which technologies are most important? Who’s the new kid on the block to watch? What makes you say/believe that? #MittRomney | #RickSantorum | #RonPaul #NewtGingrich | #BarackObama

And yet another debate. But this time former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney is not getting off quite that easy: Mitt Romney found himself under fire early in a Sunday GOP debate, with conservative candidates piling on Romney’s record as governor of Massachusetts. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum went on the attack at the outset of Sunday’s NBC News-Facebook debate,...

Our political Quote of the Day comes from CNN independent analyst John Avlon who notes that New Hampshire is all about independents. Some quotes from his post that needs to be read in its entirety: New Hampshire is all about the independents. And that’s why it’s the best test of general election electability. While Iowa’s caucuses are disproportionately dominated by social conservatives,...

Don’t think former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will go way quietly. His PAC just got a $5 million donation: Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has given $5 million to an independent committee supporting GOP presidential aspirant Newt Gingrich, the first of what is expected to be many millions the Las Vegas billionaire plans to spend this election year. The check from Adelson is the latest in an avalanche of...

WASHINGTON — Before there was the tea party to define the phrase “far-right fringe,” there was Rick Santorum. He’s a nice-guy zealot who should never be allowed anywhere near the Oval Office. It’s understandable that progressives would be tempted to cheer Santorum’s sudden rise as a viable candidate for the Republican nomination. The likely nominee, Mitt Romney,...

Iowa Votes by Michael Reagan Iowa caucus results show it’s still early in the game and nothing’s certain. So what happened on the way to the Republican presidential nomination? Well, even with a slim official win, Mitt Romney did no better in practical terms this year than he did four years ago in 2008 because of the level of competition. This proves that the road to the 2012 nomination will be...

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Was it ever the truth? Or a form of blind idealism our teachers wished for us. Many of us were taught, we too could grow up to be president. Even us rag-bag kids in handmedowns either too small or too big, scuffed shoes that would never shine cause they were down to the bone of the leather, crowded in 65 to a classroom, sharing desks, not enough books to go around, never ever being able to take a book home....

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Three moderate GOP weathervanes—-George Will, Peggy Noonan and David Brooks—-are being blown by Iowa winds in Rick Santorum’s direction, but in a wobbly way. The usually dour Will starts out almost giddy, claiming Republicans “crave fun. Supporting Mitt Romney still seems to many like a duty…Suddenly, supporting Santorum seems like a lark, partly because a week or so ago he could quit complaining...