Huckabee Foes Put Spotlight on Ethics

The Donald tells 'Fox and Friends' he'll take credit for Mitt's victory

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney easily won in Nevada Saturday—a result he had also achieved in 2008 , and a feat that the polls (and Newt Gingrich ) predicted before Donald Trump endorsed Romney . But never mind all that, Trump is just going to take credit for the victory. "There was a lot riding on that particular race in Nevada and it was interesting, because the numbers were much, much greater than you thought," Trump said on Fox and Friends today. "And a lot of people are giving me credit for that. And I will accept that credit." More»

'Very' and 'Somewhat' conservatives went Gingrich, 'liberals' went Romney

(NEWSER) - So how did Newt Gingrich pull off his stunning upset in South Carolina yesterday? Unsurprisingly, by appealing to conservatives, writes Politico . Exit polls indicate that 45% of people calling themselves "very conservative" went to Gingrich, vs. 20% to Rick Santorum and 10% to Ron Paul—Mitt Romney took just 20% of them. Gingrich also won among "somewhat conservative" voters and independents. Romney won "moderate or liberal" voters. More»

GOP voters angry, stuck with bad candidates, say pundits

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich's big win in South Carolina has the Republican establishment squirming and political experts churning, trying to explain what the results mean:

• GOP base in revolt. "People are mad as hell they are about to be stuck with another boring, moderate, uninspiring choice that has at best a 50/50 shot at losing to the worst president since Carter," says Erick Ericson at RedState . "Basically, today’s vote is about Republican grassroots giving the Washington Republican establishment the finger."
• Not about policy, but soul. Gingrich and Mitt Romney don't have many big policy differences; instead this is a debate about the emotion and soul of the Republican Party, reports the AP : 'It might not be pretty."

Politico runs down the issues that could derail his candidacy

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney is looking like the inevitable nominee, but there are still some elephants that have been lurking in the room since the start of his campaign. Alexander Burns of Politico runs down the issues threatening him:

• The Bain problem: So far, Romney's deflected attacks on his private equity past by vaguely equating them with attacks on free enterprise itself . That works for a GOP primary, but won't fly in the general election, given that Romney's entire message is that his private sector experience gives him job creation insight. Speaking of which…

He may end up regretting health care observation

(NEWSER) - Whoops: Mitt Romney is probably wishing he had found a slightly different way to word this sentiment that's making the rounds. "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," he said at a campaign event in New Hampshire today. Romney was discussing the advantages of purchasing health care services. Immediately preceding the quote in question, Romney had pointed out that if you buy your own insurance and are not happy with the insurance company, "you can fire them." More»