Open Thread

So apparently there was another godforsaken Republican debate on last night. I was watching Betty White's roast so I missed it. Not that I have ever watched a GOP debate live (I see the clips afterwards though, and that is painful enough). But I hear that Romney had his worst debate, was painfully evasive even for him, and that Gingrich was throwing red meat to the lions and getting a raptureous response for it. Some pundits now think the performance will boost Gingrich as we head into Saturday's primary.

"He was simply unwillingly to make the Faustian bargains with the Right that Romney has so willingly made." David Axelrod, on Jon Huntsman leaving the Presidential race.

We got two new polls showing Mitt Romney surging and Gingrich dropping. Looks like the Bain attacks backfired on Gingrich. Republicans love vulture capitalists and firing middle and working class people. Therefore, Romney is their hero. We also have Stephen Colbert's latest campaign ad. It's hilarious.

So John Edwards has some kind of heart condition. Apparently, its a real one and not some kind of hyped up condition like what Junior Soprano did when he was on trial.

The Mitt Romney Tax Plan. . A blowjob for the wealthy, and a f*ck you to everyone else.

President Obama raised $68 million combined for his re-election campaign and the Democratic Party during the final three months of 2011, raising his 2011 total to $250 million. And we are getting general election matchups polled again, showing Obama leading all GOP candidates.

We apologize for not having an open thread during the horrible evil Denial of Service attack yesterday. You will never know what compilation of polling goodness, wits and wisdoms I had planned to post. Oh well. So Mitt Romney won New Hampshire, so what's next?

For the first time, the Gallup daily tracking poll shows Mitt Romney breaking through his previous ceiling of support. Romney now leads the Republican presidential field with 31%, followed by…

A new Public Policy Polling survey in South Carolina has Mitt Romney leading, but not as big of a lead as with other recent polls. Romney leads with 30%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 23%, Rick Santorum at 19%, Ron Paul at 9%, Rick Perry at 5%, Jon Huntsman at 4%, and Buddy Roemer at 1%. Now, keep in mind that South Carolina is the LAST chance for any of these horrible alternatives to Romney to pull off a win. If Romney wins South Carolina, the nomination is his.

So Romney is heading for a blow out win in New Hampshire, although one poll show a Huntsman surge. But it is probably an outlier, and even in that poll, Romney still leads with 37. After New Hampshire, Huntsman drops out. The conservative remains divided until South Carolina between Perry, Gingrich, Perry and Santorum. Which is why Romney is leading in South Carolina, aided by a polling boost from a "win" in Iowa. If Romney wins there, it's all over. And conservatives will be left a candidate they absolutely hate.

We finally have an Obama conspiracy theory that makes sense.

And I'm spent. Let me tell you my last 12 hours.

Nate Silver gives Romney a 42 percent chance of winning the Iowa caucuses, followed by Ron Paul at 34 percent and Rick Santorum at 20 per cent. The final Des Moines Register poll, which has an impressive track record, indicates a 2 point lead for Romney over Paul. Ezra Klein also sees a Romney win. Howard Dean and Ed Schultz predict a Santorum upset.