02.13.12 — 10:39AM

A Knock Out?

We now have real evidence that Mitt Romney could have a race on his hands in the state of his birth and the one where his father was a longtime governor. PPP reported last night that its first night of polling in the state showed Santorum well ahead of Romney. And an ARG poll out this morning shows Santorum with a 6 point lead. I've always thought Mitt's connections to Michigan are overstated -- his father was governor in the 1960s, which is basically ancient history in political terms, and he hasn't lived there since he was a kid. But if he were to lose there, where everyone assumes he should win, it'll be a massive blow.

The Michigan primary is on February 28th.

—Josh Marshall

02.13.12 — 8:45AM

About Those Rules

So in the pretty unlikely scenario that the Republican nomination fight goes all the way to the convention, what are the rules governing what the delegates would be allowed to do? Here's our primer.

—Josh Marshall

02.13.12 — 8:25AM

Above Water

President Obama's approval rating just went back into positive territory in our TPM poll average.

—Paul Werdel

02.12.12 — 10:18AM

Some o’ That Ole Time Crazy

Palin unleashes GOP Id on worshipful CPAC crowd.

—Josh Marshall

02.12.12 — 10:13AM

Gettin’ Rough

Santorum tells George Stephanopoulos that Romney is getting "desperate."

—Josh Marshall

02.11.12 — 8:21PM

AP: Whitney Houston Dead

Pop star, model, and actress Whitney Houston has died at age 48, the AP reports.

—David Kurtz

02.11.12 — 7:27PM

Frontrunner

The latest poll from PPP shows Rick Santorum opening a commanding 15 point nationwide lead over Mitt Romney.

—Josh Marshall

02.11.12 — 4:08PM

Hostage to Winter

You may remember Kris Kobach, arch-anti-immigration hawk, Kansas Secretary of State and author of Arizona's anti-immigration law. He's surprisingly close to the Romney campaign. Not only was he an advisor to Romney's campaign in 2008. Romney touted his endorsement this year and then sorta campaigned with him a few weeks later in South Carolina. For Romney, it's a classic case of drawing Kobach close enough to power him through the primaries while not getting so close that he'll totally poison relations with Hispanic voters in the Fall.

So the Romney campaign hasn't wanted to talk much about Kobach of late. But the same doesn't apply for Kobach about Romney. We caught up with him at CPAC. And Kobach told TPM he's been "much more involved" in Romney's campaign this year than he was back in 2008.

—Josh Marshall

02.11.12 — 2:18PM

Picture of the Day

Defending religious liberty at CPAC.

—Josh Marshall

02.10.12 — 4:59PM

Playing the Odds

How do bettors think Obama's doing? Check it out.

—Josh Marshall

02.10.12 — 2:33PM

The New Age Of American Exports

Who says America's influence is waning?

—Paul Werdel

02.10.12 — 2:11PM

Deployed To Northern Virginia

Sen. Dick Lugar's spokesman probably didn't offer the most helpful response to questions about his boss's legal residence.

—Paul Werdel

02.10.12 — 11:04AM

Justice Scalia: Liberal Lion

Why Antonin Scalia's judgment on ritualistic peyote use has birth control rule supporters smiling.

—Thomas Lane

02.10.12 — 10:03AM

The Bummin’ Mood at CPAC

At the big annual conservative bash, base GOPers express frustration and dejection over lame primary field.

—Josh Marshall

02.10.12 — 8:18AM

For The Onion?

From my pal Nell Scovell: "Instead of Firing Up The Base, Romney Mistakenly Fires The Base."

You can actually work with it. Maybe: "After failing to fire up the base, a frustrated Romney decides to fire the base."

Mix and match. I think it's got potential.

—Josh Marshall

02.10.12 — 6:49AM

Senator Soldier-For-Hire

Who hasn't heard the one about an Oregon state Senator who runs a paramilitary training camp getting sued by his partners for allegedly funneling cash to GOP candidates.

—Paul Werdel

02.09.12 — 10:24PM

The Rules

I was talking to some reporters last night and the topic turned to the 2008 Democratic primary race and how important the actual convention and delegate rules became as the battle lasted into the summer. As we know, it never came to that. By the time the convention rolled around all the players had accepted that Barack Obama had won the nomination. But we may be getting to a similar point with the 2012 GOP race.

Read more »

—Josh Marshall

02.09.12 — 9:30PM

Epiphany

I saw the news this evening from PPP that their first night in the field with a new national poll has Rick Santorum as the new nationwide leader. So the Romney argument that Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado were just outliers or lightly-attended caucuses (plausible arguments in themselves) just won't cut it.

But of course this isn't about Rick Santorum who is clearly a 2nd or 3rd tier candidate, it's showing the depth of Romney's weakness as a candidate -- both as a candidate in this particular political moment and simply as a candidate for office in general. It even occurred to me that 'Santorum' doesn't mean all the those ucky things you see on Google. It's actually Republican for "F' it. I just don't like Mitt Romney."

I feel like Champollion deciphering hieroglyphics.

—Josh Marshall

02.09.12 — 6:13PM

CPAC In 100 Seconds

Want to catch up on today's CPAC events but fear for your sanity/ immortal soul? Have no fear, TPM's Michael Lester has boiled the day down into 100 mind-blowing seconds.

—Thomas Lane