Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. As always, TPM will have live coverage of the Fox News debate at 9pm ET. Here are the 10 things you need to know today.
- Jon Huntsman to drop out: Jon Huntsman will end his candidacy for the GOP nomination Monday and endorse Mitt Romney. The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein reports that Huntsman will speak at 11am ET in Myrtle Beach without Romney.
- National Poll has Obama, Romney in virtual tie: A national Fox News poll has President Obama and Mitt Romney in a virtual tie with Obama beating Romney 46%-45%. The poll has Obama beating the other candidates by wider margins.
- Looking like Rick Perry won’t appear on Virginia ballot: After a federal judge denied Rick Perry’s attempt to get on the Virginia’s March 6 primary ballot after failing to meet the 10,000-signature requirement, Perry filed an appeal. On Sunday night, lawyers for the state filed an opinion urging the Circuit Court to uphold the judge’s ruling, which would keep Perry, as well as Gingrich and Santorum off the ballot. The reason, the judge ruled Friday, was that the suit was filed too late.
- Santorum addresses negative ads from rivals: Rick Santorum will hold a press conference at 7:30am ET in South Carolina “to address the millions of dollars of false negative advertising from the Romney and Paul campaigns, why this type of campaigning is wrong for America, and why it will backfire.”
- Tea Party state senator Tom Davis endorses Ron Paul: At an event Sunday, prominent Tea Party state senator Tom Davis endorsed Ron Paul. In a statement, Davis said that throughout Ron Paul’s time in Congress, he has been “a Tea Party of one against a towering wave of red ink.”
- Florida primary poll out today: Monday, Public Policy Polling will release a poll of Republican Primary voters in Florida Monday.
- Gingrich camp doesn’t have kind words for Huntsman:The Gingrich campaign didn’t give a lot of praise to Jon Huntsman on news that he is dropping out of the race. Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond simply emailed out this statement: “With Governor Huntsman dropping out, we are one step closer to a bold Reagan conservative winning the GOP nomination.” It’s probable the Gingrich campaign liked Huntsman’s presence in the race since he detracted support from Romney.
- Romney plans to campaign with Kris Kobach: Mitt Romney plans to campaign in South Carolina with Kansas Sec. of State Kris Kobach who endorsed Romney last week. Kobach, a former DOJ lawyer during the Bush administration, is the architect of the controversial Arizona and Alabama anti-immigration laws. As TPM reported last week, Romney’s embrace of Kobach is undoubtedly detrimental to his efforts to reach Hispanic voters.
- Newt Gingrich to address SC Tea Party: The South Carolina Tea Party is currently holding its first convention and Newt Gingrich will be giving remarks at the event amidst a day of campaigning in the state.
- Rick Perry campaigns in South Carolina: Rick Perry will do three events, including a townhall co-hosted by Frank Luntz at 11am, before participating in the Fox News debate at 9pm.
- Rep. Allen West would accept a VP spot if offered: Asked at an event in Florida Sunday if he was open to being the vice presidential candidate, West responded: “I’m not going to say no, but I doubt that I’m on anyone’s list for consideration.” In the past, he has said he would need to pray over the issue, but never said he would accept.
