Unemployment Hasn't Helped Sarah Palin

Nate Silver says Rick Santorum's voters are a lot more enthusiastic

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney's got a big problem in his fight with Rick Santorum: His supporters are a lot less enthusiastic, observes Nate Silver of the New York Times . According to one poll, Santorum is beating Romney by 11 points among people who are definitely going to vote. Romney leads by the same margin among indefinite voters, "but those votes don't count for anything unless the candidate can get the voters to the polls," something Romney hasn't been great at despite his cash advantage. More»

'I don't try to rig straw polls,' says candidate

(NEWSER) - Fresh off his loss to Mitt Romney at CPAC , Rick Santorum hit the talk shows this morning, and he's downplaying the victory, reports Politico : "You have to talk to the Romney campaign and how many tickets they bought—we've heard all sorts of things," Santorum told CNN. "Ron Paul has won those (straw polls) because he trucks in a lot of people, pays for their ticket, and they come in and vote. I don't try to rig straw polls." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial, as per Politico : More»

Hints at Romney problems, saying too late to 'spin it'

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin topped off the Conservative Political Action Conference last night with a rousing speech, avoiding endorsing any candidate, but certainly hinting at Mitt Romney's weaknesses, reports the Wall Street Journal . Palin said that Republicans need a conservative whose beliefs are "instinctive," not someone molded by spin doctors and Washington consultants. "It's too late in the game to teach it or spin it at this point," said Palin, without actually mentioning Romney by name. "It's either there or it isn't." More»

There are plenty of reasons the president should be worried

(NEWSER) - Democrats, and many pundits, seem to believe that President Obama is rebounding, and will surely win re-election, but Jim Vandehei of Politico isn't buying it. Here's why he thinks the president should be sweating right now:

• The economy: The recent CBO report not only projected another trillion-dollar deficit, it predicted that unemployment will rise to 8.8% in the third quarter—something Obama's own advisers doubt he could recover from.

New poll shows Mitt at 38%, Newt at 29%

(NEWSER) - Mitt Romney is on a roll: After an impressive debate performance last night, he's No. 1 in Florida in a new poll. The Quinnipiac Poll has Romney with 38%, followed by Newt Gingrich with 29%, Ron Paul with 14%, and Rick Santorum with 12%. That's quite a difference from the last survey, released Wednesday, which showed Romney and Gingrich practically tied, the New York Times reports. Other recent polls had Gingrich in the lead. More»