Newt Gingrich has placed no better than fourth in either of the Republican presidential primary contests so far, but he is demanding that all other candidates drop out and pledge their supporters to him so he can defeat Mitt Romney. “I’m the only conservative who realistically has a chance to be the nominee,” Gingrich said in Florence, South Carolina. “So any vote for [Rick] Santorum or [Rick] Perry, in effect, is a vote to allow Romney to become the nominee, because we’ve got to bring conservatives together in order to stop him.”
Gingrich went on to attack Santorum personally: “You could make a pretty good case I actually know how to design a national campaign. I actually know how to set up a conservative alternative to Obama. I don’t think Santorum can win. It’s not because he’s not a nice guy, but he doesn’t have any of the knowledge of how to do something like this.”
Santorum later shot back: “It’s an enormous amount of hubris for someone who lost their first two races, who thinks enough of themselves — because a couple of polls have him at this moment in time ahead of me — that everybody should step aside and let him, who hasn’t defeated me in two of the elections so far, to let him have a wide berth.”
While Santorum and Gingrich finished in a virtual tie in New Hampshire, Santorum resoundingly crushed Gingrich in Iowa by double-digits. But Gingrich has an excuse for that too. He told The Washington Examiner‘s Micahael Barone yesterday, “When it was purely earned media, I was ahead by 27 points. The $3.5 million in negatives against me hurt. But we’re closing in. We’re getting very close to our natural voice.”
The last three polls of South Carolina Republicans all have Romney beating Gingrich by double-digits. And the most recent poll, by Rasmussen, has Romney up by his largest margin so far, 14 points. Even if Santorum and Perry dropped out of the race, Gingrich would need to pick virtually all of their existing support to beat Romney. There is just no evidence that Newt has that kind of credibility left among conservatives.
Campaign 2012
Romney: Mitt Romney revealed Tuesday that his effective tax rate is about 15%. The Romney campaign still has not committed to releasing Romney’s most recent tax return, but have suggested he might do so around the April filing deadline.
Obama: Obama campaign officials have requested ad rates from television stations in at least 14 states, a move analysts say could mean they are planning a major multimillion-dollar ad buy to attack Romney should he win the South Carolina primary.
Virginia: The U.S. Fourth District Court of Appeals upheld the District Court’s ruling that the Commonwealth of Virginia did not need to add Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich to this March’s primary ballot.
South Carolina: Sarah Palin announced on Fox News’s “Hannity” last night that if she could vote in the South Carolina primary, she would vote for Newt Gingrich. Palin stopped short of a full Newt endorsement though.
Wisconsin: Organizers of the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker filed what they said were more than a million signatures Tuesday, double the number needed to trigger an election.
Around the Bigs
The Washington Examiner, Occupiers converge on Capitol Hill; few arrests made: More than 2,000 Occupy DC protesters converged on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Four arrests were made including one for assaulting a police officer.
Fox News, ‘Occupy’ protesters suspected of throwing smoke bomb over White House fence: A smoke bomb was thrown over the fence of the White House during yesterday’s protests.
U.S. News, Taxpayers on Hook for D.C. Protester’s Potties: U.S. taxpayers foot the bill for the police protection and portable toilets provided for yesterday’s Occupy DC protests.
The Wall Street Journal, World Bank Lowers Growth Forecast: The World Bank revised its 2012 global growth forecast down yesterday, acknowledging that the world could slip into another 2008-like financial crisis.
The New York Times, Few Cities Have Regained Jobs They Lost, Report Finds: Less than a tenth of the nation’s metropolitan areas have regained the jobs they lost in the economic downturn, according to a report commissioned by the United States Conference of Mayors.
The Wall Street Journal, Politics, Tax Code Said to Stymie U.S.: A new survey of Harvard Business School graduates found that political gridlock, faltering schools, and a convoluted tax code are blamed for making American companies less competitive in the global marketplace.
The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Loses High-Tech Jobs as R&D Shifts Toward Asia: The U.S. is rapidly losing high-technology jobs as American companies expand their research-and-development labs in China and elsewhere in Asia.
The Wall Street Journal, Mozilo Tied to Loan to Top Lawmaker: House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Ranking Member Elijah Cummings, D-Md., announced yesterday that House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Calif., received preferential treatment on a 1998 loan from Countrywide Financial co-founder Angelo Mozilo.
The Washington Examiner, Iran moves to protect nuclear program: Iran is increasing security for its nuclear scientists following the mysterious assassination of a physicist in Tehran last week, which they continue to blame on Israel and the United States.
Righty Playbook
Douglas Holtz-Eakin rips a DNC press release attacking Romney’s 15% tax rate and claiming that a single person earning $60,000 would pay taxes at a 30 percent rate.
National Review‘s Dan Foster notes that the average effective income tax rate in this country is 11.08%.
RedState‘s Drew Ryun reports that evidence is already mounting to suggest that Big Labor used “underhanded, fraudulent and illegal tactics” to pad their Gov. Scott Walker recall petition numbers.
Lefty Playbook
The Nation‘s John Nichols notes that the more than one million signatures submitted for recalling Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, “represents 46 percent of the turnout in the 2010 Wisconsin gubernatorial election.”
Commenting on Mitt Romney’s 15% tax rate, Paul Krugman wants to know “how much of that is true investment income, and how much is carried interest which is actually earned income that for reasons unclear manages to get taxed like investment income?
The Washington Post‘s Greg Sargent notes that, according to the Post’s new poll, Americans think income inequality is a bigger problem than over regulation.
