Romney, Santorum in final push to Tuesday primaries

Washington (CNN) -- Less than 48 hours before primaries in Arizona and Michigan, Mitt Romney received a key endorsement from Arizona's governor Sunday while his current main challenger, Rick Santorum, appeared to downplay his own chances of winning in the Grand Canyon State.
The two are leading the pack in the Republican presidential campaign that includes former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul as it heads into a series of crucial contests in coming weeks, including Super Tuesday on March 6 when 437 delegates from 10 states will be at stake.
Michigan is emerging as a showdown between Romney and Santorum, with the outcome expected to significantly impact the campaign.
If Romney comes from behind in the polls to win the state considered home turf where his father was governor, he will cement his status as the lone front-runner and presumptive nominee.
A Santorum victory would raise further questions about Romney's ability to attract broad conservative support in the primaries or against President Barack Obama in November's general election.

The latest polls from Michigan and Arizona put Romney and Santorum in a virtual tie in both states, but the trends show Romney increasing his support as Tuesday's primary approaches.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a tea party conservative known for legal and public clashes with Obama over immigration policy, announced her endorsement of Romney on NBC's "Meet the Press" program Sunday.
"I think he has that pro-business background and he has that political history that I think he would serve America the best of all the candidates," Brewer said, adding that Romney also has the best chance of defeating Obama in November.
Santorum cited negative ads by the Romney campaign and super PAC supporters for the tightening poll numbers, and he sounded resigned to a second-place finish in Arizona.
"That's another tough state for us," Santorum told the NBC program. "Demographically, it doesn't work quite as well for us as maybe some other states."
Regardless, he said, the results of Tuesday's primaries would show the Republican nomination was down to a two-person race pitting him against Romney.
Santorum and Gingrich are vying to be the main conservative challenger against the more moderate Romney. Gingrich is banking on a strong Super Tuesday performance in the southern states of Georgia, which represented in Congress, and neighboring Tennessee to revitalize his flagging campaign.
Paul, the libertarian champion who has a devoted but limited support base among mostly young followers, has waged a strategic campaign aimed at accumulating delegates so he can assert influence at the Republican convention in August.
So far, Romney's advantage in money and organization have helped him fend off challenges from a succession of Republican contenders.
On Sunday, Romney surrogates appeared on talk shows to boost his chances ahead of the upcoming contests.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a strong Romney backer, declared on the CBS program "Face the Nation" that "Rick Santorum's not going to be the nominee," while Arizona Sen. John McCain told CNN's "State of the Union" that he was "confident Mitt will do well on Tuesday night in Arizona and in Michigan and hopefully that will move this process forward so we can concentrate on the real adversary."
Another veteran Senate Republican, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, also told the CNN program that he expects Romney to win both states on Tuesday.
While Graham has yet to endorse a candidate, he praised Romney for "getting better and better" throughout the campaign season.
"Romney really has sharpened his skills, and I think that will pay dividends if he gets the nomination," Graham said.
Meanwhile, the senior adviser to Obama's re-election campaign did his best Sunday to encourage a drawn-out Republican nomination process.
Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, now advising Obama's campaign, told CNN that Santorum has a "legitimate chance" to become the GOP nominee and described the former Pennsylvania senator as a candidate with blue-collar appeal who is "clearly somebody who has a very different economic background than Mitt Romney."
Predicting Tuesday's contests in Michigan and Arizona will not be a "clarifying event," Gibbs said he expects the primary to go on for "weeks and weeks."
A tea party group also sought to boost Santorum's candidacy Sunday, urging Michigan conservatives to donate money and back Santorum even if they support Gingrich in order to damage Romney's chances.
"No matter who your preferred candidate might be down the road, if you want to stop Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum needs to stop Romney in Michigan," said an appeal from the Freedom's Defense Fund. "We're trying to make sure that happens."
Romney did a rare talk show appearance on "Fox News Sunday" in which he defended his stance against the auto industry bailout in 2008 and also parried questions about what critics call his inability as a wealthy businessman to connect with working-class Americans such as tea party conservatives.
Last week, Romney's comment that his family owns several cars kept at different residences, including two Cadillacs driven by his wife, came under media scrutiny.
"You know, I can't be perfect. I just am who I am," Romney said on the Fox program, later adding: "If people think that there is something wrong with being successful in America, then they better vote for the other guy, because I've been extraordinarily successful and I want to use that success and that know-how to help the American people."
Romney also pushed back against critics of his opposition to the government bailout of the auto industry when the recession hit in 2008. Democrats and their labor union supporters have highlighted the Romney stance in Michigan, saying he would have turned his back on workers in a time of need.
To Romney, the issue is about government fiscal intervention in a market-driven industry.
"You've seen all sorts of businesses go in bankruptcy. And they come out and are stronger," Romney said on Fox. "This is not the first time that an industry or a company has been in trouble."
He said he opposed "writing checks" when auto industry leaders asked for help, instead of forcing them into what he called a managed bankruptcy and then helping them recover.
"After bankruptcy, that was the time to give them the financial support, the guarantees to provide the help to get them out of bankruptcy," Romney added. "That's the way it would have been done best."
However, Romney didn't directly respond when asked if his plan would have forced the automakers into a more severe form of bankruptcy that would have resulted in greater job losses and a more difficult recovery.
Santorum went after Romney on the auto bailout issue, saying the former Massachusetts governor was ideologically inconsistent because he had supported the government bailout of Wall Street firms but opposed the help for the auto industry.
"Mitt Romney supported his friends on Wall Street and then turned his back on the people of Detroit," Santorum told the ABC program "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." "Now I say turned his back because he supports the concept of bailouts. I don't. And that's the difference between the two approaches."
Santorum also continued to wrestle with the increased attention to his campaign since he surged to the top of polls in recent weeks following his sweep of contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado earlier this month.
In his appearances on ABC and NBC, he was questioned about comments last week that challenged Obama's push for students to attend college and the call more than 50 years ago by former President John F. Kennedy -- the nation's first Roman Catholic president -- for an absolute separation of church and state.
On ABC, Santorum said the Kennedy speech -- which sought to ease concerns about his faith interfering with his ability to govern -- made him sick.
"What kind of country do we live that says only people of non-faith can come into the public square and make their case?" Santorum said in seeking to link his interpretation of the Kennedy speech with his criticism of the Obama administration for what he calls impeding on religious freedom.
"That makes me throw up and it should make every American who has seen from the president, someone who is now trying to tell people of faith that you will do what the government says, we are going to impose our values on you," Santorum said, later adding that imposition of government values was "the next logical step when people of faith, at least according to John Kennedy, have no role in the public square."
On higher education, Santorum was asked about declaring calling Obama a snob for advocating that all American students go to college if possible.
After first responding on ABC that not everyone wants or needs a college education to succeed, noting that a trade school or a music career were examples of alternative options, Santorum characterized the majority of U.S. colleges and universities as liberal-biased institutions that are biased against conservative thinkers and religious believers.
"We have some real problems at our college campuses with political correctness, with an ideology that is forced upon people who, you know, who may not agree with the politically correct left doctrine," Santorum said. "And one of the things that I've spoken out on and will continue to speak out is to make sure that conservative and more mainstream, commonsense conservative and principles that have made this country great are reflected in our college courses and with college professors. And at many, many, and I would argue most institutions in this country, that simply isn't the case."
Some Republicans have warned that such strident conservative rhetoric would hurt the party's cause in the general election against Obama, when the GOP nominee will need the support of independents to win.
Christie took that stance Sunday, telling the CBS program that he believed declaring Obama a snob over the higher education issue was "probably over the line."
He also criticized Santorum for what he called "naked opportunism" in questioning Romney's conservative credentials, noting Santorum endorsed Romney in 2008.

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Romney: Santorum not fiscal conservative

Posted by

CNN Political Producer Rachel Streitfeld

Boise, Idaho (CNN) - Mitt Romney unleashed his harshest public attacks to date on his surging rival, Rick Santorum, during a rally in Boise Friday.

The former Massachusetts governor told an audience of more than one thousand people that Santorum was not a fiscal conservative, and accused him of contributing to the rising federal deficit during his time in the Senate.

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"I know that Sen. Santorum is getting his moment in the spotlight now, which is a good thing. I hope people take a very close look at his record," Romney said. "He voted to raise the debt ceiling five different times without compensating cuts. And he's a big proponent of earmarks."
Romney added: "If you want a fiscal conservative you can't vote for Rick Santorum, 'cause he's not."
The GOP candidate has not directly criticized Santorum in campaign events in over a week.
However, Romney's campaign and an outside group supporting him have applied increasing pressure on the former senator, who is riding on a wave of momentum after a trio of wins in early voting states Feb. 7.
Earlier on Friday in Ohio, the state's attorney general Mike DeWine announced he was withdrawing his support for Romney in favor Santorum.
Reporters questioned Romney about the news after his Boise event.
As staffers urged the governor to move along, Romney smiled at reporters and walked away.

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2012: The year of 'birth control moms'?

(Reported by www.politico.com )

Just a few weeks ago, the notion would have seemed far-fetched. The country is deeply divided on abortion, but not on contraception; the vast majority of American women have used it, and access hasn’t been a front-burner political issue since the Supreme Court decided Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965.
But then Rick Santorum said states ought to have the right to outlaw the sale of contraception.
And Susan G. Komen for the Cure yanked its funding for Planned Parenthood.
And the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops teed off on President Barack Obama’s contraception policy.
And House Republicans invited a panel of five men — and no women — to debate the issue.
And a prominent Santorum supporter pined for the days when “the gals” put aspirin “between their knees” to ward off pregnancy.
Democratic strategist Celinda Lake says it’s enough to “really irritate” independent suburban moms and “re-engage” young, single women who haven’t tuned into the campaign so far.
And, she says, the stakes are high: Women backed Barack Obama in big numbers in 2008 but then swung right in 2010. If the president is to win reelection in 2012, he’ll need to win women back — and Lake and other Democrats see the GOP push on contraception as a gift that will make that easier.
“I feel like the world is spinning backwards,” said former Rep. Patricia Schroeder, who has often related the troubles she has as a young married law student getting her birth control prescriptions filled in the early 1960s. “If you had told me when I was in law school that this would be a debate in 2012, I would have thought you were nuts … And everyone I talk to thinks so, too.”
Jennifer Lawless, director of the Women and Politics Institute at American University, also sees the chance of a huge female backlash if the Republicans overreach.
“If women feel they are being targeted again, that women’s health is on the line — that’s not an argument you want to make in an election year,” she said.
Not so, says Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who’s advising Newt Gingrich. Voters understand that Republicans aren’t trying to come between women and the pill. They are fighting for constitutionally protected religious freedoms.
“This doesn’t inhibit any woman’s ability to access contraception,” Conway said. “The question is should we pay for it, and should conscientious objectors be forced to compromise their beliefs.”
And, she argued, Obama blundered by talking reproduction while American women want to hear about recovery. Voters see it as a distraction from jobs, jobs, jobs.
“Overreach and distraction can really sink his presidency,” Conway said. “Voters demand a course correction from either party when they see overreach — and in his case, course correction means losing reelection.”
How it plays out between now and November may depend on how long the debate lasts — and whether the contraception-access or religious-freedom frame prevails.
The conservatives on the other side say the fight is not about birth control or women’s health. It’s about morality and religious liberty under the Constitution. And that’s a basic American value that resonates with voters, they say.
“That’s about as fundamentally American as any principle I’m aware of,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told reporters this week. Blunt is sponsoring legislation that would allow any employer to refuse to cover any health benefit on moral grounds — not just birth control or abortion, and not just employers like a school or hospital that have a formal religious affiliation.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73043.html#ixzz1moGL2gLL

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Rick Santorum: Will women vote for him?

Reported by Politico
Democrats have an unexpected new foil in their effort to label the GOP as hostile to women: Rick Santorum.
After hammering away for a year at the message that Republicans are indifferent to women’s health and economic well-being, President Barack Obama’s party has been handed a nearly perfect political punching bag in the former Pennsylvania senator, whose down-the-line cultural conservatism is a major selling point in the 2012 primaries.

Gender issues have taken center stage in recent days as Santorum has made incendiary comments suggesting women not be allowed to serve in combat roles in the military (he later said he was concerned men would want to protect them). Santorum has also stood by his opposition to contraception, reiterating his position that it shouldn’t be covered by the national health-care law because it is “inexpensive.” While the ex-senator doesn’t favor outlawing birth control, he is personally opposed to it.

In another major hit this week, Santorum’s most prominent financial backer, Wyoming financier Foster Friess, joked on television that back in the day, women — he called them “gals” — would practice contraception by holding aspirin “between their knees.”
The timing of these flare-ups is politically dangerous for Santorum, as Republicans on Capitol Hill this week held an all-male hearing on birth control and the controversy is just starting to fade over the Obama administration’s health-care ruling on contraception and religious groups.
These issues may work in the ex-senator’s favor in the Republican presidential primary. But to longtime Democratic women operatives, Santorum’s rise in the presidential race represents the return of an old rival — a 1990s-era culture warrior whose political comeback is as shocking as it is inadvertently useful for the Democratic cause.
“He constantly says things that are offensive to women,” said Kim Gandy, former president of the National Organization for Women. “Regardless of whether Republican women like some of his policies, I think they’re going to be so turned off by his judgmental stand on the independence and essential rights of women that they won’t be able to vote for him.”
“The idea that a man who opposes something as widespread as the use of birth control would even be taken seriously as a candidate, would be shocking to me,” Gandy said. “He makes Romney look like a liberal by comparison — but only by comparison. At least Mitt Romney hasn’t said women shouldn’t use birth control.”
Already one of his party’s most ardent abortion rights foes, Santorum, in his 2005 book “It Takes a Family,” advocated an old-school role for women in the home and accused “radical feminists” of undermining families by telling women “professional accomplishments are the key to happiness.” Santorum says his wife authored that section.
Thus far in the presidential race, Santorum hasn’t anchored his campaign message in gender-related issues — or really, in social issues more generally. He has emphasized his cultural traditionalism as a way of drawing contrasts with Romney, but the main thrust of the Republican’s sales pitch is his adherence to small-government conservatism and his pledge to revive the manufacturing sector of the economy.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/73050.html#ixzz1moF5VKEA

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Polls Show Rick Santorum And Mitt Romney Tied: When Will Republicans Decide?

WASHINGTON -- Five new national polls released on Monday or Tuesday all confirm that former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has gained significant support in the wake of his victories in last week's caucuses and primaries and now runs roughly even with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney among Republicans nationwide.
The latest national surveys add up to a consistent snapshot of the Republican race. When asked who they prefer as a nominee, Republicans divide almost evenly between Santorum and Romney, with Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) running far behind.
Three of the new surveys, from CNN/ORC International, CBS News/New York Times, the and Pew Research Center, all show Santorum ahead of Romney by margins of 2 to 3 percentage points. The latest Gallup Daily tracking poll shows Romney leading by 2 points and a new Fairleigh Dickinson University survey shows both candidates running even.

Random sampling error accounts for much of the minor variation between the surveys. Since the nomination is decided by a series of statewide primaries and caucuses rather than a national primary, the critical finding is not the precise level of support for each candidate but that the Republican race has taken yet another dramatic turn.
As illustrated by the HuffPost Pollster chart below, based on all national polls on the Republican nomination, Santorum's support has nearly doubled in the last two weeks (to 31.4 percent) putting him into a near tie with Romney (31.1 percent) followed by Gingrich (14.5 percent) and Paul (12.1 percent).

The question everyone is asking is whether the current snapshot will persist or whether Santorum, like a series of conservative "not-Romney" alternatives before him, will soon fade. The polling volatility is likely to continue, since the latest results confirm that Republicans have not yet come to a consensus on their preferred nominee.
In recent Republican and Democratic contests, January proved to be the decisive month in which opinion shifted in a way that either crowned the presumptive nominee -- as with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008 and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004 -- or shifted to an alignment that remained mostly intact through the remaining primaries (as with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2008).
Not this time. Instead, as explained in a Gallup analysis published on Monday, Republicans have responded to five of the first six primary or caucus nights by "jumping on the winner's bandwagon" and producing an immediate gain in the national polls. As shown in the table below, Romney, Gingrich and Santorum have all experienced increases in support on the Gallup Daily tracking ranging from 6 to 14 percentage points after victories.

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.
No, January was not the month that national polling became more stable, as it did in nomination contests waged over the last decade. Instead, the better model for this year may be the Democratic contest of 1988. In that year, the eventual nominee, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis (D), finished third in Iowa and then won in New Hampshire, but his victory got lost in coverage of the Republican race and the battle among the other Democratic candidates.
Polls in late 1987 and early 1988 showed no dominant front-runner, and support for Dukakis mostly varied between 10 to 15 percent of Democrats nationwide. His support increased after the New Hampshire primary to 25 percent on a CBS/New York Times survey, putting him roughly 10 percentage points higher than the other Democratic candidates.

But Dukakis failed to win a decisive victory in the Super Tuesday primaries on March 8, 1988. The results that day were something of a wash, with Dukakis, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Tennessee Sen. Al Gore all winning multiple states. The field narrowed, but another CBS/New York Times poll conducted two weeks later gave Dukakis only a nine-point lead (34 to 25 percent) over Jackson.
It was not until the contest narrowed to just two candidates in April that national polling shifted decisively in Dukakis' favor. A final CBS/New York Times News survey in May found Dukakis with a 68 to 20 percent lead over Jackson.
Although the national polls currently show a close race, Romney's campaign is well organized and flush with cash and thus able to compete for delegates in every state. For now, Santorum's campaign must focus more narrowly on the upcoming primaries. Moreover, the majority of Republicans continue to believe that Romney will win. On the CNN/ORC International poll, for example, more than two thirds of Republicans (68 percent) now say they expect Romney to win the Republican nomination, up from 41 percent in December.
And if Romney does win? Two thirds of Republicans on the CNN poll say they would be either "enthusiastic" (21 percent) or "pleased" (44 percent), while only 11 percent say they would be "upset" -- 25 percent say they would be "displeased but not upset." Taken together, these results tell us that while the polling volatility may continue, most Republicans remain open to a Romney nomination.

CORRECTION: This article has been updated to remove references to a new Rasmussen Reports poll from Michigan inadvertently included among the new national surveys.

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Romney avoids mention of bailout at Detroit event

Posted by

CNN Political Producer Rachel Streitfeld

Farmington Hills, Michigan (CNN) - Hours after Detroit automaker General Motors reported the largest annual profit in its history, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he was "delighted" the industry was profitable.

"I love American cars, and long may they rule the world, let me tell you. I want them to do well," Romney said at a chamber of commerce meeting in Farmington Hills, Michigan, later adding of the industry: "I'm delighted it's profitable."

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But as his opponents have repeatedly pointed out, Romney opposed a federal bailout largely credited with pulling the struggling industry out of collapse.
In his speech to a friendly audience of more than 400 people, Romney did not mention his opposition to the bailout. Instead, he repeated an assertion that he had recommended the path taken months later by the Obama administration.
"I love the auto industry. I want to see it thrive and grow," Romney told the audience. "I'm glad it went through a managed bankruptcy process, which I recommended from the very beginning to shed unnecessary costs and get its footing again."
Romney has said he would have solicited private financing to inject capital into Detroit auto manufacturers.
In an unspoken reminder of the uneasy politics of his stance - a highly-charged position in Michigan ahead of the state's February 28 primary - on Thursday Romney accepted the endorsement of state Gov. Rick Snyder, who has said the bailout was effective in helping turn around GM and Chrysler.
Neither man made mention of their difference in opinion.
"We have the right man here to help lead our country, but there's a special bonus. He was born and raised a Michigander," Snyder said of Romney. "He understands our state. He's one of us."

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National Review calls for Gingrich to leave race

Washington (CNN) - The influential conservative magazine National Review called Monday for Newt Gingrich to leave the Republican primary contest.

Repeating its past criticisms of Gingrich the magazine's editorial said "it would be a grave mistake for the party to make someone with such poor judgment and persistent unpopularity its presidential nominee."

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It pointed out the former House speaker, when he led in the polls, called for Rick Santorum to leave the race, "on his own arguments the proper course for him now is to endorse Santorum and exit." The magazine also highlighted that Santorum has won more contests and delegates than Gingrich and is beating him in recent polling.
The editorial said it is not clear if Gingrich "remains in the race because he still believes he could become president next year or because he wants to avenge his wounded pride; an ambiguity that suggests the problem with him as a leader."
Gingrich's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the National Review editorial.
While the magazine complimented Santorum as "conducting himself rather impressively" by showing some humility and emphasizing the declining stability of the middle class as a key issue, it said his most immediate challenge is "proving he can run a national campaign."
However, its harshest words were directed at Mitt Romney, calling him "undramatic" and a "transactional politician."
"Romney is trying to win the nomination by pulverizing his rivals ... but his attacks on Santorum have been lame, perhaps because they are patently insincere," the editorial said.
As a leading voice for conservatives, the magazine had some advice for Romney: tell the right wing of the party what it will get out of a presidency if he wins– such as entitlement reform, more market-oriented health care, judges whose philosophy aligns with its strict interpretation of the Constitution and tax reform.
Saying so far the former Massachusetts governor has mostly been running on his business background and being a family man, "Republicans, even the many who are well disposed to him, have been saying as loud as they can: it isn't enough."

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Payroll Tax Cut Deal: House-Senate Panel Reaches Tentative Pact On Payroll Tax Cut Extension

 Reported by www.cnn.com
WASHINGTON -- A tentative deal struck by lawmakers Tuesday night may put off what seemed, just days ago, to be a highly contentious rerun of a debate completed in December.
The deal surrounds a 10-month extension of the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance and the so-called doc-fix, which keeps payments to physicians participating in Medicare at competitive levels. Under the contours of the deal, as outlined by several sources, the cost of extending all three of until the end of 2012 would be about $50 billion. The price is that low because lawmakers relented on a previous insistence that the payroll tax cut extension be covered in full -- saving them from having to find $100 billion elsewhere.
According to a Senate Democratic aide, to pay for the cost of extending unemployment insurance (at a price of $30 billion), the government would hold a spectrum auction to sell wireless bandwidth and would increase federal employee contributions to pension plans.
The aide said the maximum duration of unemployment benefits would technically be 89 weeks. That level, however, would apply only to the hardest hit states. The aide conceded that the more accurate number for maximum benefits was 75 weeks. But even this figure was contested by a Republican congressional aide, who said that, "the maximum number of weeks of unemployment benefits in most states will be reduced to 63 weeks." As of 8 p.m. Tuesday night, the difference in numbers remained unexplained.
The unemployment extension also is coupled with a voluntary "Georgia Works" program, which allows businesses to train people receiving unemployment benefits for a number of weeks without having to pay them. Republicans had pushed for a permanent program along these lines. Democrats, led by President Barack Obama, held to their preferred policy. In addition, Democrats were able to beat back efforts to make unemployment recipients pursue a GED or undergo drug testing.
The Republican aide familiar with the deal said, "Those receiving unemployment benefits must be searching for a job," and that states that currently "drug-screen workers seeking a job that requires a drug test" will be allowed to continue doing so. In other words: federal lawmakers allowed for a continuation of state laws.
As for the doc-fix, which prevented a major cut in payments to doctors serving Medicare beneficiaries, the cost would be covered by hospital fees, according to the Democratic aide. Benefits to Medicare recipients won't be touched.

Before the ink was even dry on the deal, the spinning had commenced. The Republican aide noted that, "There are no job-killing tax hikes to pay for more government spending."
The Democratic aide conceded that forcing federal workers to pay more for their pensions was "something Republicans will crow about." However, the aide added, "on the grand scheme of things it is swallow-able."
Meanwhile, as the Associated Press reports:

Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, said it was described to lawmakers as a tentative agreement.The payroll tax cut and renewing jobless benefits were key planks in Obama's jobs program, which was announced in September. The payroll tax cut benefits 160 million Americans and delivers a tax cut of about $20 a week for a typical worker making $50,000 a year. People making a $100,000 salary would get a $2,000 tax cut.
The deal would not only be a win for Obama but would take the payroll tax fight -- which put Republicans on the defensive -- off the table for the fall election campaign.
"The mood is to get it off the table," freshman Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., said. "We've got to move on to another issue."

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Posted by

CNN's Dan Merica

(CNN) – A group of protesters disrupted a Rick Santorum campaign rally in Tacoma, Washington, on Monday, prompting the presidential hopeful to brand it as a “radical element” that represents “true intolerance.”

After Santorum was introduced to raucous applause, the protestors launched into the Occupy movement’s traditional “mic check, mic check” call. After hearing that, the conservative crowd attempted to shout down the Occupy protestors with chants of “U.S.A., U.S.A.”

“Isn’t this a great country? I love this,” Santorum said as the shouting match played out in front of him. “This is the one reason I love doing outside events open to the public because you get a chance to hear from everybody.”
That genial Santorum, though, shortly gave way to a more confrontational Santorum when the protestors continued.
“They don't want to hear what the other side has to say. Why? Because if they have a reasonable, rational discussion, they can’t be successful,” Santorum said over the shouting protestors.
Some of the protestors were then taken to the ground and placed in handcuffs by police, who then led them out of the event. Tacoma Police confirmed that three protestors were arrested, two for disorderly conduct and one for assault.
With the protestors gone, Santorum addressed what has just happened.
“I think it's really important for you to understand what this, what this radical element represents, because what they represent is true intolerance,” Santorum said.
Though later in the speech Santorum focused on other issues, the protestors loomed large over for former Pennsylvania senator’s speech.
“Barack Obama has sided with the 99 versus 1,” Santorum said. “He supported this movement - this movement that is intolerant and disrespectful. He supported them and embraced them.”
After wins in Colorado, Missouri and Minnesota, recent polls have Santorum running even with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The race for the Republican presidential nomination continues on February 28 in Arizona and Michigan.
CNN's Chris Welch contributed to this report.

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CNN Poll: Gender and income gaps in GOP nomination battle

(Reported by www.cnn.com )

Posted by

CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser

(CNN) - A large gender gap appears to be developing between supporters of GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, as well as a split between white collar and blue collar Republicans, according to a new national survey.

A CNN/ORC International poll also indicates that Santorum supporters are much more highly motivated than those backing Romney.
See full results (pdf)

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"The new numbers indicate a split in the Republican party that goes deeper than ideology, with signs of a gender gap and class warfare breaking out in the GOP ranks," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
According to the survey, released Tuesday afternoon, Santorum and Romney are basically all tied up for the lead in the race for the GOP nomination. Thirty four percent of Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP say they back Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, with 32% backing Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has been at or near the top of national polling over the past year. Santorum's two point margin over Romney is well within the survey's sampling error.
The poll indicates that Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is at 16%, with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 15%. Four other surveys released over the past day also suggest the race for the nomination knotted up between Romney and Santorum. All of the polls, including the CNN survey, were conducted entirely after Santorum's victories over Romney, Gingrich and Paul last Tuesday in caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota and a non-binding primary in Missouri. Santorum's sweep of the February 7 contests sparked his surge in national and state polling, and cemented the perception that Romney was having a hard time locking down support of core conservatives.
Santorum's newfound support may be coming from Republicans who backed candidates who are no longer in the race, like Texas Gov. Rick Perry. But the poll also indicates that Santorum's surge is also the product of a notable gender gap, with Santorum holding a 10-point edge among Republican men and Romney winning Republican women by nine points. And Republicans who describe themselves as blue collar are backing Santorum by 11 points over Romney. But among those who say they come from white collar families, Romney has a 10-point advantage.
The poll also indicates Santorum topping Romney 45% to 29% among self-described tea party movement supporters, with Romney edging out Santorum 34% to 29% among people who don't describe themselves as tea party supporters.
It's a similar story when it comes to self described born-again voters, with Santorum leading that group by a 42% to 24% margin over Romney, and Romney beating Santorum 40% to 26% who don't describe themselves as born-again.
"According to the survey, Santorum Republicans are also much more highly motivated than Romney Republicans, with more than half of Santorum's voters saying they strongly support him, compared to less than four in ten Romney voters - and enthusiasm for Santorum as the eventual nominee is highest among the four remaining challengers," adds Holland.
Nonetheless, an overwhelming number of Republicans see Romney as most likely to win the GOP nomination, and a majority continues to believe that Romney has the best chance of defeating President Barack Obama in the November general election.
Are Republicans happy with the remaining choices in the field? The poll indicates the answer is yes, but satisfaction with current candidates has slipped 11 points since the fall. And the eventual winner may receive a less-than-enthusiastic response from the GOP rank and file. Only a third say they would be enthusiastic about a Santorum victory, and that puts him at the top of the field. Only one in five say they would be enthusiastic if Romney were the nominee.
The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International from February 10-13, with 478 Republicans and independents who lean towards the GOP questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

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Voter turnout slides in GOP contests

By Catalina Camia, USA TODAY

Rick Santorum may have scored a political hat trick Tuesday night, but voter turnout was down in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. That continues a trend that began in Florida and occurred again in Nevada.
Political experts say the downward slide in turnout could pose challenges for Mitt Romney, who has had trouble consistently exciting the GOP base.
"Republicans are upset with their field," Steven Schier, a political scientist at Carleton College in Minnesota, told USA TODAY. "If you look at national polls, a large percentage would like other candidates. It's too late for that and many are stuck with unappealing choices. That produces low turnout and that's a real threat to Romney."
In Colorado, where Romney campaigned heavily, turnout was down about 7% from 2008, according to data compiled by MSNBC's First Read. In Minnesota, turnout was down by 24%. And in Missouri, which was a "beauty contest" primary with no impact on delegate allocation, voting was down 57%.
Michael McDonald, a professor at George Mason University who tracks election turnout, said Romney has shown he can score victories in suburban areas where there are more moderates.
But candidates such as Santorum and Newt Gingrich have been able to excite a more passionate electorate. In Florida, for example, turnout was up in the more rural counties where Gingrich beat Romney.
McDonald said Romney's appeal among moderates could change if he becomes the GOP nominee against President Obama, who will compete with him for some of the same voters.
"In some ways, it is good news for Romney that Santorum did so well because it continues to fracture that conservative base," he told USA TODAY. "Without an opponent who can rally all the conservatives, he can still win contests but he cannot win if there's only one conservative alternative."

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