TPM’s “Not-So-Veiled-Insult-Of-The-Night Award” goes to Fred Thompson for his remarks about Bob Dole.

The Jacksonville Republican debate boiled down into 100 uproarious seconds.

Things you probably shouldn’t do when accused of a race motivated attempted bombing:

Correspond with a noted white supremacist leader from prison.

I found last night’s debate so messy and scattered that I had a hard time knowing quite what to make of it. But here’s my take. As a debate, I thought it was terrible. Very disorganized. The moderation was close to not there at all. Perhaps it was that we’ve been through this routine so many times there wasn’t much more to say or to ask. I don’t know. One of the funnier moments for me was when Newt apparently got tired of waiting for a host to say something that outraged him and just attacked the host anyway, to pretty poor effect. Read More

Ron Paul knew about and signed off on the racist newsletters, says former Secretary who still supports him.

With few establishment endorsements, Newt Gingrich has just gotten the nod from incarcerated former Rep. Duke Cunningham who tells Newt he’d have the felon vote locked down.

We’re at 3 out of 4 now. The other witness to the alleged Brewer/Obama ‘confrontation’ says that the whole thing wasn’t tense at all.

I keep hearing anchors at MSNBC and CNN repeating her story, even though both witnesses now say on the record that her story is bunk. What’s up with that? Chuck? Wolf?

In the absence of a validated shroud or holy relics, who’s winning the all-important ex-Reagan staffer primary? Click here to find out.

I’m pretty surprised that Mitt Romney’s team let their guy go down this path. Or maybe it’s just him. Stung by the 13.9% tax rate story and goaded on by some conservative columnists, Mitt Romney is now saying that his actual tax rate is “really closer to 45 or 50 percent.” Read More

TPM Reader MJ gets the plan …

Romneyworld is not pushing the 50% angle because they really believe it, clearly. They’re pushing it because they know it will muddy the waters on the issue, since mainstream media reporters are constantly looking for their “balance” these days, and now the 13.9% or 15% reference will surely start being accompanied in press stories by “but Romney claims the figure is more like 45-50%.” Conservative outlets and talk radio then start pushing Romney’s angle, and I can hear it now, an exchange between Republican primary (or for that matter, general) voters – “can you believe Romney only paid 14% tax on all those millions?” “Nah, I heard that was wrong! It’s more like 50%!” And the seeds of doubt are successfully sown, taking the power out of the 15% story.