When this week began, it looked like Mitt Romney was going to lock up the Republican nomination for president today.
But then, a funny thing happened on the way to South Carolina.
While most of the media was focused on the fiery debate performances and serial infidelity of Newt Gingrich, and the untold riches of Romney, they missed the bigger story that set the stage for tonight's shocking results.
On Friday, has-been action star/would-be candidate for president of Texas Chuck Norris endorsed Gingrich, and in doing so, delivered a fatal blow to Mitt's hopes for a quick coronation (not to mention Republicans' chances of retaining control of the House and defeating President Obama in November).
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R); Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R); Roundtable: Joe Scarborough (MSNBC), Republican Strategist Mike Murphy, Katty Kay (BBC) and Chuck Todd (NBC News).
Face the Nation: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R); Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R); Roundtable: John Dickerson (CBS News), Joe Klein (TIME) and Kelly Evans (Wall Street Journal).
This Week: Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA); Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Republican Strategist Matthew Dowd, Ron Brownstein (National Journal) and Katrina vanden Heuvel (The Nation).
Fox News Sunday: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R); House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH); Roundtable: Sociopath Liz Cheney, Liz Marlantes (Christian Science Monitor), Former Adviser to President Bush Karl Rove and Former Howard Dean Campaign Manager Joe Trippi.
State of the Union: Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA); Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R); Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC); Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC); Reliable Sources: Brian Ross (ABC News); Jennifer Rubin (Washington Post); Terence Smith (Formerly of PBS); Ryan Lizza (The New Yorker); Arthur Brisbane (New York Times).
The Chris Matthews Show: Andrea Mitchell (NBC News); Neil Swidey (Boston Globe); Major Garrett (National Journal); Kathleen Parker (Washington Post).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: David Rubenstein (Carlyle Group); Arianna Huffington (Huffington Post); Publisher Mort Zuckerman; David Frum (Daily Beast); Former "Car Czar" Steve Rattner; Pakistani Politician Imran Khan.
Up with Chris Hayes: Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D); President Reagan's OMB Director David Stockman; Melissa Harris-Perry (MSNBC); Dave Weigel (Slate.com); Catherine Rampell (New York Times).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a look at the great wildebeest migration in Kenya (preview); a report on the language of elephants; and, an interview with anthropologist Jane Goodall.
On Comedy Central:
Jon Stewart definitely didn't coordinate with Stephen Colbert on this segment.
The Daily Show
Monday: Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius
Tuesday: Candidate for US Senate Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Wednesday: Author/Journalist Paula Broadwell
Thursday: Actress Tilda Swinton
Stephen then came under attack from the Super PAC he used to run.
The Colbert Report
Monday: Author Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
Tuesday: Opera Singer Placido Domingo
Wednesday: Terry Gross ("Fresh Air")
Thursday: Actress Drew Barrymore
Elsewhere...
Sarah Palin endorsed Newt Gingrich (in South Carolina) — for the sake of being able to further vet the candidates.
"If I were a South Carolinian -- and each one of these primaries and caucuses are different, Sean -- I want to see this thing continue because iron sharpens iron. Steel sharpens steel. These guys are getting better in their debates. ... If I had to vote in South Carolina, in order to keep this thing going, I'd vote for Newt. And I would want things to continue. More debates, more vetting of candidates. Because we know the mistake made in our country four years ago, with having a candidate that was not vetted to the degree he should have been."
But, wait...
She then spoke out against the need to further vet the candidates.
After Hannity brings up the new information coming out about Gingrich's second wife and Romney's Cayman Island offshore accounts Palin refers to it thusly: "I refer to it as being Joe McGinniss'd, and I think that the American public really could care less right now about being Joe McGinniss'd. Not when there are real issues." [...]
So in Palin's world, REAL information about a political figure should NOT be investigated? Somehow I doubt she feels that same way about the investigations into Bill Clinton's or John Edward's affairs.
And in tangentially-related news...
The director of Rick Santorum's winning Iowa coalition offered his divine judgement on whether a woman should be president.
A staffer to Rick Santorum is roiled in controversy as the Des Moines Register revealed parts of an email he wrote last summer questioning whether a woman could be president.
"The question then comes, 'Is it God’s highest desire, that is, his biblically expressed will,…to have a woman rule the institutions of the family, the church, and the state?' " Jamie Johnson, Santorum's Iowa coalitions director, reportedly wrote.
It's a man's world.
- Trix