Visual source: Newseum
Mark Blumenthal:
The fact that many of these shifts quickly faded suggests that national polls on the Republican race will continue to show the volatility they have demonstrated all along. The conservative Republicans that have been shifting from candidate to candidate remain skeptical of Romney's conservative bonafides, and surveys continue to produce evidence of great voter uncertainty. On the new CBS/New York Times poll, for example, 60 percent of Republican primary voters nationwide say they could still change their minds about which candidate to support.
So at very least, the national polls are likely to shift again based on the outcome of the next set of primaries in Michigan and Arizona on Feb. 28.
Eugene Robinson:
Within our secular governmental framework, religion has thrived. No other large industrialized nation has nearly as many regular churchgoers as does the United States.
And just as faith somehow survived Nicki Minaj’s burlesque at the Grammys, it will survive the attempt by Republicans to create a religious war out of thin air.
Maybe this is why the histrionics:
Gallup:
U.S. Economic Confidence Best in a Year
Americans have grown steadily more positive about current economic conditions since last August, when the budget battles, stock market declines, and fears of a double-dip recession sent economic confidence to a low for the year
Ed Rogers (Republican):
So Mitt Romney won the CPAC straw poll and narrowly finished first in the Maine caucuses. The absence of calamity has become what passes for victory these days. Romney’s wins are weak, but there is no argument that Newt Gingrich’s and Rick Santorum’s losses are anything other than very weak.
And he's on their side.
Dana Milbank:
When it comes to Latino voters, Republicans must have un impulso suicida.
What else but a death wish could explain the party’s treatment of the fastest-growing voting bloc in the nation? First was the wave of Arizona-style immigration laws. Then came the anti-immigrant rhetoric from the GOP presidential candidates. On Tuesday, Senate Republicans roughed up Adalberto Jose Jordan — because, well, just because they could.
Keep reading and you'll find out he's a judicial nominee held up by the GOP because no one can figure out why.
Jennifer Rubin discusses the wrong gender gap—why Romney does better with women, Santorum does better with men. She should talk about why women dislike the GOP so much, and what this GOP primary is likely to do about it:
Kimberly Atkins/Boston Herald with a good example of how delusional the modern GOP is:
With the economy showing new signs of life and jobs numbers improving, it should have been a great week for President Obama. Instead, he was knocked off his game and members of his own party were divided by a federal health care policy requiring religiously affiliated organizations to provide coverage for contraceptives.
Ladies and gentlemen, social issues are back — with a vengeance. And they could give GOP candidates in the Bay State and nationwide a crucial tool during election season should the economy continue to improve.
Please run on social issues. Please. OTOH, why do I think this is a Santorum voter?
Charlie Cook:
If you think of the president’s reelection outlook on a red-light (likely lose), yellow-light (highly competitive), and green-light (likely to win) basis, the economy for most of last year was such that there was a red light on for Obama’s prospects. While no one knows what will happen between now and November, his situation has improved to a yellow light. This positions him better, but it hardly gets him out of the woods. This recent contraception controversy should be a reminder that there is still a lot of time and a lot of fights left, giving supporters on either side the opportunity to declare victory or throw in the towel.
