Philip Elliot/AP:
The bitter, face-to-face sniping at this week's Republican debate was just a prelude to the coming weeks as Mitt Romney's rivals seek to tear him down before the leadoff Iowa caucuses.
Increasingly on the defensive, Romney is being hammered on old issues — like an accusation of hiring illegal immigrants to work on his yard — and is creating new openings for everyone from Rick Perry to President Barack Obama.
NY Times:
The harsh exchanges between the men at a debate in Las Vegas this week made clear the differences — in style and substance, background and belief — facing voters as they get closer to selecting the party’s nominee. Mr. Romney and Mr. Perry have been on a collision course for months, since Mr. Perry began considering a run for the presidency.
But the animosities began long ago, set off by a series of political encounters that began when the two men were governors — Mr. Romney in Massachusetts — fighting over the services of a political consultant.
Mark Barabak:
After a concentrated burst of campaigning, the GOP presidential race has been distilled to a simple question: Can Republicans learn to live with Mitt Romney even if they don't love Mitt Romney?
The former Massachusetts governor is certainly not a lock to face President Obama in November 2012.
He displayed an unflatteringly brittle and peevish side during the Tuesday night debate in Las Vegas, turning snappish when challenged on healthcare and illegal immigration, two old issues that drew fresh blood as his rivals assumed a more aggressive stance.
Yet the rapidly accelerating contest remains about where it was a month and a half ago, when the steeplechase of six debates in six weeks began: with Romney the front-runner by default, leading not because of his overwhelming appeal but because a plurality of Republicans don't seem to like anyone else a whole lot better.
AP:
A beleaguered president seeks re-election. His challenger, a candidate with Massachusetts roots and a presidential demeanor straight out of central casting, has to fight through a primary contest fending off charges of flip-flopping. In the end, the challenger's strength also proves his vulnerability.
Election 2012 is looking a lot like the presidential race of 2004.
AP:
Americans have yet to find a Republican they'd clearly prefer over President Barack Obama, although half say the president does not deserve re-election...
Among all adults surveyed, half said Obama should not be re-elected, and 46 percent said he should be. That continues his gradual slide since May.
When all adults are asked about hypothetical head-to-head matchups, Obama and Romney run almost even, 48 percent for Obama to 45 percent for Romney. Obama holds a narrow edge over Cain, 49 percent to 43 percent. He leads Perry, 51 percent to 42 percent.
Laurence Kotlikoff:
Evaluating Cain’s plan is difficult, even for a trained economist. To understand how different income groups would fare under 9-9-9, one must recognize that tax reforms affect households over people’s entire remaining lives, and do so differently at different ages. To that end, I used financial- planning software to compute households’ taxes for each future year and determine their sustainable living standards -- the amounts they can spend annually without running out of money.
The result: Commentators are mistaken when it comes to 9-9- 9’s treatment of those with lots of wealth and little or no labor income, but they are correct in saying that it is highly regressive with respect to working Americans.
AJC:
Occupy Atlanta | ‘It's not just a bunch of hippies playing bongos'
William Galston:
A deeper issue underlies this outburst of discontent. Every community of any appreciable size has an elite—often more than one. Elites are tolerated, even respected, if the rest of the population sees them as using their wealth, power, prestige, and talents on behalf of the community’s interests, as well as their own. Elites are not expected to be saintly altruists, but they are expected to care about the rest of society, not just themselves. . . . History shows that when elites fail to discharge the responsibilities their privileges entail, they sow the wind. America’s elites ignored this time-honored truth, and they are now reaping the whirlwind of their heedlessness.
St. Petersburg Times:
Unable to prevent Barack Obama from becoming president, rigid followers of the Constitution have turned their attention to another young, charismatic politician many think could one day occupy the White House.
The birthers are calling for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, the budding Republican star from Florida.