Perry Leads 'How Great Is It To Be Stupid?' Party

Gingrich, Santorum, Cain open up about religious struggles

(NEWSER) - The tears flowed today as Republican presidential candidates discussed their religious faith before an audience of social conservatives in Iowa, the AP reports. The free-flowing Thanksgiving Family Forum, sponsored by an Iowa Christian group, gave candidates a chance to open up—Newt Gingrich about his inner demons, Rick Santorum about not fully loving his disabled daughter, and Herman Cain about his cancer diagnosis in 2006. "Before my wife and I were about to get into the car, I said, 'I can do this,'" Cain said, his eyes watering. “She said, ‘We.’" More»

And 58% of Republicans and right-leaning independents like the Tea Party

(NEWSER) - Turns out that Rick Perry holds a substantial lead among Tea Party supporters. Here's the new Gallup breakdown: Perry holds the same 21-point advantage, 35% to 14%, over Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann among Tea Party backers. Also, 58% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents back the Tea Party. That combination that no doubt helped Perry take the lead among GOP supporters this week . (Among the 36% of who don't like the Tea Party, Perry and Romney are more or less tied.) More»

Even Republican leaders turning against current 'losers'

(NEWSER) - With even top Republicans such as Jeb Bush, Rudy Giuliani, and Alan Simpson turning on the current crop of GOP candidates, "their crazed Reagan fixation," and their antiquated views on sex, gays, and more, it's becoming clear the GOP has become the "Ghastly Outdated Party," writes Maureen Dowd in the New York Times . "The contenders in the Hester Prynne primaries are tripping over one another trying to be the most radical, unreasonable, and insane candidate they can be," she writes. Any sign of reason becomes the focus of the next round of negative attacks. More»

Anti-Romney voters might have found their candidate

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney snatched an 8-vote victory in Iowa , but a lot of analysts say "man of the hour" Rick Santorum looks like the real winner. He can now portray himself as the clear alternative to Romney, and to win the nomination he "won’t have to outrun the bear, as the old joke goes, he’ll just have to outrun Mitt," a GOP strategist tells Politico . Other takeaways from last night:

• But Santorum shouldn't gloat just yet, writes James Hohmann for Politico, because this pesky thing called reality is also in the room. "He doesn’t have the money or infrastructure to keep up with Romney in New Hampshire, and he hasn’t been in South Carolina since Nov. 12." Sure, he'll grab a ton of headlines this week, but he needs to "dramatically expand his campaign apparatus virtually overnight."

Governor heading back to Texas for rethink after poor showing in Iowa

(NEWSER) - A lousy result in Iowa may have delivered the death blow to Rick Perry's troubled campaign. Perry, who came in fifth in the Iowa caucuses with some 10% of the vote, says he is returning to Texas to reassess his campaign and determine whether there's a way forward, AP reports. "This has to be the greatest honor of my life," he said. "Our country was in trouble, and it was my duty to serve my country one more time. This campaign has never been about me." More»