Santorum Surge Continues
By Gary L. Bauer
The latest Rasmussen national poll finds Senator Rick Santorum leading the GOP race by double digits over Governor Mitt Romney. Here are the results of Rasmussen’s poll of likely Republican primary voters:

Santorum 39%
Romney 27%
Gingrich 15%
Paul 10%

Santorum’s Surge is Real
By Gary L. Bauer
Santorum’s surge is real. Three national polls released in the past 24 hours have Senator Rick Santorum essentially tied or leading Governor Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential contest. As a result, Santorum has overtaken Romney in the RealClearPolitics.com average of polls.

Only Solution to ObamaCare’s Tyrannical Attack on Religious Freedom is Full Repeal
Posted by Senator Jim DeMint
Well, we can’t say they didn’t warn us. Nancy Pelosi famously decreed that Congress must first pass ObamaCare to find out what’s in it.

Rick Santorum: No longer such a long shot
By Brian Montopoli
After Saturday’s Maine caucuses, we’ve come to something of a lull in the Republican presidential race. The next nominating contests don’t come until February 28, when there are primaries in Arizona and Michigan. There is only one debate scheduled before those contests, on February 22 in Arizona. Other than that there’s not much action until Super Tuesday, on March 6, when ten states hold their contests.

How Dumb Do You Think I Am?
Posted by Michael Hammond
We don’t have all the specifics. But it is pretty apparent that Obama’s “deal” on contraceptives is a trick. As to Catholic institutions, Catholic hospitals and universities would pay insurance companies premiums, which would pay for contraceptives and abortifacients. Evil doesn’t become good because it’s laundered through a third party.

Obama to Increase Spending Again
Posted by Daniel Horowitz
On Monday, Obama is slated to release his annual budget proposal for FY 2013, along with a 10-year budget (2012-2021) outlook. One would think that after talking incessantly about cutting spending, Obama would spend less money next year than this year. Yet, in Obama’s world, a spending cut means spending less than you were slated to spend, even though it is still higher in nominal terms.

Team Obama Fumbles Ruling, Offends Catholics
By Scott Rasmussen
Every sports fan knows that close contests are often decided by mistakes rather than heroics. In this year’s Super Bowl, Tom Brady threw just one interception, but Eli Manning didn’t throw any. Manning’s team won.

Santorum Surging
By Gary L. Bauer
The latest Fox News poll finds Senator Rick Santorum surging into a tie with Governor Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. In the final two days of polling conducted after Santorum’s sweep in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, Santorum and Romney both earned 30% support, followed by Gingrich at 16% and Paul at 15%.

Rick Perry rises from the ashes at CPAC – ‘Chance to offer a strikingly different view of America than the Democrats’
By Jerome R. Corsi
Former Republican presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry called for his party to run against Obama this year by adopting the theme “to take this nation back.”

Santorum Strong In Ohio
By Gary L. Bauer
For the second time in as many weeks, there is polling data suggesting that the strongest Republican candidate in Ohio is not Mitt Romney but rather Rick Santorum. A Rasmussen poll released this morning finds that Barack Obama leads Mitt Romney 45% to 41% among likely Ohio voters, whereas Santorum and Obama are tied at 44% each.

Boehner vows action to overturn Obama administration rule on birth control
By Peter Wallsten and N.C. Aizenman
Seeking to accentuate a political vulnerability for President Obama, Republican lawmakers on Wednesday intensified pressure on the White House over a controversial new health-care rule that critics say violates religious liberty — vowing to press for legislation to repeal it unless the administration relents.

A Wealthy Backer Likes the Odds on Santorum
By Jim Rutenberg and Nicholas Confessore
Mitt Romney and Foster Friess, a wealthy donor to conservative causes, were walking out of an event together a few months ago when Mr. Friess broke the news: After backing Mr. Romney for president four years ago, he was getting behind Rick Santorum this time around.

GOP candidate Rick Santorum tells pastors he’s a man of faith, and reason
By Anna M. Tinsley
After talking about his faith and family for about an hour, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum stood in the middle of a small chapel Wednesday morning, bowed his head and closed his eyes – ready to receive prayers from more than 100 clergymen gathered there.

Santorum Shocks Romney/GOP Establishment
By Gary L. Bauer
When the dust settled in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado last night, the conservative grass roots had once again shocked the professional political class by making Senator Rick Santorum the winner in all three races. I was gratified by the results, of course, since I was one of the first leaders to endorse his then “long-shot” candidacy. It is considerably less of a long-shot this morning! I have been inundated with press calls today asking essentially “What happened?” and “What does it mean?” Here is my take.

Santorum Sweeps
Posted by Leon H. Wolf
As of today, Rick Santorum officially has no more delegates than he had yesterday. That said, as CNN is just now this moment calling Colorado for Santorum in a stunning upset, his clean sweep of the states who voted/caucused today is a stunning rebuke to both Romney’s purported march through February and Newt Gingrich’s position as the favored not-Romney candidate.

Give Me Your Money in the Name of Jesus
Posted by Breeanne Howe
This morning, in the middle of his campaign National Prayer Breakfast speech, President Obama delighted those of us who love irony by quoting C.S. Lewis. It was an interesting moment in a speech that put forth the notion that taxing the wealthy is right in line with the teachings of Jesus. I mean, Jesus did hang out with tax collectors, right?

Danger Will Robinson . . . or Ann Coulter
Posted by Erick Erickson
This week is a career milestone for me. I appear in Time magazine writing about the state of the conservative movement. As a kid living overseas, my American history teacher subscribed us all to Time and U.S. News and World Report. So it is kind of cool to be in an issue of, between the two, the still printed survivor.

Santorum And The Sanctity Of Life
By Gary L. Bauer
No doubt you have heard by now that Senator Rick Santorum’s youngest daughter, Bella, fell ill over the weekend and Sen. Santorum returned home to take care of her. Bella has a genetic disorder known as Trisomy 18. Only about 10% of children who have this disorder survive their first year. Once diagnosed, most women are encouraged to have an abortion. Mrs. Santorum refused to do so and Bella is now 3 years old. You can imagine the challenges they face.

Santorum Nails It
By Gary L. Bauer
Last night Senator Rick Santorum turned in one of his best debate performances so far. Several commentators said that on rhetorical points Santorum effectively won the debate. During one of the evening’s highlights, Sen. Santorum castigated Romney and Gingrich for their endless bickering and tried to refocus the debate on the issues.

The Jacksonville Brawl
Posted by Erick Erickson
I’m biased, but I think the real winner last night was CNN and I feel confident I’d say that even if they didn’t send me a paycheck. After that disastrous and embarrassing NBC debate, Wolf Blitzer held his own, did not get devoured by Newt Gingrich, and engaged in a lot of substance without a lot of random questions like . . . oh . . . say . . . should states ban birth control.

Romney’s Big Healthcare Lie
Posted by Daniel Horowitz
Almost a full year into the presidential campaign, Romney finally received a full-fledged beatdown for his mendacity over healthcare. He has the nerve to feign outrage over Obamacare, even while he touts Romneycare – a carbon copy of Obamacare – as a virtuous success, supported by 90% of Massachusetts residents. Santorum did his homework, and called him out on the hypocrisy.

Values voters with big families favor Santorum
By Paige Winfield Cunningham
If children could vote, Rick Santorum would have it made. Drop by one of his campaign stops, and it’s easy to spot a core base of support for the GOP presidential candidate: conservative Christian families with six, 10 or even more children – often home-schooled – who care deeply about abortion and parental rights.

Arizona tarmac tiff trips Obama campaign – Governor carries her own message
By Dave Boyer
President Obama chose an unusual way to begin the campaign year in Arizona, where he hopes to reverse Democrats’ losing streak — by getting into a highly public confrontation with the state’s Republican governor.

Buffett’s “Poor” Secretary
By Gary L. Bauer
During his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Barack Obama made several appeals for more redistribution of wealth. At one point he noted how unfair it was that billionaires like Warren Buffet can pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries. In fact, Mr. Buffett’s secretary, Debbie Bosanek, was sitting in the First Lady’s box during the State of the Union address, serving as a symbol for the lack of fairness in the tax code.

A Shrinking Obama
By Gary L. Bauer
Is that all there is? Watching Obama deliver the State of the Union last night (with precautionary blood pressure medication at my side) I was struck by how diminished the “hope and change” President has become. Long gone is the candidate who told his supporters, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” Nowhere to be seen was the man who said his election would result in the “earth healing” and the “oceans stopping their rise.” Instead we got an hour of low expectations, distorted facts, divisive class warfare all wrapped up in the hope that the public has collective amnesia about what actually happened in the last three years while Obama was in charge.

Unconstitutional Recess Appointments
By Phyllis Schlafly
Barack Obama’s latest unconstitutional action is his attempt to make four so-called recess appointments to high-level, well-paying jobs in the federal bureaucracy when the Senate was NOT in recess. He appointed three people to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), plus Richard Cordray to head the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau even though the Senate had declined to confirm his nomination.

Conservatives, Gingrich, and Grace – Redemption Song?
Posted by Aaron Gardner
With Speaker Gingrich having won South Carolina, and now polling ahead of Gov. Romney in Florida and nationally, there is one question that keeps popping up. What is it about Newt Gingrich that conservatives voters find appealing?

Florida Debate Post Mortem
By Gary L. Bauer
Last night’s GOP debate in Florida left many feeling flat. The audience was disengaged and appeared uninterested. Worse, the debate began with Gingrich and Romney sniping at one another, while Santorum and Paul were ignored for ten minutes.

Obama’s War on the Catholic Church and Christians – Why We March in Pro Life Rallies
By Red Sonja
Obama and his henchman have declared WAR on the Catholic Church, and in so doing attack Christians throughout our nation. Our Judeo-Christian freedom of religion is fading fast.

A Family Of ‘Boots For Newt’ Hits The Ground In South Carolina
By NPR
Sometimes it takes a family (a Lubbock home school family) to campaign for a presidential candidate, and that’s just what Melissa Block, co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered, discovered while in South Carolina this week ahead of the state’s Saturday primary.

The Error Of Inevitability
By Gary L. Bauer
For weeks we have been told that Mitt Romney was the inevitable nominee. We were told that the race would be over after South Carolina, after Romney had accomplished an historic feat in sweeping the first three early voting states — Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. How things can change in a day!

Obama Kills 20,000 Keystone XL Jobs, Laborers’ Union Vows Not To Forget
Posted by LaborUnionReport
After months of playing political ping-pong with 20,000 potential (mostly union) jobs, the Obama administration decided on Wednesday to kill the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would have carried crude oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries.

Strongest case against Romney a few sheets short of a ream
By Ann Coulter
Mitt Romney has spent more than 20 years in private enterprise, making thousands of business decisions affecting hundreds of companies that led to more than 100,000 new jobs and billions of dollars for employees and investors. So you can see why the left despises him.

The Voting Dead
By Gary L. Bauer
Yesterday The Daily Caller broke the disturbing news that ballots were issued for dead people during Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. Undercover video captured poll workers issuing ballots for individuals who were recently deceased.

In defense of capitalism
Posted by Erick Erickson
There are legitimate criticisms to be made of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital. Anyone who says otherwise needs to be prepared to defend Bain Capital more than once relying on the government to cover their butts on deals and even being bailed out by the government under Mitt Romney’s watch — not exactly free market.

Rick Santorum: A Massively Expanded Welfare State is ‘The Genuine Conservatism our Founders Envisioned’
Posted by Jeff Emanuel
Despite strident opposition from supporters who maintain that Rick Santorum is a “true conservative” in the mold of – you guessed it – Ronald Reagan, the already huge mountain of evidence that he is, at heart, a ‘big-government conservative’ continues to grow.

Struggling, Perry Finds Place Where His Message Sticks
By Richard A. Oppel Jr.
Jack Boyer’s father died when Mr. Boyer was 8. Raised by a single mother, he “lived a wicked life,” married at 19 and, two years later, after “she and the Lord straightened me out,” accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Almost four decades later, he is pastor of a Baptist church in the northwest part of this state.

Congratulations, Mitt
By Gary L. Bauer
It was widely expected that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney would win in his “own backyard” last night, and he did so in a very convincing manner. New Hampshire voters sent an unmistakable message: Mitt Romney is THE front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

What a Big Government Conservative Looks Like
Posted by Erick Erickson
I’m rather tired of all the people who don’t like Romney trying to claim Rick Santorum is not a big government conservative, or not a pro-life statist. I would support him before I would support Romney too, but I have no intention of giving up ideological and intellectual consistency in the name of beating Mitt Romney.

Perry plans to stay in presidential race, campaign next week in South Carolina
By Robert T. Barrett, Tom Benning and Christy Hoppe
Rick Perry decided Wednesday not to quit the presidential race but to press ahead to South Carolina, site of the first Southern primary on Jan. 21, despite a dispiriting fifth-place finish in Iowa.

Obama defies Congress with ‘recess’ picks – Nominations could provoke constitutional fight
By Stephen Dinan and Susan Crabtree
Pushing the limits of his recess appointment powers, President Obama on Wednesday bypassed the Senate to install three members of the National Labor Relations Board and a director for the controversial new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — moves Republicans said amounted to unconstitutional power grabs.

Can Rick Perry Come Back?
Posted by Erick Erickson
If Rick Perry leaves the Republican race, there will not be a candidate in the field who authentically represents smaller government. While many conservatives don’t mind activist government so long as the ends are conservative, the willful use of activist government for conservative ends leaves in place a government perfectly capable of activist liberal government when conservatives lose.

A Blatant, Frontal Assault on the Constitutional Separation of Powers
Posted by Leon H. Wolf
Regarding the power of the President, Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution states: He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

Perry suspends bid as Romney inches out Santorum for first in Iowa
By Christy Hoppe
Iowans handed Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum a virtual tie in the first-in-the-nation voting late Tuesday, and they gave Rick Perry such a disappointingly low finish that the governor said he was suspending and re-evaluating his campaign for president.

Everything You Heard Last Night Was Bull, Perry Might Want to Stay In, & a Newtlear Attack
Posted by Erick Erickson
As you wake up this morning, Rick Santorum only lost to Mitt Romney by 8 votes. Santorum spent about a dollar per vote and Romney spent hundreds of dollars for his votes. Rick Santorum substantially over performed and while the Romney camp wants you to believe a win is a win, Romney got less votes in 2012 than he got in 2008. In addition, everything you heard last night from the professional class of political pundit was bull crap.

The Conservative Race In Iowa – The Race That Matters
Posted by Dan McLaughlin
There are 2,286 delegates awarded in the GOP primaries and caucuses; the nomination thus requires wrapping up 1,143 delegates. Between them, Iowa and New Hampshire award 10 delegates; South Carolina and Florida, the other two states voting later this month, award 75. By contrast, three states (California, Texas and New York) award a combined 422 delegates, more than a third of the total needed to win. So, the race is far from over after New Hampshire, and as long as there is credible opposition, it can go on for quite a while after South Carolina and Florida as well.

Voter ID terrifies Democrats – Justice Department seeks to undermine our elections
By Robert Knight
The most consequential election in our lifetime is still 10 months away, but it’s clear from the Obama administration’s order halting South Carolina’s new photo ID law that the Democrats already have brought a gun to a knife fight.

Mitt Romney Didn’t Just Give Planned Parenthood Money, He Gave Them Extra Power
Posted by Erick Erickson
You should be quite familiar by now with the fact that Mitt Romney gave $150.00 to Planned Parenthood in 1994 when claiming he had always been pro-abortion.

Ron Paul Hates Republicans and Everything They Stand For
Posted by Leon H. Wolf
Most people already know that Ron Paul refused to endorse John McCain in the 2008 general election. While I don’t necessarily agree with that decision, especially from a contender for the GOP nominee, I can certainly understand it. Lord knows I hated every nice thing I had to say about John McCain and wasn’t entirely pleased about pulling the lever for him (which is a dramatic understatement). Most people assume that Paul endorsed Libertarian candidate Bob Barr in 2008, which is partially true. However, that is not the entire story. Paul also endorsed three other candidates.

Newt Helped Formulate Christmas
By Ann Coulter
Every few years, heinous Democratic policies — abortion, gay marriage, affirmative action, Hillarycare, Obamacare, to name a few — compel previously uninvolved Americans to leap into politics.

2012 Update – Justice Targeting Voter ID Laws
By Gary L. Bauer
Obama’s Justice Department declared a jihad against state voter ID laws last week. After the 2010 elections swept Republicans into power, several states passed voter ID laws in response to the ACORN scandal.

Commending the Perry Campaign
Posted by Erick Erickson
I risk being accused of endorsing Rick Perry by saying nice things about his campaign two days in a row, but this is genuinely worth commenting on and is not an endorsement.

Countdown to Victory: 323 Days to the 2012 Elections – Will Iowa Matter?
By Gary L. Bauer
There is no question that the Iowa caucuses are a crucial battleground for candidates seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. But will the Iowa caucuses matter at all in 2016?

Perry & Bachmann in Iowa
Posted by Erick Erickson
They had to do well in Iowa and they did. Mitt Romney had a better debate performance than this past Saturday. The software upgrade must have worked. Newt Gingrich held his own.

Barack Obama Throws Bill Clinton Under the Bus
Posted by Erick Erickson
Historically when the left takes power in a country they begin to rewrite their history. Barack Obama, a quintessential leftist, has started doing that in the run up to his re-election. In his speech in Kansas last week, Obama claimed that at no time in our history had we ever spurred economic growth and prosperity by cutting taxes and deregulating.

Perry Puts Faith in His Iowa Bus Tour
By Jay Root
Gov. Rick Perry kicked off a meandering bus tour in first-test Iowa on Wednesday, exhorting voters to give him another chance ahead of the crucial Jan. 3 caucuses.

Ex-Iran Guard commander visits White House with Iraq leader
By Ashish Kumar Sen
A former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the FBI says played a role in a 1996 terrorist attack that killed 19 U.S. servicemen, accompanied Iraq’s prime minister to the White House on Monday, attending an event at which President Obama trumpeted the end of the Iraq War.

3 Weeks And Counting. Are We In a Suicide Pact?
Posted by Erick Erickson
As you wake up this morning, however hard it may be to believe, we are actually three weeks away from the first votes being cast in Campaign 2012. Three weeks from today, in the Iowa cold, people will gather and support their man.

My Confession
Posted by Erick Erickson
The problem with Mitt Romney is the inconsistencies in his record. The problem with Newt Gingrich is the consistency of his record. I will support either of these men against Barack Obama. Either would be better.

Internal Rick Perry Campaign Polling Shows Positive Picture in Iowa
Senior Rick Perry Campaign advisor Joe Allbaugh sent out an email today revealing Rick Perry’s internal polling in Iowa. The campaign’s pollster is Mike Baselice of Baselice and Associates out of Austin.

Romney, Gingrich, Huntsman and Health Care Hypocrisy
By Juan Williams
What do Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, the leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination, have in common?
Long before President Obama even entered the Oval Office, both men supported an idea they now pretend to spurn — the idea of requiring people to buy health insurance.

Romney and Gingrich, from bad to worse
By George Will
Republicans are more conservative than at any time since their 1980 dismay about another floundering president. They are more ideologically homogenous than ever in 156 years of competing for the presidency. They anticipated choosing between Mitt Romney, a conservative of convenience, and a conviction politician to his right. The choice, however, could be between Romney and the least conservative candidate, Newt Gingrich.

HHS Grants For Labor and Sex Trafficking Victims Denied For Not Including Abortion
By Audrey Hudson
The Obama administration has politicized federal grants that were designed to aid victims of labor and sex trafficking by excluding a Catholic organization that refused to include abortion and sterilization services, House Republicans said Thursday.

The Horserace for December 1, 2011
Posted by Erick Erickson
We are a month away from the actual horserace, but it has been going on a while. I have said repeatedly that the race is Mitt Romney’s to lose. It looks like he just might lose it.

Is Mitt Romney as Whiny as Barack Obama? Or Just Not Really Vetted?
Posted by Erick Erickson
If you haven’t seen the Bret Baier interview with Mitt Romney it is now abundantly apparent why Mitt Romney will not sit in the middle chair and take tough questions from the roundtable — his skin is as thin as Barack Obama’s. (To Bret’s credit, he had the roundtable panel submit questions and Steve Hayes asked an awesome one. You’ll have to watch the interview to see it).

Once You Go Conservative Black, You Better Watch Your Back
by Ann Coulter
With the mainstream media giddily reporting on an alleged affair involving Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, how long can it be before they break the news that their 2004 vice presidential candidate conceived a “love child” with his mistress, Rielle Hunter?

Obama’s Labor Department Looks To Take The ‘Family’ Out of Family Farms
Posted by LaborUnionReport
Let’s establish this right out of the gate so as not to confuse issues: It is wrong when corporations use child labor. Forgetting the law for a moment, whether it is here in the U.S. or overseas, children are children, and corporations should not exploit children. Got it? With that said, this is not about corporations, this is about families and farms. More specifically, family farms and the overreach of the federal government.

Obama Administration and EPA Use Clean Water Act for New Overreach – Prepare To Have That Puddle in Your Back Yard Regulated.
Posted by Ben Howe
Just as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used the Clean Air Act to broaden the scope of their authority way beyond its original intention with rules like MACT and CSAPR, the Clean Water Act is becoming a tool of overreach by the out of control agency.

Role of underdog seems to suit Texas governor
By Pauline Arrillaga
Rick Perry is sitting comfortably on a plush sofa in a hotel far from the strip that put the sin in “Sin City.” It’s the day after another presidential debate, and if the flat-screen in front of him were on, he’d hear plenty of appraisals of whether a new fiery approach helped his pursuit of the highest office in the land or hurt him more.