Newt the Destroyer  —  Gingrich is now on a single-minded mission to detonate Mitt Romney's presidential prospects.  Will he blow up the GOP in the process?  —  Newt Gingrich has finally reached his destiny: destroyer of the GOP.  —  In a bitter and spiteful concession speech last night in Iowa …

Winning Ugly, but Winning  —  I don't care if you call it a win or a tie.  In Iowa on Tuesday, Mitt Romney had a performance that looks ugly on the stat sheet , but which accomplished quite a bit when you consider it in its broader context.  —  The two most important things that Mr. Romney accomplished are as follows:

Ron Paul May Have Secretly Won The Iowa Caucuses  —  DES MOINES — Ron Paul may have officially come in third tonight, but if the campaign's caucus strategy went off as planned, then Paul may actually be the real winner of the first Republican voting contest.

Conservative elites to huddle  —  A group of movement conservatives has called an emergency meeting in Texas next weekend to find a “consensus” Republican presidential hopeful, POLITICO has learned.  —  “You and your spouse are cordially invited to a private meeting with national conservative leaders …

Perry stays in presidential race, says it 'wasn't a hard decision'  —  Gov. Rick Perry said today he will continue his presidential campaign despite a fifth-place showing in the Tuesday Iowa caucuses and serious questions about whether he can continue.  “I re-assessed,” Perry said as he left …

Bachmann Ends Presidential Run — Source  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann is suspending her presidential campaign, said a senior Republican official with direct knowledge of the lawmaker's plans.  The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Minnesota lawmaker, a favorite …

Gingrich Commits Political Malpractice  —  Rick Perry said, “Oops.”  —  Newt Gingrich lived oops.  —  Gingrich never committed the kind of nationally televised blunder that Perry did - failing to remember the three government agencies he would close if he became president.  But make no mistake.

Morning Jay: What Iowa Tells Us About the State of the Race  —  Mitt Romney received eight more votes in the Iowa caucuses than Rick Santorum.  The media is spinning this as if it matters who actually receives more votes.  It really doesn't.  This is a battle for delegates — a long one.

Breaking: Obama also set to make recess appointments to the NLRB  —  It isn't just Richard Cordray.  Obama is also set to use recess appointments to install his picks to the National Labor Relations Board, according to White House officials and others familiar with ongoing discussions.

Reid backs Obama after using pro forma sessions to block Bush  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who previously held pro forma sessions to block recess appointments by President George W. Bush, said Wednesday he supported President Obama's decision to ignore those sessions to push through one of his key nominees.

President Obama defies lawmakers with recess appointments to NLRB  —  President Obama will recess-appoint his nominees to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), bypassing a likely filibuster from Senate Republicans to keep the controversial agency operating in 2012.

Obama makes 3 NLRB recess appointments  —  After making an end run around Senate Republicans with a recess appointment to fill the top job at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday, President Barack Obama ran the same play again a few hours later with three recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.

Court fight over recess appointments ‘almost certain,’ Chamber says  —  The recess appointments President Obama announced Wednesday are “almost certain” to be challenged in court, according to a top official with the nation's largest business lobby.  —  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce …