Left for dead in Florida and Nevada, Rick Santorum won all three contests last night in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado, sending warning signals from Mitt Romney's CPU to the mini replica of the 2001 monolith that stands in for the candidate's heart. At his victory speech, Santorum said he wasn't aiming to become "the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama." more ›

In today's Presidential capitulation triangulation news bulletin, the Obama administration has signaled that it will rethink a law that would require insurance plans offered by Catholic universities and charities to provide women with birth control without charging them. “We’re going to look for a way to move forward that both provides women with the preventative care that they need and respects the prerogatives of religious institutions," David Axelrod told MSNBC yesterday. "To turn it into a kind of political football to take advantage—to try and capitalize that isn't going to make it easier to resolve that issue," Obama For America's football coach said without a hint of irony. more ›

As expected, Mitt Romney soundly beat Newt Gingrich in the Nevada caucuses yesterday, no thanks to Donald Trump, who endorsed the candidate on Thursday. According to an extremely scientific poll of Nevada Facebook users, just 9.6% thought it had a positive affect on Romney, 41.4% voted "negative," and 49% voted "neither." In other equally important polling news, Rasmussen finds that Santorum beats Obama if you sample 12% of the electorate, and a certain cat has outsourced his way to impending victory. more ›

Would you believe that a majority of pop musicians disagree with Republican dogma? In recent days Newt Gingrich was sued by the co-author of "Eye of the Tiger" after he used it at numerous campaign events, and Mitt Romney was asked by K'naan to stop using his song "Wavin' Flag." "I'm for immigrants. I'm for poor people, and they don't seem to be what he's endorsing," the rapper told the Times. "My song being his victory song didn't seem quite right." So where can the GOP candidates turn to pump up their pasty crowds? We've compiled a shortlist of tunes that are the least likely to earn a cease-and-desist order. more ›

Because a guy named "Brad" is in the office today, the country has been graced with Mitt Romney's tax returns. They show that in 2010 the candidate earned $21.7 million, and paid $3 million in federal taxes, for an effective tax rate of 13.9%. Romney also gave $2.98 million to charity, $1.5 million of which went to the Mormon Church. Reuters also reports that Romney closed down accounts in Switzerland and the Caymans that year "after an investment advisor decided it could be politically embarrassing to Romney." more ›

What does Newt Gingrich's 12% win over Mitt Romney in South Carolina mean? Even if Gingrich doesn't have Romney's war chest and organization for Florida's primary on the 31st, his momentum is snowballing in the state's print media, and this morning Romney admitted he made a mistake in declining to release his tax returns, and said he will make them available on Tuesday. “We made a mistake in holding off as long as we did,” the candidate told FOX News, noting that he pays a "substantial" amount of taxes. Still Gingrich can point out that in terms of percentage, he pays double what a member of the 0.01% does. more ›

Like a certain prurient Congressman, drunk on power and thirsty for alternatives, the South Carolina electorate has spurned their betrothed for the powdery jowls of another. Newt Gingrich is currently leading Mitt Romney ahead of today's GOP primary, 37% to 28% according to the PPP. In related news, we're taking the rest of the day off to close the deal on some Moon Condos. more ›

He's trailing in the polls, he hates Social Security, and... and... oh, who cares: News outlets are reporting that Texas Governor Rick Perry is ending his presidential dreams. more ›

To satisfy America's bloodlust for pallid men in funeral attire yelling at each other, the GOP presidential candidates faced off in two debates, twelve hours apart, ahead of Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. At last night's ABC debate at St. Anselm, frontrunner Willard Romney was content to let Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich claw each other's eyes out. But at this morning's NBC/Lunesta debate his rivals came to their senses and with the help of Romney's inability to relate to anyone other than T-1000, attempted to tear down his commanding lead in the polls. more ›

It's the night of the Iowa Caucuses! Everyone run downstairs and look at the Caucus Bush and marvel at how resplendent it is with Super PAC money and tears! At 1,774 precinct stations across the state, registered Republicans will gather at 7 p.m. CST to argue whether Mitt's hair is sexier than Rick Santorum's sweatervests. Polls have Santorum neck-and-neck with Willard Romney, and the man who runs America's most Fair and Balanced resource for on-air errors wants you to "think" about Rick. "Can't resist this tweet, but all Iowans think about Rick Santorum. Only candidate with genuine big vision for country," Rupert Murdoch tweeted. Wow! It's almost as if Santorum once worked for FOX News. more ›

Smelling the blood emanating from Ron Paul's Pamphletgate Redux, Mitt Romney is closing in on the Good Doctor's lead in Iowa one week from the primary. In addition to his $1.1 million ad buy, Romney's bringing out the biggest gun in his arsenal to seal the deal: New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who will be appearing on radio shows and perhaps even at stump speeches. But will that be enough to paper over the fact that Mitt Romney is a cyborg created by a race of lightly salted water crackers from the planet Carrdon, sent here to study and infiltrate the human race? Consider the evidence. more ›

Though the sun is shining here in the Commonwealth of Virginia, it shines not for Newt Gingrich, as he failed to submit the 10,000 signatures necessary to appear on the GOP primary ballot in March. Gingrich had promised that he would deliver the signatures himself by Thursday's deadline, but he now joins every candidate besides Mitt Romney and Ron Paul, in failing to appear on the ballot. "Winning campaigns have to be able to execute on the fundamentals," senior Romney advisor Eric Fehernstrom gloated to the Times. "This is like watching a hitter in the World Series failing to lay down a bunt." Or like buying the Scottie tag charm without the dog bone charm. more ›

Mitt Romney was on FOX News today to defend the negative ads the pro-Romney Restore Our Future PAC is running against Newt Gingrich. Presumably showing off some of the skills he displayed at an impromptu Comedy Cellar appearance he made in the city last week, Romney said, “If you can’t stand the heat in this little kitchen, wait until the Obama hell’s kitchen turns up the heat." Who knew the endless flow of corporate money reducing our electoral process to a shameless bidding war could be so funny? more ›

It's no secret that Mitt Romney is a wealthy man, thanks to the unmitigated success he experienced running Bain Capital. When confronted with the accusations that Bain made money off gutting companies of employees, Romney acknowledges that tough decisions were made for the good of the companies Bain restructured. “Sometimes the medicine is a little bitter, but it is necessary to save the life of the patient.” But according to the Times, Dr. Romney is still receiving profits from those patients thanks to prescient retirement agreement, "bringing the Romney family millions of dollars in income each year." more ›

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, once considered "Media Poison," is enjoying a resurgence thanks to the spectacularly abysmal GOP presidential field a string of good debate performances and his well-organized team in Iowa. According to a recent poll [pdf], Dr. Paul now finds himself a single percentage point behind Newt Gingrich leading up to Iowa's primary race on January 3. This has spooked Gingrich enough to hire a political consultant and possibly change his holiday plans to stick around the state, but Ron Paul's comments to Jay Leno on Friday that Michele Bachmann "hates Muslims" may give him some breathing room. more ›

Queens Congressman Gary Ackerman is demanding that Florida Republican and Tea Party Patriot Rep. Allen West apologize for comparing the Democratic Party to Nazis. “This is exactly the type of rhetoric that turns people off to Washington and getting involved in politics,” Ackerman tells the Daily News. “I call on Republicans and Democrats alike to join me in demanding an apology." Aw, c'mon. What did West say that was so offensive? "If Joseph Goebbels was around, he’d be very proud of the Democrat Party, because they have an incredible propaganda machine." Fighting "propaganda" with anti-semitic propaganda: do we have a new GOP presidential frontrunner on our hands? more ›

It seems Donald Trump found the excuse he was looking for: after over a week of shaming and name-calling, Trump announced today that he would bow out as moderator of Donald Trump's Very Classy GOP Presidential Primary Debate. "So that there is no conflict of interest within the Republican Party, I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate...I believe this would not only have been the most watched debate, but also the most substantive and interesting debate," Trump hilariously wrote in a statement. At least he was able to get a plug in for The Apprentice! more ›

All eyes were on the Gilded Historian at last night's debate in Iowa, as the GOP presidential field took shots at their new frontrunner. Michele Bachmann said he made his living on K Street, the "Rodeo Drive of Washington D.C." Rick Perry cautioned, "If you cheat on your wife, you'll cheat on your business partner, so I think the issue of fidelity is important." And Mitt Romney even took a shot at one of the former Speaker's ideas, saying he disagreed with "his idea to have a lunar colony that would mine minerals from the moon," presumably because Romney's own race of insipid moon people have already developed extensive Saltine quarries there. more ›

Jay-Z has now joined his mentor Russell Simmons in his measured support for higher taxes on rich folk such as himself, telling CNN, "I wouldn’t mind paying more taxes if it went to the things that really mattered. If it went to education, people [in] poverty and if it went to the right things." He continued, “It should be clearly defined … where all the money’s being allocated. Because you can understand paying so much for taxes and then things not improving, you’re like, where’s everything going to?” We await the "Jay-Z for OMB director" campaign with bated breath. more ›

So much for the shaming tactic: Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann have now ALL dropped out of Donald Trump's Very Classy GOP Presidential Primary Debate. Facing the prospect of a mano-a-mano slugfest between Newt "Tiffany Historian" Gingrich and Rick "Please Don't Google My Name" Santorum, even Donald Trump himself is now looking for ways to get out of this debate! more ›

Are you sick of all those boring, avant-garde political ads on TV nowadays? Ron Paul's team finally realized that they needed to boil out all his nettlesome Libertarian beliefs into a simple Declaration of Ass Kicking. Oh, but what about all those "bureaucrats" that will lose their jobs? Too bad. "That's how Ron Paul rolls." more ›

Are you feeling sick to your stomach, as if a giant weight is on your chest and the room keeps spinning and you're just can't seem to regain control? Relax, you're probably not pregnant: Newt Gingrich and Donald Trump are currently in the Trump Tower. A spokesman for Gingrich tells CNN that Newt "will seek Mr. Trump's advice and endorsement." Also probably on the docket: how much mileage to put on their wives before trading them back to the dealer, and a roundtable interview with Jowls Quarterly. more ›

We receive a lot of e-mail. Most of these missives are carefully read, discussed at length among the editors, and courteously replied to in a timely fashion—except for the ones that are so bizarre and irrelevant that we're simply afraid to engage the sender. Instead, we'll share them with you. Behold, the eccentric underbelly of the Gothamist inbox: more ›

At a bizarre pep rally in Atlanta moments ago, GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain announced that he is "suspending" his campaign for president, "because of the continued distraction of the continued hurt caused on me and my family." Cain added, "I'm not gonna be silenced and I'm not going away." Translation: "Don't worry, I'm still going to be shilling my books and speaking for tens of thousands of dollars!" more ›

Newt Gingrich is hosting a "town hall" meeting with the Staten Island Tea Party this afternoon, but one man won't be attending: former Staten Island Borough President and Congressman Guy Molinari. "God help us if Newt Gingrich is elected president. I won't vote for him. I love my country too much," Molinari told the Post. Doesn't the election of Newt Gingrich as President of the United States finally settle the issue of whether or not there is a higher power? more ›

In the wake of several allegations of sexual harassment, as well as a long-term affair, subliminal smoking advocate Herman Cain has been facing rumors that he will drop out of the presidential race soon. Yesterday, Cain shot back at critics that he had to discuss the matter with his wife Gloria, who he hasn't seen in person since before his alleged 13-year-affair with Ginger White came out. But today, the Cains showed solidarity by launching a new section of his campaign website run by Gloria: "Women For Herman Cain." more ›