We should start getting the results from the Florida GOP’s straw poll vote around 17:45E this evening. Perry had been expected to win it handsomely, but that was before Thursday night’s disastrous debate performance.
Of course, it never helps to give too much credit to these straw polls, but given the expectations that had been raised, if Perry doesn’t win this one it would be deeply embarrassing for his campaign.
You can follow all the fun leading up to the vote on TPM’s Livewire, which is today being manned by Evan McMorris-Santoro. And that should be your first place to turn for the results, and – indeed – the fallout.
It’s no surprise that many people went into conniptions over the story of the Justice Department’s $16 muffins. On the face of it there’s almost no better illustration of government spending run amok. However, TPM’s Ryan Reilly discovers there’s a slight problem: it’s not true.
Thursday’s GOP debate may have been a disaster for Rick Perry, but it looks like an unabashed success for the pizza mogul, Herman Cain. Despite some early love from the tea party, he had so far failed to catch fire in the polls. However, the conservative sites RedState and Hot Air both pronounced him the winner of Thursday night’s debate. Now it seems he’s feeling the financial benefits.
So what’s the upshot of what just happened here with Herman Cain’s surprise victory? First, all the standard caveats: this was only upwards of 2,000 people. And you had to pay to vote. Still, Perry made a big push to win this. He didn’t come close. And it comes days after what everyone now seems to agree was a trainwreck of a debate performance which has seriously rattled Republican activists in their estimation of Perry. There’s some unconfirmed chatter about strategic voting pumping up Cain’s numbers. And it’s important to note that Romney did not officially even compete. Read More
From the White House pool report on tonight’s fundraiser …
At 8pm pool was brought through the house, where Poker Face by Lady Gaga was playing, and into a white party tent set up in the back of the house. There were 7 large round tables – three on each side and one square in the middle in front of a small open space with an American and California state flag set up, where President Obama spoke.
Pawlenty tried for gig with Fox after he dropped out of the presidential race. Ailes turned him down.
At least about a key element in his Special Theory of Relativity? Fermilab, the US accelerator lab, is trying to duplicate the experiment from CERN which appeared to show neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light.