Here are ten things you need to know today.
- Sunday shows line-up: Reps. Paul Ryan and Chris Van Hollen will be on Meet the Press; Newt Gingrich and Rep. Eric Cantor will be on Fox News Sunday; John McCain and Robert Gibbs will be on This Week; Rick Santorum will be on Face the Nation; Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann, and Mitch Daniels will be on State of the Union.
- After last Maine County votes, Romney still winner: Washington County, Maine, which put their caucus off for a week because of a snow storm, added their votes to the total Saturday. Ron Paul gained 83 votes, but not enough to take the win from Romney. The vote total was also updated to reflect votes that were not included when the party initially tallied the votes.
- Santorum Wins Suburban Atlanta Straw Poll: Rick Santorum won the Suburban Atlanta Straw Poll on Saturday. Only a few votes were cast, but the Santorum campaign counts it as a good sign as they head into Georgia to campaign Sunday.
- Romney touts experience of running 2002 Olympics: Mitt Romney celebrated the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, which he often cites to prove his ability to turn failing projects around.
- Santorum attacks Romney’s record running the Olympics: The Santorum campaign sent out an email Saturday celebrating the “10th Anniversary of Mitt’s Federal Bailout,” attacking Romney for going after Santorum on earmarks when Romney himself got federal money to help turn around the Salt Lake City Olympics. Romney’s record running the Olympics hasn’t gotten much scrutiny and has been a bright spot on his resume until recently when it’s begun to be questioned.
- Santorum playing up blue-collar roots in the Midwest: Campaigning in Ohio and Michigan, Rick Santorum played up his blue collar roots in Pennsylvania to connect with Midwest voters. Santorum said the Obama administration is ignoring these workers: “You’re not being…talked to as adults. You’re being treated as mindless, fly-over country rubes who don’t need to know the truth.”
- Santorum says Obama’s agenda based on a phony ideology: Rick Santorum said to a group of Tea Partiers that President Obama’s agenda is “not about your quality of life. It’s not about your jobs. It’s about some phony ideal. Some phony theology. Oh, not a theology based on the Bible. A different theology.”
- New ad targets all-male panel on contraception: A new ad from EMILY’s List targets Republicans for holding an all-male panel which was part of a hearing to discuss the new contraception rule this week. The ad shows Santorum-backer Foster Friess’s now infamous Aspirin comment and as well as Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s question at the panel, “Where are the women?”
- Ron Paul campaigns in North Dakota: Ron Paul will hold two events Sunday in North Dakota, a Super Tuesday state.
- Gingrich campaigns in Oklahoma: Newt Gingrich will head to Oklahoma Monday and hold events there Monday and Tuesday. Oklahoma is a Super Tuesday state with 43 delegates.
