Open Thread

Newton Leroy Gingrich is headed for a massive blowout win in South Carolina. In last night's polling, PPP had Gingrich racing away at 40%, with Romney stuck at 26%. In their final three day sample, the PPP poll has Gingrich leading with 37%, followed by Mitt Romney at 28%, Rick Santorum at 16% and Ron Paul at 14%. So you can see the obvious trend. I would not be surprised if Gingrich gets well above 45% tonight. If he gets a majority, then the GOP primary will be rocked to its core.

Tomorrow's the big day: the day when Newt Gingrich actually wins a Presidential primary. I never thought I'd see this day come. Truly horrifying and utterly hysterical all at once.

So long Rick Perry. We hardly knew thee. Thank God for that. What is with Presidential candidates quitting in the middle of the week, only days before the next primary. I understand dropping out right after a poor or less then expected showing in a primary, but why right before a primary? You would think that Perry and Huntsman would like to have see how they did in South Carolina. Meanwhile.... Newtmentum II?

One thing that really stands out in the new PPP poll is the extent to which President Obama has claimed the middle. He's up 68-27 on Romney with moderates. He also leads by 20 points with voters under 45, a group there's been some concern about slippage with, and he has a 66-30 advantage with Hispanics. If that's true, the election will not be close.

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.