News Roundup for 1/18/12

"I'm ba-ack!"

-Headline of the Day-
"Newt: Palin Will 'Play A Major Role' In My Administration."

Newt Gingrich envisions a role for Sarah Palin in his administration. Maybe as Secretary of... Ummm... Well, it's hard to think of anything she'd be qualified for and Newt probably hasn't given it a lot of thought. Maybe VP again. Who knows?

See, this is all about bumping up his numbers enough to get past Mitt Romney in the South Carolina primary. Sarah Palin endorsed Gingrich (But not really. We'll get to that. Keep your pants on) and Newt wants to capitalize on that.

What happened was that Sarah was on Fox News, which is the only network that still gives a crap about her, and she said that if she were in South Carolina, she'd vote for Gingrich. Not because Newt's such an awesome candidate, mind you, but "in order to keep it going" and -- I'm assuming here -- weaken Mittens. Yeah, this is about the weakest "endorsement" you could probably ever get, but when you're within shouting distance of the frontrunner in a state primary, you take what you can get.

So how do you make a backhanded endorsement seem stronger? You amplify your relationship with the endorser. Newt and Ol' Sarah go way back, he's always planned on making her the Secretary of Boy Howdy or whatever, and a vote for Newt is a vote for his old pal Sarah Palin.

Never mind that Palin was basically saying she'd vote for a cinderblock if she thought it would keep the primaries going. (Talking Points Memo)


-Mittens' argument catches on-



Remember, Romney worked hard to get way up to the 15% tax bracket. (McClatchy)


-Bonus HotD-
"Did Rick Santorum Win the Iowa Caucuses, Not Mitt Romney?"

The answer is "probably yes."

The real question is "will it matter?" (Daily Beast)