'Nerd' Ron Paul Was Right After All

Prez now ahead of all four GOP contenders

(NEWSER) - The rising economy may be enough to carry President Obama to a second term, according to the latest New York Times / CBS poll. The percentage of people feeling optimistic about the economy has surged over the last few months, the poll found, and Obama's approval rating is back above 50%, the highest since May 2010 apart from a brief bump after the killing of Osama bin Laden last year. Obama now leads all four of his potential Republican opponents, the poll found. More»

GOP as useless as 7 vowels in Scrabble, needs new letters

(NEWSER) - Just like you get to throw in your tiles when Scrabble gives you seven useless vowels, so too do Republican voters keep picking again—and coming up with the same useless tiles, says Thomas Friedman in the New York Times . That's because the GOP is an out-of-date "captive of conflicting ideological bases," including anti-abortion forces, anti-taxes, anti-immigration, libertarians, and more. What America really needs is a second party in its two-party system—ie, "a coherent Republican opposition" that is able to respond realistically to the true problems facing the United States. "We need a 'Different Kind of Republican' the way Bill Clinton gave us a 'Different Kind of Democrat,'" writes Friedman. And maybe that means a crushing defeat in this election to force a hard reboot. More»

CPAC gives Santorum a standing ovation

(NEWSER) - Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney have given their speeches to the Conservative Political Action Conference (Newt Gingrich goes on later), and the themes were no surprise:

• Romney: "I fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but I was a severely conservative Republican governor," he said. Romney again emphasized that he "never worked a day in Washington," in contrast to Santorum and Gingrich. More at USA Today .

Unpredictable low-turnout contest favors Paul's unconventional campaign

(NEWSER) - Tomorrow might be the day Ron Paul supporters have been waiting for: the day the Texas libertarian actually wins a state. Of course, that state would be Maine, which is holding a non-binding caucus that's expected to draw only a few thousand people, but it would still represent a milestone for Paul—and it would be Mitt Romney's fourth straight loss. While Romney won big in the state in 2008, turnout is so low that enthusiasm is all-important, the Washington Post reasons, and Paul supporters are an enthusiastic bunch. More»

Rick's triple win upends GOP race yet again

(NEWSER) - Colorado's GOP has declared Rick Santorum the winner of the state's presidential caucuses, making last night a clean sweep for the former senator, and a disaster for Mitt Romney's momentum. Santorum scored 40.2% of the vote to Romney's 34.9%, while Newt Gingrich beat Ron Paul for third place with 12.8% to Paul's 11.8%. With the victories in Minnesota and Missouri , Santorum has now won more states than Romney, although all three of last night's contests were largely symbolic. More»